Marriage Chimes
Fair Lady, ere you put to sea,You and your mate together,I meant to hail you lovingly,And wish you pleasant weather.I took my fiddle from the shelf,But vain was all my labour;For still I thought about myself,And not about my neighbour.
Safe from the perils of the war,Nor killed, nor hurt, nor missing--Since many things in common areBetween campaigns and kissing--Ungrazed by glance, unbound by ring,Love’s carte and tierce I’ve parried,While half my friends are marrying,And half--good lack!--are married.
’Tis strange--but I have passed aliveWhere darts and deaths were plenty,Until I find my twenty-fiveAs lonely as my twenty:And many lips have sadly sighed--Which were not made for sighing,And many hearts have darkly died--Which never dreamed of dying.
Some victims fluttered like a fly,Some languished like a lily;Some told their tale in poetry,And some in Piccadilly:Some yielded to a Spanish hat,Some to a Turkish sandal;Hosts suffered from an entrechatAnd one or two from Handel.
Good Sterling said no dame should comeTo be the queen of his bourn,But one who only prized her home,Her spinning wheel, and Gisborne:And Mrs. Sterling says odd thingsWith most sublime effront’ry;Gives lectures on elliptic springs,And follows hounds ’cross country.
Sir Roger had a Briton’s prideIn freedom, plough, and furrow;--No fortune hath Sir Roger’s bride,Except a rotten borough;Gustavus longed for truth and crumbs,Contentment and a cottage;--His Laura brings a pair of plumsTo boil the poor man’s pottage.
My rural coz, who loves his peace,And swore at scientifics,Is flirting with a lecturer’s niece,Who construes hieroglyphics:And Foppery’s fool, who hated bluesWorse than he hated Holborn,Is raving of a pensive Muse,Who does the verse for Colburn.
And Vyvyan, Humour’s crazy child,--Whose worship, whim, or passion,Was still for something strange and wild,Wit, wickedness, or fashion,--Is happy with a little Love,A parson’s pretty daughter,As tender as a turtle-dove,--As dull as milk and water.
And Gerard hath his Northern Fay--His nymph of mirth and haggis;And Courtenay wins a damsel gayWho figures at Colnaghi’s;And Davenant now has drawn a prize,--I hope and trust, a Venus,Because there are some sympathies--As well as leagues--between us.
Thus north and south, and east and west,The chimes of Hymen jingle;But I shall wander on, unblest,And singularly single;Light-pursed, light-hearted, addle-brained,And often captivated,Yet, save on circuit--unretained,And, save at chess--unmated.
Yet oh!--if Nemesis with meShould sport, as with my betters,And put me on my awkward knee,To prate of flowers and fetters,--I know not whose the eyes should beTo make this fortress tremble;But yesternight I dreamt,--ah me!Whose they should most resemble!
Words in this poem 20
- lovingly adv.
- With love; affectionately.
- neighbour v. i.
- To dwell in the vicinity; to be a neighbor, or in the neighborhood; to be near.
- tierce n.
- A cask whose content is one third of a pipe; that is, forty-two wine gallons; also, a liquid measure of forty-two wine, or thirty- five imperial, gallons. [F. tierce a third, from tiers, tierce, third, fr. L. tertius the third; akin to tres three. See Third, Three, and cf. Terce, Tercet, Tertiary.]
- sadly adv.
- Wearily; heavily; firmly.
- piccadilly n.
- A high, stiff collar for the neck; also, a hem or band about the skirt of a garment, -- worn by men in the 17th century. [OF. piccagilles the several divisions of pieces fastened together about the brim of the collar of a doublet, a dim. fr. Sp. picado, p.p. of picar to prick. See ]
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
- bourn n.
- A stream or rivulet; a burn. [OE. burne, borne, AS. burna; akin to OS. brunno spring, G. born, brunnen, OHG. prunno, Goth. brunna, Icel. brunnr, and perh. to Gr. burn, v., because the source]
- elliptic a.
- Of or pertaining to an ellipse; having the form of an ellipse; oblong, with rounded ends. [Gr. elliptique. See Ellipsis.]
- roger n.
- A black flag with white skull and crossbones, formerly used by pirates; -- called also Jolly Roger.
- laura n.
- A number of hermitages or cells in the same neighborhood occupied by anchorites who were under the same superior. C. Kingsley.
- niece n.
- A relative, in general; especially, a descendant, whether male or female; a granddaughter or a grandson. B. Jonson. Wyclif. [OE. nece, F. nièce, LL. neptia, for L. neptis a granddaughter, niece, akin to nepos. See Nephew.]
- humour n.
- Moisture, especially, the moisture or fluid of animal bodies, as the chyle, lymph, etc.; as, the humors of the eye, etc. [OE. humour, OF. humor, umor, F. humeur, L. humor, umor, moisture, fluid, fr. humere, umere, to be moist. See Humid.]
- damsel n.
- A young person, either male or female, of noble or gentle extraction; as, Damsel Pepin; Damsel Richard, Prince of Wales. [OE. damosel, damesel, damisel, damsel, fr. OF. damoisele, damisele, gentlewoman, F. demoiselle young lady; cf. OF. damoisel young nobleman, F. damoiseau; fr. LL]
- hymen n.
- A fold of muscous membrane often found at the orifice of the vagina; the vaginal membrane.
- jingle v. i.
- To sound with a fine, sharp, rattling, clinking, or tinkling sound; as, sleigh bells jingle. [OE. gingelen, ginglen; prob. akin to E. chink; cf. also E. jangle.]
- 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,]
- unblest a.
- Not blest; excluded from benediction; hence, accursed; wretched. [Pref. un- not + blessed, blest.]
- singularly adv.
- In a singular manner; in a manner, or to a degree, not common to others; extraordinarily; as, to be singularly exact in one's statements; singularly considerate of others.
