Poem II
To stealing I can never come,To pawn my watch I'm too genteel,Besides, I left my watch at home,How could I pawn it then at Lille?
"La note," at times the guests will say.I turn as white as cold boil'd veal;I turn and look another way,I dare not ask the bill at Lille.
I dare not to the landlord say,"Good sir, I cannot pay your bill;"He thinks I am a Lord Anglais,And is quite proud I stay at Lille.
He thinks I am a Lord Anglais,Like Rothschild or Sir Robert Peel,And so he serves me every dayThe best of meat and drink in Lille.
Yet when he looks me in the faceI blush as red as cochineal;And think did he but know my case,How changed he'd be, my host of Lille.
My heart is weary, my peace is gone,How shall I e'er my woes reveal?I have no money, I lie in pawn,A stranger in the town of Lille.
Words in this poem
- 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 II 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 II, in Ballads (1849–1855), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2732, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/thackeray-ballads/poem-ii.html, id L10410.
Form and metre
Poem II is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 8% 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 comeA · genteelB · homeA · lilleB
- 2 ABAB sayA · vealB · wayA · lilleB
- 3 ABAB sayA · billB · anglaisA · lilleB
- 4 ABAB anglaisA · peelB · dayA · lilleB
- 5 A-A- faceA · cochineal · caseA · lille
- 6 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 |
|---|---|---|
| To stealing I can never come, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To pawn my watch I'm too genteel, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Besides, I left my watch at home, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| How could I pawn it then at Lille? | 8 | ········ |
| "La note," at times the guests will say. | 8 | ········ |
| I turn as white as cold boil'd veal; | 8 | ········ |
| I turn and look another way, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| I dare not ask the bill at Lille. | 8 | ········ |
| I dare not to the landlord say, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| "Good sir, I cannot pay your bill;" | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He thinks I am a Lord Anglais, | 8 | ········ |
| And is quite proud I stay at Lille. | 8 | ········ |
| He thinks I am a Lord Anglais, | 8 | ········ |
| Like Rothschild or Sir Robert Peel, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| And so he serves me every day | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The best of meat and drink in Lille. | 8 | ········ |
| Yet when he looks me in the face | 8 | ········ |
| I blush as red as cochineal; | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| And think did he but know my case, | 8 | ········ |
| How changed he'd be, my host of Lille. | 8 | ········ |
| My heart is weary, my peace is gone, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| How shall I e'er my woes reveal? | 8 | ······˘/ |
| I have no money, I lie in pawn, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| A stranger in the town of Lille. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
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.