Bacchic Frenzy
Topers in and out of season!'Tis not thirst but better reasonBids you tope on steadily!--Pass the wine-cup, let it beFilled and filled for bout on boutNever sleep!Racy jest and song flash out!Spirits leap!
Those who cannot drink their rations,Go, begone from these ovations!Here's no place for bashful boys;Like the plague, they spoil our joys.--Bashful eyes bring rustic cheerWhen we're drunk,And a blush betrays a drearWant of spunk.
If there's here a fellow lurkingWho his proper share is shirking,Let the door to him be shown,From our crew we'll have him thrown;--He's more desolate than death,Mixed with us;Let him go and end his breath!Better thus!
When your heart is set on drinking,Drink on without stay or thinking,Till you cannot stand up straight,Nor one word articulate!--But herewith I pledge to youThis fair health:May the glass no mischief do,Bring you wealth!
Wed not you the god and goddess,For the god doth scorn the goddess;He whose name is Liber, heGlories in his liberty.All her virtue in the cupRuns to waste,And wine wedded yieldeth upStrength and taste.
Since she is the queen of ocean,Goddess she may claim devotion;But she is no mate to kissHis superior holiness.Bacchus never deigned to beWatered, he!Liber never bore to beChristened, he!
Words in this poem
- tope n.
- A moundlike Buddhist sepulcher, or memorial monument. often erected over a Buddhish relic. [Probably from Skr. stpa a tope, astupa, through Prakrin tppo.]
- racy a.
- Having a strong flavor indicating origin; of distinct characteristic taste; tasting of the soil; hence, fresh; rich. [From Race a tribe, family.]
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
- bashful a.
- Abashed; daunted; dismayed. [See Bash.]
- drear n.
- Sadness; dismalness.
- spunk n.
- Wood that readily takes fire; touchwood; also, a kind of tinder made from a species of fungus; punk; amadou. Sir T. Browne. [Gael. spong, or Ir. sponc, tinder, sponge; cf. AS. sponge a sponge (L. spongia), spon a chip. Cf. Sponge, Punk.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- wedded a.
- Joined in wedlock; married.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Bacchic Frenzy is in the public domain. This text is taken from Wine, Women, and Song Mediaeval Latin Students' songs; Now first translated into English verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #18044; 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 Addington Symonds, Bacchic Frenzy, in Wine, Women and Song (1884), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18044, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/symonds-wine-women/bacchic-frenzy.html, id L11861.
Form and metre
Bacchic Frenzy is 48 lines in 6 stanzas of 8 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is AABBCDCD, in 2 of the 6 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.3 syllables. 15 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 27% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 AA--BCBC seasonA · reasonA · steadily · be · boutB · sleepC · outB · leapC
- 2 --AABCBC rations · ovations · boysA · joysA · cheerB · drunkC · drearB · spunkC
- 3 AABBCDCD lurkingA · shirkingA · shownB · thrownB · deathC · usD · breathC · thusD
- 4 AABBCDCD drinkingA · thinkingA · straightB · articulateB · youC · healthD · doC · wealthD
- 5 AA--BCBC goddessA · goddessA · he · liberty · cupB · wasteC · upB · tasteC
- 6 AABBCCCC oceanA · devotionA · kissB · holinessB · beC · heC · beC · heC
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Topers in and out of season! | 8 | ······/˘ |
| 'Tis not thirst but better reason | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Bids you tope on steadily!-- | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Pass the wine-cup, let it be | 7 | ······· |
| Filled and filled for bout on bout | 7 | ······· |
| Never sleep! | 3 | /˘· |
| Racy jest and song flash out! | 7 | /˘····· |
| Spirits leap! | 3 | /˘· |
| Those who cannot drink their rations, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Go, begone from these ovations! | 8 | ·˘/··˘/˘ |
| Here's no place for bashful boys; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Like the plague, they spoil our joys.-- | 7 | ·····/· |
| Bashful eyes bring rustic cheer | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| When we're drunk, | 3 | ··· |
| And a blush betrays a drear | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Want of spunk. | 3 | ··· |
| If there's here a fellow lurking | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Who his proper share is shirking, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Let the door to him be shown, | 7 | ······· |
| From our crew we'll have him thrown;-- | 7 | ·/····· |
| He's more desolate than death, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Mixed with us; | 3 | ··· |
| Let him go and end his breath! | 7 | ······· |
| Better thus! | 3 | /˘· |
| When your heart is set on drinking, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Drink on without stay or thinking, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Till you cannot stand up straight, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Nor one word articulate!-- | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| But herewith I pledge to you | 7 | ·//···· |
| This fair health: | 3 | ··· |
| May the glass no mischief do, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Bring you wealth! | 3 | ··· |
| Wed not you the god and goddess, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| For the god doth scorn the goddess; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| He whose name is Liber, he | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Glories in his liberty. | 7 | /˘··/˘˘ |
| All her virtue in the cup | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Runs to waste, | 3 | ··· |
| And wine wedded yieldeth up | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Strength and taste. | 3 | ··· |
| Since she is the queen of ocean, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Goddess she may claim devotion; | 8 | /˘···˘/˘ |
| But she is no mate to kiss | 7 | ······· |
| His superior holiness. | 8 | ·˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Bacchus never deigned to be | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Watered, he! | 3 | /˘· |
| Liber never bore to be | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Christened, he! | 3 | /˘· |
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.