Balade
I cannot tell, of twain beneath this bond,Which one in grief the other goes beyond,--Narcissus, who to end the pain he boreDied of the love that could not help him more;Or I, that pine because I cannot seeThe lady who is queen and love to me.
Nay--for Narcissus, in the forest pondSeeing his image, made entreaty fond,"Beloved, comfort on my longing pour":So for a while he soothed his passion sore;So cannot I, for all too far is she--The lady who is queen and love to me.
But since that I have Love's true colours donned,I in his service will not now despond,For in extremes Love yet can all restore:So till her beauty walks the world no moreAll day remembered in my hope shall beThe lady who is queen and love to me.
Words in this poem
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- narcissus n.
- A genus of endogenous bulbous plants with handsome flowers, having a cup-shaped crown within the six-lobed perianth, and comprising the daffodils and jonquils of several kinds. [L. narcissus, and (personified) Narcissus, Gr. na`rkissos, Na`rkissos, fr. na`rkh torpor, in allusion to the narcotic properties of the flower. Cf. Narcotic.]
- entreaty n.
- Treatment; reception; entertainment. B. Jonson.
- despond v. i.
- To give up, the will, courage, or spirit; to be thoroughly disheartened; to lose all courage; to become dispirited or depressed; to take an unhopeful view. [L. despond, desponsum, to promise away, promise in marriage, give up, to lose (courage); de- + spond to promise solemnly. See Sponsor.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Balade is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems: New and Old, Project Gutenberg ebook #24405; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry John Newbolt, Balade, in Poems: New and Old (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #24405, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/newbolt-poems/balade.html, id L11443.
Form and metre
Balade is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABBCC. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 28% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AABBCC bondA · beyondA · boreB · moreB · seeC · meC
- 2 AABBCC pondA · fondA · pourB · soreB · sheC · meC
- 3 AABBCC donnedA · despondA · restoreB · moreB · beC · meC
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 iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I cannot tell, of twain beneath this bond, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Which one in grief the other goes beyond,-- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Narcissus, who to end the pain he bore | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| Died of the love that could not help him more; | 10 | ·········· |
| Or I, that pine because I cannot see | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The lady who is queen and love to me. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Nay--for Narcissus, in the forest pond | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Seeing his image, made entreaty fond, | 10 | /˘·/˘·˘/˘· |
| "Beloved, comfort on my longing pour": | 10 | ˘/˘/˘··/˘· |
| So for a while he soothed his passion sore; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| So cannot I, for all too far is she-- | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The lady who is queen and love to me. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| But since that I have Love's true colours donned, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I in his service will not now despond, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| For in extremes Love yet can all restore: | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| So till her beauty walks the world no more | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| All day remembered in my hope shall be | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| The lady who is queen and love to me. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.