Ballad V: A Song to the Lute in Musicke
(Vesp. A. 25), intitled, "Divers things of Hen. viij's time:" with somecorrections from The Paradise of Dainty Devises, 1596.
Edwards was born in Somersetshire about 1523, was educated atOxford, and, in 1561, was constituted by Queen Elizabeth aGentleman of the Royal Chapel and Master of the Singing Boys there.He attended the Queen on her visit to Oxford in 1566, and wasemployed to compose a play called Palamon and Arcite, which was
Where gripinge grefes the hart would wounde,And dolefulle dumps the mynde oppresse,There musicke with her silver soundWith spede is wont to send redresse:Of trobled mynds, in every sore,Swete musicke hathe a salve in store.
In joye yt maks our mirthe abounde,In woe yt cheres our hevy sprites;Be-strawghted heads relyef hath founde,By musickes pleasaunt swete delightes:Our senses all, what shall I say more?Are subjecte unto musicks lore.
The Gods by musicke have theire prayse;The lyfe, the soul therein doth joye:For, as the Romayne poet sayes,In seas, whom pyrats would destroy,A dolphin saved from death most sharpeArion playing on his harpe.
O heavenly gyft, that rules the mynd,Even as the sterne dothe rule the shippe!O musicke, whom the gods assindeTo comforte manne, whom cares would nippe!Since thow both man and beste doest move,What beste ys he, wyll the disprove?
Words in this poem
- divers a.
- Different in kind or species; diverse. [F. divers, L. diversus turned in different directions, different, p. p. of divertere. See Divert, and cf. Diverse.]
- dainty n.
- Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in anything. [OE. deinie, dainte, deintie, deyntee, OF. deintié delicacy, orig., dignity, honor, fr. L. dignitas, fr. dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Dignity.]
- dolefulle a.
- Full of dole or grief; expressing or exciting sorrow; sorrowful; sad; dismal.
- 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,]
- shippe n.
- Any large seagoing vessel. [OE. ship, schip, AS. scip; akin to OFries. skip, OS. scip, D. schip, G. schiff, OHG. scif, Dan. skib, Sw. skeep, Icel. & Goth. skip; of unknown origin. Cf. Equi]
- manne n.
- A human being; -- opposed tobeast. [AS. mann, man, monn, mon; akin to OS., D., & OHG. man, G. mann, Icel. maedhr, for mannr, Dan. Mand, Sw. man, Goth. manna, Skr. manu, manus, and perh. to Skr. ma]
- nippe n.
- A sip or small draught; esp., a draught of intoxicating liquor; a dram. [LG. & D. nippen to sip; akin to Dan. nippe, G. nippen.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ballad V: A Song to the Lute in Musicke is in the public domain. This text is taken from Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, Volume 1 (of 3) Consisting of Old Heroic Ballads, Songs and Other Pieces of Our Earlier Poets Together With Some Few of Later Date, Project Gutenberg ebook #45939; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Percy, Ballad V: A Song to the Lute in Musicke, in Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, Volume I (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #45939, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/percy-reliques/ballad-v-a-song-to-the-lute-in-musicke.html, id L08530.
Form and metre
Ballad V: A Song to the Lute in Musicke is 31 lines in 6 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.7 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 26% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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.
- 2 ---AA at · a · there · wasA · wasA
- 3 ABABCC woundeA · oppresseB · soundA · redresseB · soreC · storeC
- 4 ABABCC aboundeA · spritesB · foundeA · delightesB · moreC · loreC
- 5 ABABCC prayseA · joyeB · sayesA · destroyB · sharpeC · harpeC
- 6 ABABCC myndA · shippeB · assindeA · nippeB · moveC · disproveC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| (Vesp. A. 25), intitled, "Divers things of Hen. viij's time:" with some | 12 | ····/······· |
| corrections from The Paradise of Dainty Devises, 1596. | 14 | ˘/˘··/˘··/˘˘/˘ |
| Edwards was born in Somersetshire about 1523, was educated at | 17 | /˘··········/˘·˘· |
| Oxford, and, in 1561, was constituted by Queen Elizabeth a | 15 | /˘···/˘·˘··˘/˘· |
| Gentleman of the Royal Chapel and Master of the Singing Boys there. | 17 | /˘··/˘/˘·/˘··/˘·· |
| He attended the Queen on her visit to Oxford in 1566, and was | 16 | ·˘/˘····/˘·/˘··· |
| employed to compose a play called Palamon and Arcite, which was | 16 | ˘/·˘/··········· |
| Where gripinge grefes the hart would wounde, | 8 | ········ |
| And dolefulle dumps the mynde oppresse, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| There musicke with her silver sound | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With spede is wont to send redresse: | 8 | ········ |
| Of trobled mynds, in every sore, | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| Swete musicke hathe a salve in store. | 8 | ········ |
| In joye yt maks our mirthe abounde, | 8 | ····/··· |
| In woe yt cheres our hevy sprites; | 8 | ····/··· |
| Be-strawghted heads relyef hath founde, | 8 | ········ |
| By musickes pleasaunt swete delightes: | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Our senses all, what shall I say more? | 9 | //˘······ |
| Are subjecte unto musicks lore. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The Gods by musicke have theire prayse; | 8 | ········ |
| The lyfe, the soul therein doth joye: | 8 | ········ |
| For, as the Romayne poet sayes, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In seas, whom pyrats would destroy, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| A dolphin saved from death most sharpe | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Arion playing on his harpe. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| O heavenly gyft, that rules the mynd, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Even as the sterne dothe rule the shippe! | 8 | /······· |
| O musicke, whom the gods assinde | 8 | ········ |
| To comforte manne, whom cares would nippe! | 8 | ········ |
| Since thow both man and beste doest move, | 8 | ········ |
| What beste ys he, wyll the disprove? | 8 | ······˘/ |
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.