Drede
The sayle is vp, Fortune ruleth our helme,We wante no wynde to passe now ouer all;Fauoure we haue tougher than ony elme,That wyll abyde and neuer from vs fall:But vnder hony ofte tyme lyeth bytter gall;For, as me thoughte, in our shyppe I dyde seeFull subtyll persones, in nombre foure and thre.
The fyrste was Fauell, full of flatery,Wyth fables false that well coude fayne a tale;The seconde was Suspecte, whiche that daylyMysdempte eche man, with face deedly and pale;And Haruy Hafter, that well coude picke a male;With other foure of theyr affynyte,Dysdayne, Ryotte, Dyssymuler, Subtylte.
Fortune theyr frende, with whome oft she dyde daunce;They coude not faile, thei thought, they were so sure;And oftentymes I wolde myselfe auaunceWith them to make solace and pleasure;But my dysporte they coude not well endure;They sayde they hated for to dele with Drede.Than Fauell gan wyth fayre speche me to fede.
Words in this poem
- passe a.
- Past; gone by; hence, past one's prime; worn; faded; as, a passée belle. Ld. Lytton. [F.]
- hafter n.
- A caviler; a wrangler. Baret.
- ryotte n.
- A peasant or cultivator of the soil. [India] [Ar. & Hind. ra'iyat, the same word as ra'iyah, a subject, tenant, peasant. See Rayah.]
- solace n.
- Comfort in grief; alleviation of grief or anxiety; also, that which relieves in distress; that which cheers or consoles; relief. [OF. solas, ssoulaz, L. solacium, solatium, fr. solari to comfort, console. Cf. Console, v. t.]
- dele v. t.
- To deal; to divide; to distribute. [See Deal.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Drede is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of John Skelton, Volume 1 (of 2), Project Gutenberg ebook #59997; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Skelton, Drede, in Poetical Works, Volume I (1500–1529), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59997, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/skelton-poems/drede.html, id L08631.
Form and metre
Drede is 21 lines in 3 stanzas of 7 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 1 line ends 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 pentameter.
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 ABABB-- helmeA · allB · elmeA · fallB · gallB · see · thre
- 2 -A-AA-- flatery · taleA · dayly · paleA · maleA · affynyte · subtylte
- 3 ABA-BCC daunceA · sureB · auaunceA · pleasure · endureB · dredeC · fedeC
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The sayle is vp, Fortune ruleth our helme, | 10 | ····/˘··/· |
| We wante no wynde to passe now ouer all; | 11 | ·/˘····/··· |
| Fauoure we haue tougher than ony elme, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| That wyll abyde and neuer from vs fall: | 11 | ·····/˘·//· |
| But vnder hony ofte tyme lyeth bytter gall; | 10 | ·········· |
| For, as me thoughte, in our shyppe I dyde see | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Full subtyll persones, in nombre foure and thre. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The fyrste was Fauell, full of flatery, | 9 | ········· |
| Wyth fables false that well coude fayne a tale; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The seconde was Suspecte, whiche that dayly | 10 | ·········· |
| Mysdempte eche man, with face deedly and pale; | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| And Haruy Hafter, that well coude picke a male; | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| With other foure of theyr affynyte, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Dysdayne, Ryotte, Dyssymuler, Subtylte. | 9 | ········· |
| Fortune theyr frende, with whome oft she dyde daunce; | 10 | /˘········ |
| They coude not faile, thei thought, they were so sure; | 10 | ·········· |
| And oftentymes I wolde myselfe auaunce | 9 | ········· |
| With them to make solace and pleasure; | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| But my dysporte they coude not well endure; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| They sayde they hated for to dele with Drede. | 11 | ···/˘··/˘·· |
| Than Fauell gan wyth fayre speche me to fede. | 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.