Poem I
With twenty pounds but three weeks sinceFrom Paris forth did Titmarsh wheel,I thought myself as rich a princeAs beggar poor I'm now at Lille.
Confiding in my ample means--In troth, I was a happy chiel!I passed the gates of Valenciennes,I never thought to come by Lille.
I never thought my twenty poundsSome rascal knave would dare to steal;I gayly passed the Belgic boundsAt Quiévrain, twenty miles from Lille.
To Antwerp town I hasten'd post,And as I took my evening mealI felt my pouch,--my purse was lost,O Heaven! Why came I not by Lille?
I straightway called for ink and pen,To grandmamma I made appeal;Meanwhile a loan of guineas tenI borrowed from a friend so leal.
I got the cash from grandmamma(Her gentle heart my woes could feel,)But where I went, and what I saw,What matters? Here I am at Lille.
My heart is weary, my peace is gone,How shall I e'er my woes reveal?I have no cash, I lie in pawn,A stranger in the town of Lille.
Words in this poem
- confiding a.
- That confides; trustful; unsuspicious.
- troth n.
- Belief; faith; fidelity. [A variant of truth. See Truth.]
- knave n.
- A boy; especially, a boy servant. Wyclif. [OE., boy, servant, knave, AS. cnafa boy, youth; cf. AS. cnapa boy, youth, D. kna, G. knabe boy, knappe esquire, Icel. knapi, Sw. knape esquire, knäfvel knave.]
- gayly adv.
- With mirth and frolic; merrily; blithely; gleefully.
- belgic a.
- Of or pertaining to the Belgæ, a German tribe who anciently possessed the country between the Rhine, the Seine, and the ocean. [L. Belgicus, fr. Belgae the Belgians.]
- straightway adv.
- Immediately; without loss of time; without delay.
- grandmamma n.
- A grand mother.
- meanwhile n.
- The intervening time; as, in the meantime (or mean time).
- leal a.
- Faithful; loyal; true. [OE. leial, another form of loial, F. loyal. See Loyal.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poem I 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, Poem I, in Ballads (1849–1855), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2732, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/thackeray-ballads/poem-i.html, id L10409.
Form and metre
Poem I is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 4 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 25% 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 ABAB sinceA · wheelB · princeA · lilleB
- 2 -A-A means · chielA · valenciennes · lilleA
- 3 ABAB poundsA · stealB · boundsA · lilleB
- 4 -A-A post · mealA · lost · lilleA
- 5 ABAB penA · appealB · tenA · lealB
- 6 -A-A grandmamma · feelA · saw · lilleA
- 7 ABAB goneA · revealB · pawnA · lilleB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| With twenty pounds but three weeks since | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| From Paris forth did Titmarsh wheel, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I thought myself as rich a prince | 8 | ···/···· |
| As beggar poor I'm now at Lille. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Confiding in my ample means-- | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| In troth, I was a happy chiel! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I passed the gates of Valenciennes, | 9 | ·····˘/˘· |
| I never thought to come by Lille. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I never thought my twenty pounds | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Some rascal knave would dare to steal; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I gayly passed the Belgic bounds | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| At Quiévrain, twenty miles from Lille. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To Antwerp town I hasten'd post, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And as I took my evening meal | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I felt my pouch,--my purse was lost, | 8 | ········ |
| O Heaven! Why came I not by Lille? | 8 | ·/······ |
| I straightway called for ink and pen, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To grandmamma I made appeal; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Meanwhile a loan of guineas ten | 8 | /····/˘· |
| I borrowed from a friend so leal. | 8 | ·/······ |
| I got the cash from grandmamma | 8 | ········ |
| (Her gentle heart my woes could feel,) | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But where I went, and what I saw, | 8 | ········ |
| What matters? Here I am at Lille. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| My heart is weary, my peace is gone, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| How shall I e'er my woes reveal? | 8 | ······˘/ |
| I have no cash, I lie in pawn, | 8 | ········ |
| A stranger in the town of Lille. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
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