Ballad X: The Ballad of Constant Susanna
There dwelt a man in BabylonOf reputation great by fame;He took to wife a faire womàn,Susanna she was callde by name:A woman fair and vertuous;Lady, lady:Why should we not of her learn thusTo live godly?
In Brome's comedy of The Jovial Crew, acted in 1641 at theCockpit in Drury Lane, there is an allusion perhaps to this song:
"Let her go, let her go,
Farewell, dear love; since thou wilt needs be gone,Mine eyes do shew, my life is almost done.Nay I will never die, so long as I can spieThere be many mo, though that she doe goe,There be many mo, I fear not:Why then let her goe, I care not.
Farewell, farewell; since this I find is true,I will not spend more time in wooing you:But I will seek elsewhere, if I may find love there:Shall I bid her goe? what and if I doe?Shall I bid her goe and spare not?O no, no, no, I dare not.
Ten thousand times farewell;--yet stay a while:--Sweet, kiss me once; sweet kisses time beguile:I have no power to move. How now am I in love?Wilt thou needs be gone? Go then, all is one.Wilt thou needs be gone? Oh, hie thee!Nay stay, and do no more deny me.
Once more adieu, I see loath to departBids oft adieu to her, that holds my heart.But seeing I must lose thy love, which I did choose,Goe thy way for me, since that may not be.Goe thy ways for me. But whither?Goe, oh, but where I may come thither.
What shall I doe? my love is now departed.She is as fair, as she is cruel-hearted.She would not be intreated, with prayers oft repeated,If she come no more, shall I die therefore?If she come no more, what care I?Faith, let her goe, or come, or tarry.
Words in this poem
- vertuous a.
- Virtuous; powerful.
- jovial a.
- Of or pertaining to the god, or the planet, Jupiter. [F., fr. L. Jovialis pertaining to Jove. The planet Jupiter was thought to make those born under it joyful or jovial. See Jove.]
- cockpit n.
- A pit, or inclosed area, for cockfights.
- allusion n.
- A figurative or symbolical reference. [L. allusio, fr. alludere to allude: cf. F. allusion.]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- shew n.
- Show. [Obs. except in shewbread.]
- 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,]
- loath a.
- Hateful; odious; disliked. [OE. looth, loth, AS. la hostile, odious; akin to OS. l, G. leid, Icel. lei, Sw. led, G. leiden to suffer, OHG. lidan to suffer, go, cf. AS. li to go, Goth. leip]
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ballad X: The Ballad of Constant Susanna 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 X: The Ballad of Constant Susanna, in Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, Volume I (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #45939, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/percy-reliques/ballad-x-the-ballad-of-constant-susanna.html, id L08535.
Form and metre
Ballad X: The Ballad of Constant Susanna is 41 lines in 8 stanzas. 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.4 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 -A-A---- babylon · fameA · womàn · nameA · vertuous · lady · thus · godly
- 4 ----AA gone · done · spie · goe · notA · notA
- 5 AA--BB trueA · youA · there · doe · notB · notB
- 6 AA--BB whileA · beguileA · love · one · theeB · meB
- 7 AA--BB departA · heartA · choose · be · whitherB · thitherB
- 8 AA---- departedA · heartedA · repeated · therefore · i · tarry
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| There dwelt a man in Babylon | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of reputation great by fame; | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| He took to wife a faire womàn, | 8 | ········ |
| Susanna she was callde by name: | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| A woman fair and vertuous; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Lady, lady: | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Why should we not of her learn thus | 8 | ········ |
| To live godly? | 4 | ··/˘ |
| In Brome's comedy of The Jovial Crew, acted in 1641 at the | 14 | ··/˘··/˘·/˘··· |
| Cockpit in Drury Lane, there is an allusion perhaps to this song: | 17 | /··/˘····˘/˘˘/··· |
| "Let her go, let her go, | 6 | ······ |
| Farewell, dear love; since thou wilt needs be gone, | 10 | ·/········ |
| Mine eyes do shew, my life is almost done. | 10 | ·······/·· |
| Nay I will never die, so long as I can spie | 11 | ···/······· |
| There be many mo, though that she doe goe, | 9 | ··/······ |
| There be many mo, I fear not: | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Why then let her goe, I care not. | 8 | ········ |
| Farewell, farewell; since this I find is true, | 10 | ·/·/······ |
| I will not spend more time in wooing you: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But I will seek elsewhere, if I may find love there: | 12 | ····/······· |
| Shall I bid her goe? what and if I doe? | 10 | ·········· |
| Shall I bid her goe and spare not? | 8 | ········ |
| O no, no, no, I dare not. | 7 | ······· |
| Ten thousand times farewell;--yet stay a while:-- | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| Sweet, kiss me once; sweet kisses time beguile: | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| I have no power to move. How now am I in love? | 12 | ···/········ |
| Wilt thou needs be gone? Go then, all is one. | 10 | ·········· |
| Wilt thou needs be gone? Oh, hie thee! | 8 | ········ |
| Nay stay, and do no more deny me. | 9 | ······˘/· |
| Once more adieu, I see loath to depart | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| Bids oft adieu to her, that holds my heart. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| But seeing I must lose thy love, which I did choose, | 11 | ·/········· |
| Goe thy way for me, since that may not be. | 10 | ·········· |
| Goe thy ways for me. But whither? | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Goe, oh, but where I may come thither. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| What shall I doe? my love is now departed. | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| She is as fair, as she is cruel-hearted. | 10 | ·······//˘ |
| She would not be intreated, with prayers oft repeated, | 13 | ··········˘/˘ |
| If she come no more, shall I die therefore? | 10 | ·········· |
| If she come no more, what care I? | 8 | ········ |
| Faith, let her goe, or come, or tarry. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
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