A Ballad
Patrick astore, what news upon the town?By my soul there's bad news, for the gold she was pull'd down,The gold she was pull'd down, of that I'm very sure,For I saw'd them reading upon the towlsel doore.Sing, och, och, hoh, hoh.
Arrah! who was him reading? 'twas jauntleman in ruffles,And Patrick's bell she was ringing all in muffles;She was ringing very sorry, her tongue tied up with rag,Lorsha! and out of her shteeple there was hung a black flag.Sing, och, &c.
Patrick astore, who was him made this law?Some they do say, 'twas the big man of straw;But others they do say, that it was Jug-Joulter,The devil he may take her into hell and Boult-her!Sing, och, &c.
Musha! Why Parliament wouldn't you maul,Those carters, and paviours, and footmen, and all;Those rascally paviours who did us undermine,Och ma ceade millia mollighart on the feeders of swine!Sing, och, &c.
Words in this poem
- parliament n.
- A parleying; a discussion; a conference. [OE. parlement, F. parlement, fr. parler to speak; cf. LL. parlamentum, parliamentum. See Parley.]
- rascally a.
- Like a rascal; trickish or dishonest; base; worthless; -- often in humorous disparagement, without implication of dishonesty.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Ballad is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #13621; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Jonathan Swift, A Ballad, in Poems, Volume II (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/a-ballad.html, id L09360.
Form and metre
A Ballad is 20 lines in 4 stanzas of 5 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 70% of the lines. 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in rhyming couplets.
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 AABB- townA · downA · sureB · dooreB · hoh
- 2 AABB- rufflesA · mufflesA · ragB · flagB · —
- 3 AA--- lawA · strawA · joulter · her · —
- 4 AABB- maulA · allA · undermineB · swineB · —
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Patrick astore, what news upon the town? | 10 | /˘/˘······ |
| By my soul there's bad news, for the gold she was pull'd down, | 13 | ············· |
| The gold she was pull'd down, of that I'm very sure, | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| For I saw'd them reading upon the towlsel doore. | 12 | ····/˘······ |
| Sing, och, och, hoh, hoh. | 5 | ····· |
| Arrah! who was him reading? 'twas jauntleman in ruffles, | 14 | ·····/˘·····/˘ |
| And Patrick's bell she was ringing all in muffles; | 12 | ·/˘···/˘··/˘ |
| She was ringing very sorry, her tongue tied up with rag, | 14 | ··/˘/˘/˘······ |
| Lorsha! and out of her shteeple there was hung a black flag. | 14 | ·············· |
| Sing, och, &c. | 3 | ··· |
| Patrick astore, who was him made this law? | 10 | /˘/˘······ |
| Some they do say, 'twas the big man of straw; | 10 | ·········· |
| But others they do say, that it was Jug-Joulter, | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| The devil he may take her into hell and Boult-her! | 12 | ·/·········· |
| Sing, och, &c. | 3 | ··· |
| Musha! Why Parliament wouldn't you maul, | 9 | /˘·/˘/˘·· |
| Those carters, and paviours, and footmen, and all; | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| Those rascally paviours who did us undermine, | 12 | ·/˘˘·····/˘· |
| Och ma ceade millia mollighart on the feeders of swine! | 14 | ··········/˘·· |
| Sing, och, &c. | 3 | ··· |
Notes from the edition 8
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume II (Project Gutenberg #13621).
- Stanza 1, line 1 Astore, means my dear, my heart.
- Stanza 1, line 4 The Tholsel, where criminals for the city were tried, and where proclamations, etc., were posted. It was invariably called the Touls'el by the lower class.
- Stanza 1, line 5 It would appear that the chorus here introduced, was intended to chime with the howl, the ululatus, or funeral cry, of the Irish.
- Stanza 2, line 4 Swift, it is said, caused a muffled peal to be rung from the steeple of St. Patrick's, on the day of the proclamation, and a black flag to be displayed from its battlements.--Scott.
- Stanza 3, line 2 The big man of straw, means the Duke of Dorset, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland; he had only the name of authority, the essential power being vested in the primate.
- Stanza 3, line 3 Jug-Joulter means Primate Boulter, whose name is played upon in the succeeding line. In consequence of the public dissatisfaction expressed at the lowering the gold coin, the primate became very unpopular.
- Stanza 4, line 2 "Footmen" alludes to a supporter of the measure, said to have been the son or grandson of a servant.
- Stanza 4, line 4 Means "my hundred thousand hearty curses on the feeders of swine."
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