Ballad of the Gibbet
It being remembered that there were six of us with MasterVillon, when that expecting presently to be hanged he writ aballad whereof ye know:
Drink ye a skoal for the gallows tree!Francois and Margot and thee and me,Drink we the comrades merrilyThat said us, "Till then" for the gallows tree!
Fat Pierre with the hook gauche-main,Thomas Larron "Ear-the-less,"Tybalde and that armouressWho gave this poignard its premier stainPinning the Guise that had been fainTo make him a mate of the "Haulte Noblesse"And bade her be out with ill addressAs a fool that mocketh his drue's disdeign.
Drink we a skoal for the gallows tree!Francois and Margot and thee and me,Drink we to Marienne Ydole,That hell brenn not her o'er cruelly.
Drink we the lusty robbers twain,Black is the pitch o' their wedding-dress,Lips shrunk back for the wind's caressAs lips shrink back when we feel the strainOf love that loveth in hell's disdeignAnd sense the teeth through the lips that press'Gainst our lips for the soul's distressThat striveth to ours across the pain.Drink we skoal to the gallows tree!Francois and Margot and thee and me,For Jehan and Raoul de VallerieWhose frames have the night and its winds in fee.
Maturin, Guillaume, Jacques d'Allmain,Culdou lacking a coat to blessOne lean moiety of his nakednessThat plundered St. Hubert back o' the fane:Aie! the lean bare tree is widowed againFor Michault le Borgne that would confessIn "faith and troth" to a traitoress,"Which of his brothers had he slain?"
But drink we skoal to the gallows tree!Francois and Margot and thee and me:
These that we loved shall God love lessAnd smite alway at their faibleness?
Skoal!! to the Gallows! and then pray we:God damn his hell out speedilyAnd bring their souls to his "Haulte Citee."
Words in this poem
- presently adv.
- At present; at this time; now.
- whereof adv.
- Of which; of whom; formerly, also, with which; -- used relatively.
- premier a.
- First; chief; principal; as, the premier place; premier minister. [F. premier, fr. L. primarius of the first rank, principal, fr. primus the first. See Primary, Prime, a.]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- noblesse n.
- Dignity; greatness; noble birth or condition. [F. noblesse. See Noble.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- caress n.
- An act of endearment; any act or expression of affection; an embracing, or touching, with tenderness. [F. caresse, It. carezza, LL. caritia dearness, fr. L. carus dear. See Charity.]
- nakedness n.
- The condition of being naked.
- fane n.
- A temple; a place consecrated to religion; a church. [L. fanum a place dedicated to some deity, a sanctuary, fr. fari to speak. See Fame.]
- troth n.
- Belief; faith; fidelity. [A variant of truth. See Truth.]
- traitoress n.
- A traitress. Rom. of R.
- 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,]
- damn v. t.
- To condemn; to declare guilty; to doom; to adjudge to punishment; to sentence; to censhure. [OE. damnen dap), OF. damner, dampner, F. damner, fr. L. damnare, damnatum, to condemn, fr. damnum damage, a fine, penalty. Cf. Condemn, Damage.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ballad of the Gibbet 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 of the Gibbet, in Personae (1909), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #41162, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pound-personae/ballad-of-the-gibbet.html, id L01196.
Form and metre
Ballad of the Gibbet is 46 lines in 9 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 57% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.0 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 41% 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.
- 2 AA-A treeA · meA · merrily · treeA
- 3 ABBAABBA mainA · lessB · armouressB · stainA · fainA · noblesseB · addressB · disdeignA
- 4 AA-- treeA · meA · ydole · cruelly
- 5 ABBAABBACC-C twainA · dressB · caressB · strainA · disdeignA · pressB · distressB · painA · treeC · meC · vallerie · feeC
- 6 ABBAABBA d'allmainA · blessB · nakednessB · faneA · againA · confessB · traitoressB · slainA
- 7 AA treeA · meA
- 8 AA lessA · faiblenessA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| It being remembered that there were six of us with Master | 14 | ·/˘/˘·······/˘ |
| Villon, when that expecting presently to be hanged he writ a | 15 | ····˘/˘/˘······ |
| ballad whereof ye know: | 6 | /˘···· |
| Drink ye a skoal for the gallows tree! | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Francois and Margot and thee and me, | 9 | ˘/·/˘···· |
| Drink we the comrades merrily | 8 | ···/·/˘˘ |
| That said us, "Till then" for the gallows tree! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Fat Pierre with the hook gauche-main, | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| Thomas Larron "Ear-the-less," | 7 | /˘····· |
| Tybalde and that armouress | 7 | ······· |
| Who gave this poignard its premier stain | 9 | ······˘/· |
| Pinning the Guise that had been fain | 8 | /˘······ |
| To make him a mate of the "Haulte Noblesse" | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And bade her be out with ill address | 9 | ·······/· |
| As a fool that mocketh his drue's disdeign. | 10 | ····/˘··˘/ |
| Drink we a skoal for the gallows tree! | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Francois and Margot and thee and me, | 9 | ˘/·/˘···· |
| Drink we to Marienne Ydole, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That hell brenn not her o'er cruelly. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Drink we the lusty robbers twain, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Black is the pitch o' their wedding-dress, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Lips shrunk back for the wind's caress | 8 | ······˘/ |
| As lips shrink back when we feel the strain | 9 | ········· |
| Of love that loveth in hell's disdeign | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| And sense the teeth through the lips that press | 9 | ········· |
| 'Gainst our lips for the soul's distress | 9 | ·/˘····˘/ |
| That striveth to ours across the pain. | 10 | ·/˘·/˘˘/·· |
| Drink we skoal to the gallows tree! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Francois and Margot and thee and me, | 9 | ˘/·/˘···· |
| For Jehan and Raoul de Vallerie | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Whose frames have the night and its winds in fee. | 10 | ·········· |
| Maturin, Guillaume, Jacques d'Allmain, | 8 | ····/··· |
| Culdou lacking a coat to bless | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| One lean moiety of his nakedness | 10 | ··/˘˘··/˘˘ |
| That plundered St. Hubert back o' the fane: | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| Aie! the lean bare tree is widowed again | 10 | ······/˘˘/ |
| For Michault le Borgne that would confess | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| In "faith and troth" to a traitoress, | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| "Which of his brothers had he slain?" | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But drink we skoal to the gallows tree! | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Francois and Margot and thee and me: | 9 | ˘/·/˘···· |
| These that we loved shall God love less | 9 | ····˘···· |
| And smite alway at their faibleness? | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Skoal!! to the Gallows! and then pray we: | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| God damn his hell out speedily | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| And bring their souls to his "Haulte Citee." | 9 | ········· |
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.