Ballad for Gloom
For God, our God, is a gallant foeThat playeth behind the veil.
I have loved my God as a child at heartThat seeketh deep bosoms for rest,I have loved my God as maid to manBut lo, this thing is best:
To love your God as a gallant foethat plays behind the veil,To meet your God as the night winds meetbeyond Arcturus' pale.
I have played with God for a woman,I have staked with my God for truth,I have lost to my God as a man, clear eyed,His dice be not of ruth.
For I am made as a naked bladeBut hear ye this thing in sooth:
Who loseth to God as man to manShall win at the turn of the game.I have drawn my blade where the lightnings meetBut the ending is the same:Who loseth to God as the sword blades loseShall win at the end of the game.
For God, our God, is a gallant foethat playeth behind the veil,Whom God deigns not to overthrowHath need of triple mail.
Words in this poem
- ruth n.
- Sorrow for the misery of another; pity; tenderness. [From Rue, v.: cf. Icel. hryggedh, hrygedh.]
- sooth a.
- True; faithful; trustworthy. [OE. soth, AS. s, for san; akin to OS. s, OHG. sand, Icel. sannr, Sw. sann, Dan. sand, Skr. sat, sant, real, genuine, present, being; properly p. pr. from a root]
- 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
Ballad for Gloom is in the public domain. This text is taken from Personae, Project Gutenberg ebook #41162; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ezra Pound, Ballad for Gloom, in Personae (1909), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #41162, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pound-personae/ballad-for-gloom.html, id L01208.
Form and metre
Ballad for Gloom is 26 lines in 7 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.3 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 42% 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.
- 2 -A-A heart · restA · man · bestA
- 3 -A-A foe · veilA · meet · paleA
- 4 -A-A woman · truthA · eyed · ruthA
- 6 -A-A-A man · gameA · meet · sameA · lose · gameA
- 7 ABAB foeA · veilB · overthrowA · mailB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| For God, our God, is a gallant foe | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| That playeth behind the veil. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| I have loved my God as a child at heart | 10 | ·········· |
| That seeketh deep bosoms for rest, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| I have loved my God as maid to man | 10 | ···˘······ |
| But lo, this thing is best: | 6 | ······ |
| To love your God as a gallant foe | 9 | ······/˘· |
| that plays behind the veil, | 6 | ······ |
| To meet your God as the night winds meet | 9 | ········· |
| beyond Arcturus' pale. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I have played with God for a woman, | 10 | ···˘····/˘ |
| I have staked with my God for truth, | 9 | ···˘····· |
| I have lost to my God as a man, clear eyed, | 11 | ··········· |
| His dice be not of ruth. | 6 | ······ |
| For I am made as a naked blade | 10 | ······/˘˘· |
| But hear ye this thing in sooth: | 7 | ······· |
| Who loseth to God as man to man | 9 | ········· |
| Shall win at the turn of the game. | 8 | ········ |
| I have drawn my blade where the lightnings meet | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But the ending is the same: | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Who loseth to God as the sword blades lose | 10 | ·········· |
| Shall win at the end of the game. | 8 | ········ |
| For God, our God, is a gallant foe | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| that playeth behind the veil, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Whom God deigns not to overthrow | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Hath need of triple mail. | 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.