Part I
In Venice towne not long agoeA cruel Jew did dwell,Which lived all on usurie,As Italian writers tell.
Gernutus called was the Jew,Which never thought to dye,Nor ever yet did any goodTo them in streets that lie.
His life was like a barrow hogge,That liveth many a day,Yet never once doth any good,Until men will him slay.
Or like a filthy heap of dung,That lyeth in a whoard;Which never can do any good,Till it be spread abroad.
So fares it with the usurer,He cannot sleep in rest,For feare the thiefe will him pursueTo plucke him from his nest.
His heart doth thinke on many a wile,How to deceive the poore;His mouth is almost ful of mucke,Yet still he gapes for more.
His wife must lend a shilling,For every weeke a penny,Yet bring a pledge, that is double worth,If that you will have any.
And see, likewise, you keepe your day,Or else you loose it all:This was the living of the wife,Her cow she did it call.
Within that citie dwelt that timeA marchant of great fame,Which being distressed in his need,Unto Gernutus came:
Desiring him to stand his friendFor twelve month and a day,To lend to him an hundred crownes:And he for it would pay
Whatsoever he would demand of him,And pledges he should have.No, (quoth the Jew with flearing lookes)Sir, aske what you will have.
No penny for the loane of itFor one year you shall pay;You may doe me as good a turne,Before my dying day.
But we will have a merry jeast,For to be talked long:You shall make me a bond, quoth he,That shall be large and strong:
And this shall be the forfeyture;Of your owne fleshe a pound.If you agree, make you the bond,And here is a hundred crownes.
With right good will! the marchant says:And so the bond was made.When twelve month and a day drew onThat backe it should be payd,
The marchants ships were all at sea,And money came not in;Which way to take, or what to doeTo thinke he doth begin:
And to Gernutus strait he comesWith cap and bended knee,And sayde to him, Of curtesieI pray you beare with mee.
My day is come, and I have notThe money for to pay:And little good the forfeytureWill doe you, I dare say.
With all my heart, Gernutus sayd,Commaund it to your minde:In thinges of bigger waight then thisYou shall me ready finde.
He goes his way; the day once pastGernutus doth not slackeTo get a sergiant presently;And clapt him on the backe
And layd him into prison strong,And sued his bond withall;And when the judgement day was come,For judgement he did call.
The marchants friends came thither fast,With many a weeping eye,For other means they could not find,But he that day must dye.
Words in this poem
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- usurer n.
- One who lends money and takes interest for it; a money lender. [F. usurier, LL. usurarius. See Usury, and cf. Usurarious.]
- wile n.
- A trick or stratagem practiced for insnaring or deception; a sly, insidious; artifice; a beguilement; an allurement. [OE. wile, AS. wil; cf. Icel. v, væl. Cf. Guile.]
- 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.]
- 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,]
- bigger a.
- , compar. of Big.
- presently adv.
- At present; at this time; now.
- withall adv.
- With this; with that. [With + all.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Part I 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, Part I, in Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, Volume I (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #45939, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/percy-reliques/part-i.html, id L08536.