- nemesis n.
- The goddess of retribution or vengeance; hence, retributive justice personified; divine vengeance. [L., fr. gr. Nomad.]
- yesternight n.
- The last night; the night last past.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Marriage Chimes is in the public domain. This text is taken from The poems of Winthrop Mackworth Praed. [selected], Project Gutenberg ebook #71008; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Winthrop Mackworth Praed, Marriage Chimes, in Poems (1820–1839), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #71008, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/praed-poems/marriage-chimes.html, id L10210.
Form and metre
Marriage Chimes is 88 lines in 11 stanzas of 8 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, in 4 of the 11 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 39 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% 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.
- 1 -A-ABCBC sea · togetherA · lovingly · weatherA · shelfB · labourC · myselfB · neighbourC
- 2 -A-AABAB war · missingA · are · kissingA · ringA · parriedB · marryingA · marriedB
- 3 ABABCDCD aliveA · plentyB · fiveA · twentyB · sighedC · sighingD · diedC · dyingD
- 4 -A-ABCBC fly · lilyA · poetry · piccadillyA · hatB · sandalC · entrechatB · handelC
- 5 ABABC-C- comeA · bournB · homeA · gisborneB · thingsC · effront'ry · springsC · country
- 6 A-A-BCBC prideA · furrow · brideA · borough · crumbsB · cottageC · plumsB · pottageC
- 7 ABABC-C- peaceA · scientificsB · nieceA · hieroglyphicsB · bluesC · holborn · museC · colburn
- 8 ABABCDCD childA · passionB · wildA · fashionB · loveC · daughterD · doveC · waterD
- 9 ABABCDCD fayA · haggisB · gayA · colnaghi'sB · prizeC · venusD · sympathiesC · usD
- 10 ABABCDCD westA · jingleB · unblestA · singleB · brainedC · captivatedD · unretainedC · unmatedD
- 11 ABABACAC meA · bettersB · kneeA · fettersB · beA · trembleC · meA · resembleC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Fair Lady, ere you put to sea, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| You and your mate together, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| I meant to hail you lovingly, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| And wish you pleasant weather. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| I took my fiddle from the shelf, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But vain was all my labour; | 7 | ·····/· |
| For still I thought about myself, | 8 | ·······/ |
| And not about my neighbour. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Safe from the perils of the war, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Nor killed, nor hurt, nor missing-- | 8 | ··˘···/˘ |
| Since many things in common are | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Between campaigns and kissing-- | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| Ungrazed by glance, unbound by ring, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Love’s carte and tierce I’ve parried, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| While half my friends are marrying, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| And half--good lack!--are married. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| ’Tis strange--but I have passed alive | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Where darts and deaths were plenty, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Until I find my twenty-five | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As lonely as my twenty: | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| And many lips have sadly sighed-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Which were not made for sighing, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And many hearts have darkly died-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Which never dreamed of dying. | 8 | ·/˘·˘·/˘ |
| Some victims fluttered like a fly, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Some languished like a lily; | 8 | ·/˘˘··/˘ |
| Some told their tale in poetry, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| And some in Piccadilly: | 7 | ···/˘·˘ |
| Some yielded to a Spanish hat, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Some to a Turkish sandal; | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Hosts suffered from an entrechat | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And one or two from Handel. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Good Sterling said no dame should come | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To be the queen of his bourn, | 7 | ······· |
| But one who only prized her home, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Her spinning wheel, and Gisborne: | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And Mrs. Sterling says odd things | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| With most sublime effront’ry; | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| Gives lectures on elliptic springs, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And follows hounds ’cross country. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Sir Roger had a Briton’s pride | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| In freedom, plough, and furrow;-- | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| No fortune hath Sir Roger’s bride, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Except a rotten borough; | 7 | ···/˘/· |
| Gustavus longed for truth and crumbs, | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| Contentment and a cottage;-- | 7 | ˘/˘··/˘ |
| His Laura brings a pair of plums | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To boil the poor man’s pottage. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| My rural coz, who loves his peace, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And swore at scientifics, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Is flirting with a lecturer’s niece, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Who construes hieroglyphics: | 7 | ·˘/·˘/˘ |
| And Foppery’s fool, who hated blues | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Worse than he hated Holborn, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Is raving of a pensive Muse, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Who does the verse for Colburn. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And Vyvyan, Humour’s crazy child,-- | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Whose worship, whim, or passion, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Was still for something strange and wild, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Wit, wickedness, or fashion,-- | 7 | ·/˘˘·/˘ |
| Is happy with a little Love, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A parson’s pretty daughter, | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| As tender as a turtle-dove,-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| As dull as milk and water. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And Gerard hath his Northern Fay-- | 8 | ·˘/··/˘· |
| His nymph of mirth and haggis; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And Courtenay wins a damsel gay | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Who figures at Colnaghi’s; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And Davenant now has drawn a prize,-- | 9 | ········· |
| I hope and trust, a Venus, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Because there are some sympathies-- | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| As well as leagues--between us. | 7 | ······· |
| Thus north and south, and east and west, | 8 | ········ |
| The chimes of Hymen jingle; | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| But I shall wander on, unblest, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And singularly single; | 7 | ·/˘˘˘/˘ |
| Light-pursed, light-hearted, addle-brained, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And often captivated, | 7 | ·/˘/˘·˘ |
| Yet, save on circuit--unretained, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And, save at chess--unmated. | 7 | ······· |
| Yet oh!--if Nemesis with me | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Should sport, as with my betters, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And put me on my awkward knee, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To prate of flowers and fetters,-- | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| I know not whose the eyes should be | 8 | ········ |
| To make this fortress tremble; | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| But yesternight I dreamt,--ah me! | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Whose they should most resemble! | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
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