Poems
A! Fredome is a noble thing!Fredome mays man to haiff liking;Fredome all solace to man giffis,He levys at ese that frely levys!A noble hart may haiff nane ese,Na ellys nocht that may him plese,
Gyff fredome fail; for fre likingIs yarnyt our all othir thing.Na he that ay has levyt freMay nocht knaw weill the propyrtè,The angyr, na the wretchyt domeThat is couplyt to foule thyrldome.Bot gyff he had assayit it,Than all perquer he suld it wyt;And suld think fredome mar to priseThan all the gold in warld that is.Thus contrar thingis evirmarDiscoweryngis off the tothir ar.
Words in this poem
- solace n.
- Comfort in grief; alleviation of grief or anxiety; also, that which relieves in distress; that which cheers or consoles; relief. [OF. solas, ssoulaz, L. solacium, solatium, fr. solari to comfort, console. Cf. Console, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poems is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900, Project Gutenberg ebook #66619; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Barbour, Poems, (1395), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-john-barbour/freedom.html, id L15947.
Form and metre
Freedom is 18 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 56% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AA-BBB thingA · likingA · giffis · levysB · eseB · pleseB
- 2 AA--BB----CC likingA · thingA · fre · propyrtè · domeB · thyrldomeB · it · wyt · prise · is · evirmarC · arC
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A! Fredome is a noble thing! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Fredome mays man to haiff liking; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Fredome all solace to man giffis, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| He levys at ese that frely levys! | 10 | ·/˘·····/˘ |
| A noble hart may haiff nane ese, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Na ellys nocht that may him plese, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Gyff fredome fail; for fre liking | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Is yarnyt our all othir thing. | 8 | ···/···· |
| Na he that ay has levyt fre | 8 | ········ |
| May nocht knaw weill the propyrtè, | 7 | ······· |
| The angyr, na the wretchyt dome | 8 | ········ |
| That is couplyt to foule thyrldome. | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Bot gyff he had assayit it, | 7 | ······· |
| Than all perquer he suld it wyt; | 8 | ········ |
| And suld think fredome mar to prise | 8 | ········ |
| Than all the gold in warld that is. | 8 | ········ |
| Thus contrar thingis evirmar | 8 | ········ |
| Discoweryngis off the tothir ar. | 10 | ·········· |
Notes from the edition 1
Quiller-Couch's glosses on the hard words, from The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250–1900, chosen and edited by Arthur Quiller-Couch (Oxford, 1900; Project Gutenberg #66619)
- Stanza 1 _9._ liking] liberty. na ellys nocht] nor aught else. _9._ yarnyt] yearned for. perquer] thoroughly, by heart.
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.