By Adelbert Von Chamisso
There lived a sage in days of yoreAnd he a handsome pigtail wore;But wondered much and sorrowed moreBecause it hung behind him.
He mused upon this curious case,And swore he'd change the pigtail's place,And have it hanging at his face,Not dangling there behind him.
Says he, "The mystery I've found,--I'll turn me round,"--he turned him round;But still it hung behind him.
Then round, and round, and out and in,All day the puzzled sage did spin;In vain--it mattered not a pin,--The pigtail hung behind him.
And right, and left, and round about,And up, and down, and in, and out,He turned; but still the pigtail stoutHung steadily behind him.
And though his efforts never slack,And though he twist, and twirl, and tack,Alas! still faithful to his backThe pigtail hangs behind him.
Words in this poem
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- pigtail n.
- The tail of a pig.
- wondered a.
- Having performed wonders; able to perform wonderful things.
- sorrowed a.
- Accompanied with sorrow; sorrowful.
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
- twirl v. t.
- To move or turn round rapidly; to whirl round; to move and turn rapidly with the fingers. [Cf. AS. þwiril a churn staff, a stirrer, flail, þweran, aþweran, to agitate, twirl, G. zwirlen, quirlen, to twirl, to turn round or about, quirl a twirling stic]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
By Adelbert Von Chamisso is in the public domain. This text is taken from Ballads, Project Gutenberg ebook #2732; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Makepeace Thackeray, By Adelbert Von Chamisso, in Ballads (1849–1855), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2732, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/thackeray-ballads/by-adelbert-von-chamisso.html, id L10364.
Form and metre
By Adelbert Von Chamisso is 23 lines in 6 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 52% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 17% 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.
- 1 AAA- yoreA · woreA · moreA · him
- 2 AAA- caseA · placeA · faceA · him
- 3 AA- foundA · roundA · him
- 4 AAA- inA · spinA · pinA · him
- 5 AAA- aboutA · outA · stoutA · him
- 6 AAA- slackA · tackA · backA · him
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 |
|---|---|---|
| There lived a sage in days of yore | 8 | ········ |
| And he a handsome pigtail wore; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| But wondered much and sorrowed more | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Because it hung behind him. | 7 | ······· |
| He mused upon this curious case, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And swore he'd change the pigtail's place, | 8 | ········ |
| And have it hanging at his face, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Not dangling there behind him. | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Says he, "The mystery I've found,-- | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| I'll turn me round,"--he turned him round; | 8 | ········ |
| But still it hung behind him. | 7 | ······· |
| Then round, and round, and out and in, | 8 | ········ |
| All day the puzzled sage did spin; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In vain--it mattered not a pin,-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The pigtail hung behind him. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And right, and left, and round about, | 8 | ········ |
| And up, and down, and in, and out, | 8 | ········ |
| He turned; but still the pigtail stout | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Hung steadily behind him. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| And though his efforts never slack, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And though he twist, and twirl, and tack, | 8 | ········ |
| Alas! still faithful to his back | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| The pigtail hangs behind him. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
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.