King Hilary and the Beggarman
Of Hilary the Great and GoodThey tell a tale at Christmas timeI've often thought the story wouldBe prettier but just as goodIf almost anybody shouldTranslate it into rime.So I have done the best I canFor lack of some more learned man.
Good King HilarySaid to his Chancellor(Proud Lord Willoughby,Lord High Chancellor):"Run to the wicket-gateQuickly, quickly,Run to the wicket gateAnd see who is knocking.It may be a rich man,Sea-borne from Araby,Bringing me peacocks,Emeralds and ivory;It may be a poor man,Travel-worn and weary,Bringing me orangesTo put in my stocking."
Proud Lord Willoughby,Lord High Chancellor,Laughed both loud and free:¹"I've served Your Majesty, man to man,Since first Your Majesty's reign began,And I've often walked, but I never, never ran,Never, never, never," quoth he.
¹ Haw! Haw! Haw!
Good King HilarySaid to his Chancellor(Proud Lord Willoughby,Lord High Chancellor):"Walk to the wicket-gateQuickly, quickly,Walk to the wicket-gateAnd see who is knocking.
It may be a captain,Hawk-nosed, bearded,Bringing me gold-dust,Spices, and sandalwood:It may be a scullion,Care-free, whistling,Bringing me sugar-plumsTo put in my stocking."
Proud Lord Willoughby,Lord High Chancellor,Laughed both loud and free:"I've served in the Palace since I was four,And I'll serve in the Palace a-many years more,And I've opened a window, but never a door,Never, never, never," quoth he.
Good King HilarySaid to his Chancellor(Proud Lord Willoughby,Lord High Chancellor):"Open the windowQuickly, quickly,Open the windowAnd see who is knocking.
It may be a waiting-maid,Apple-cheeked, dimpled,Sent by her mistressTo bring me greeting;It may be children,Anxious, whispering,Bringing me cobnuts,To put in my stocking."
Proud Lord Willoughby,Lord High Chancellor,Laughed both loud and free:"I'll serve Your Majesty till I die—As Lord Chancellor, not as spyTo peep from lattices; no, not I,Never, never, never," quoth he.
Good King HilaryLooked at his Chancellor(Proud Lord Willoughby,Lord High Chancellor):He said no wordTo his stiff-set Chancellor,But ran to the wicket-gateTo see who was knocking.He found no rich manTrading from Araby;He found no captain,Blue-eyed, weather-tanned;He found no waiting-maidSent by her mistress;But only a beggarmanWith one red stocking.
Good King HilaryLooked at the beggarman,And laughed him three times three;And he turned that beggarman round about:"Your thews are strong, and your arm is stout;Come, throw me a Lord High Chancellor out,And take his place," quoth he.
Of Hilary the Good and GreatOld wives at Christmas time relateThis tale, which points, at any rate,Two morals on the way.The first: "Whatever Fortune brings,Don't be afraid of doing things."(Especially, of course, for Kings.)It also seems to say(But not so wisely): "He who begsWith one red stocking on his legsWill be, as sure as eggs are eggs,A Chancellor some day."
Words in this poem
- rime n.
- A rent or long aperture; a chink; a fissure; a crack. Sir T. [L. rima.]
- araby n.
- The country of Arabia.
- quoth v. t.
- Said; spoke; uttered; -- used only in the first and third persons in the past tenses, and always followed by its nominative, the word or words said being the object; as, quoth I. quoth he. [AS.cweedhan, imp cwæedh, pl. cwædon; akin to OS. queedhan, OHG. quethan, quedan, Icel. kveedha, Goth. qiþan. sq. root22. Cf. Bequeath.]
- scullion n.
- A servant who cleans pots and kettles, and does other menial services in the kitchen. [OF. escouillon (Cot.) a dishclout, apparently for escouvillon, F. écouvillon a swab; cf. also OF. souillon a servant employed for base offices. Cf. Scovel.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
King Hilary and the Beggarman is in the public domain. This text is taken from Now We Are Six, Project Gutenberg ebook #70516; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: A. A. Milne, King Hilary and the Beggarman, in Now We Are Six (1927), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70516, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/milne-now-we-are-six/king-hilary-and-the-beggarman.html, id L27242.
Form and metre
King Hilary and the Beggarman is 113 lines in 13 stanzas. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%).