Form and metre
Part I is 88 lines in 22 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 agoe · dwellA · usurie · tellA
- 2 -A-A jew · dyeA · good · lieA
- 3 -A-A hogge · dayA · good · slayA
- 5 -A-A usurer · restA · pursue · nestA
- 7 -A-A shilling · pennyA · worth · anyA
- 8 -A-A day · allA · wife · callA
- 9 -A-A time · fameA · need · cameA
- 10 -A-A friend · dayA · crownes · payA
- 11 -A-A him · haveA · lookes · haveA
- 12 -A-A it · payA · turne · dayA
- 13 -A-A jeast · longA · he · strongA
- 15 -A-A says · madeA · on · paydA
- 16 -A-A sea · inA · doe · beginA
- 17 -A-A comes · kneeA · curtesie · meeA
- 18 -A-A not · payA · forfeyture · sayA
- 19 -A-A sayd · mindeA · this · findeA
- 20 -A-A past · slackeA · presently · backeA
- 21 -A-A strong · withallA · come · callA
- 22 -A-A fast · eyeA · find · dyeA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In Venice towne not long agoe | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A cruel Jew did dwell, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Which lived all on usurie, | 8 | ··˘····· |
| As Italian writers tell. | 7 | ·˘/˘/˘· |
| Gernutus called was the Jew, | 8 | ····˘··· |
| Which never thought to dye, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Nor ever yet did any good | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To them in streets that lie. | 6 | ······ |
| His life was like a barrow hogge, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That liveth many a day, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Yet never once doth any good, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Until men will him slay. | 6 | ······ |
| Or like a filthy heap of dung, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That lyeth in a whoard; | 5 | ····· |
| Which never can do any good, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Till it be spread abroad. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| So fares it with the usurer, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| He cannot sleep in rest, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| For feare the thiefe will him pursue | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To plucke him from his nest. | 6 | ······ |
| His heart doth thinke on many a wile, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| How to deceive the poore; | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| His mouth is almost ful of mucke, | 8 | ···/···· |
| Yet still he gapes for more. | 6 | ······ |
| His wife must lend a shilling, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| For every weeke a penny, | 8 | ·/˘˘··/˘ |
| Yet bring a pledge, that is double worth, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| If that you will have any. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And see, likewise, you keepe your day, | 8 | ··/····· |
| Or else you loose it all: | 6 | ······ |
| This was the living of the wife, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Her cow she did it call. | 6 | ······ |
| Within that citie dwelt that time | 8 | ········ |
| A marchant of great fame, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Which being distressed in his need, | 8 | ·/˘˘/··· |
| Unto Gernutus came: | 6 | ······ |
| Desiring him to stand his friend | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| For twelve month and a day, | 6 | ······ |
| To lend to him an hundred crownes: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And he for it would pay | 6 | ······ |
| Whatsoever he would demand of him, | 10 | ·˘/˘··˘/·· |
| And pledges he should have. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| No, (quoth the Jew with flearing lookes) | 8 | ········ |
| Sir, aske what you will have. | 6 | ······ |
| No penny for the loane of it | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For one year you shall pay; | 6 | ······ |
| You may doe me as good a turne, | 8 | ········ |
| Before my dying day. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| But we will have a merry jeast, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For to be talked long: | 5 | ····· |
| You shall make me a bond, quoth he, | 8 | ········ |
| That shall be large and strong: | 6 | ······ |
| And this shall be the forfeyture; | 8 | ········ |
| Of your owne fleshe a pound. | 6 | ······ |
| If you agree, make you the bond, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| And here is a hundred crownes. | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| With right good will! the marchant says: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And so the bond was made. | 6 | ······ |
| When twelve month and a day drew on | 8 | ········ |
| That backe it should be payd, | 6 | ······ |
| The marchants ships were all at sea, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And money came not in; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Which way to take, or what to doe | 8 | ········ |
| To thinke he doth begin: | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And to Gernutus strait he comes | 8 | ········ |
| With cap and bended knee, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And sayde to him, Of curtesie | 8 | ········ |
| I pray you beare with mee. | 6 | ······ |
| My day is come, and I have not | 8 | ········ |
| The money for to pay: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And little good the forfeyture | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Will doe you, I dare say. | 6 | ······ |
| With all my heart, Gernutus sayd, | 8 | ········ |
| Commaund it to your minde: | 6 | ······ |
| In thinges of bigger waight then this | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| You shall me ready finde. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| He goes his way; the day once past | 8 | ········ |
| Gernutus doth not slacke | 6 | ······ |
| To get a sergiant presently; | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| And clapt him on the backe | 6 | ······ |
| And layd him into prison strong, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And sued his bond withall; | 6 | ······ |
| And when the judgement day was come, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For judgement he did call. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The marchants friends came thither fast, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| With many a weeping eye, | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| For other means they could not find, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But he that day must dye. | 6 | ······ |
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.