See other poems in trochaic trimeter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAAABCC goodA · timeB · wouldA · goodA · shouldA · rimeB · canC · manC
- 2 -A-AB-BCD---D--C hilary · chancellorA · willoughby · chancellorA · gateB · quickly · gateB · knockingC · manD · araby · peacocks · ivory · manD · weary · oranges · stockingC
- 3 --ABBBA willoughby · chancellor · free:¹A · manB · beganB · ranB · heA
- 5 -A-AB-B- hilary · chancellorA · willoughby · chancellorA · gateB · quickly · gateB · knocking
- 7 --ABBBA willoughby · chancellor · freeA · fourB · moreB · doorB · heA
- 8 -A-AB-B- hilary · chancellorA · willoughby · chancellorA · windowB · quickly · windowB · knocking
- 10 --ABBBA willoughby · chancellor · freeA · dieB · spyB · iB · heA
- 11 -A-A-A-BC-C----B hilary · chancellorA · willoughby · chancellorA · word · chancellorA · gate · knockingB · manC · araby · captainC · tanned · maid · mistress · beggarman · stockingB
- 12 --ABBBA hilary · beggarman · threeA · aboutB · stoutB · outB · heA
- 13 AAABCCCBDDDB greatA · relateA · rateA · wayB · bringsC · thingsC · kingsC · sayB · begsD · legsD · eggsD · dayB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against trochaic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Of Hilary the Great and Good | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| They tell a tale at Christmas time | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I've often thought the story would | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Be prettier but just as good | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| If almost anybody should | 6 | ·/·/˘· |
| Translate it into rime. | 6 | ˘/···· |
| So I have done the best I can | 8 | ········ |
| For lack of some more learned man. | 7 | ······· |
| Good King Hilary | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Said to his Chancellor | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| (Proud Lord Willoughby, | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Lord High Chancellor): | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| "Run to the wicket-gate | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Quickly, quickly, | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Run to the wicket gate | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And see who is knocking. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| It may be a rich man, | 6 | ······ |
| Sea-borne from Araby, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Bringing me peacocks, | 5 | /˘·/· |
| Emeralds and ivory; | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| It may be a poor man, | 6 | ······ |
| Travel-worn and weary, | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Bringing me oranges | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| To put in my stocking." | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Proud Lord Willoughby, | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Lord High Chancellor, | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Laughed both loud and free:¹ | 6 | ·˘···· |
| "I've served Your Majesty, man to man, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Since first Your Majesty's reign began, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And I've often walked, but I never, never ran, | 10 | ··/˘···//· |
| Never, never, never," quoth he. | 6 | ///˘·· |
| ¹ Haw! Haw! Haw! | 3 | ··· |
| Good King Hilary | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Said to his Chancellor | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| (Proud Lord Willoughby, | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Lord High Chancellor): | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| "Walk to the wicket-gate | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Quickly, quickly, | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Walk to the wicket-gate | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And see who is knocking. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| It may be a captain, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Hawk-nosed, bearded, | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| Bringing me gold-dust, | 5 | /˘··· |
| Spices, and sandalwood: | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| It may be a scullion, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Care-free, whistling, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Bringing me sugar-plums | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| To put in my stocking." | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Proud Lord Willoughby, | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Lord High Chancellor, | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Laughed both loud and free: | 6 | ·˘···· |
| "I've served in the Palace since I was four, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| And I'll serve in the Palace a-many years more, | 11 | ·····/˘·/·· |
| And I've opened a window, but never a door, | 11 | ··/˘·/˘·/·· |
| Never, never, never," quoth he. | 6 | ///˘·· |
| Good King Hilary | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Said to his Chancellor | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| (Proud Lord Willoughby, | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Lord High Chancellor): | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| "Open the window | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Quickly, quickly, | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Open the window | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| And see who is knocking. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| It may be a waiting-maid, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Apple-cheeked, dimpled, | 6 | /˘·˘/˘ |
| Sent by her mistress | 5 | ···/˘ |
| To bring me greeting; | 5 | ···/˘ |
| It may be children, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Anxious, whispering, | 5 | /˘/˘˘ |
| Bringing me cobnuts, | 5 | /˘··· |
| To put in my stocking." | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Proud Lord Willoughby, | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Lord High Chancellor, | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Laughed both loud and free: | 6 | ·˘···· |
| "I'll serve Your Majesty till I die— | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As Lord Chancellor, not as spy | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| To peep from lattices; no, not I, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Never, never, never," quoth he. | 6 | ///˘·· |
| Good King Hilary | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Looked at his Chancellor | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| (Proud Lord Willoughby, | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Lord High Chancellor): | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| He said no word | 4 | ···· |
| To his stiff-set Chancellor, | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| But ran to the wicket-gate | 7 | ····/˘· |
| To see who was knocking. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| He found no rich man | 5 | ····· |
| Trading from Araby; | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| He found no captain, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Blue-eyed, weather-tanned; | 6 | ··/˘·˘ |
| He found no waiting-maid | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Sent by her mistress; | 5 | ···/˘ |
| But only a beggarman | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| With one red stocking. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Good King Hilary | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Looked at the beggarman, | 6 | ······ |
| And laughed him three times three; | 6 | ······ |
| And he turned that beggarman round about: | 10 | ·········· |
| "Your thews are strong, and your arm is stout; | 9 | ········· |
| Come, throw me a Lord High Chancellor out, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And take his place," quoth he. | 6 | ······ |
| Of Hilary the Good and Great | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Old wives at Christmas time relate | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| This tale, which points, at any rate, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Two morals on the way. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The first: "Whatever Fortune brings, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Don't be afraid of doing things." | 7 | ··˘/·/· |
| (Especially, of course, for Kings.) | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| It also seems to say | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| (But not so wisely): "He who begs | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With one red stocking on his legs | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Will be, as sure as eggs are eggs, | 8 | ········ |
| A Chancellor some day." | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
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