Poem III
The sun bursts out in furious blaze,I perspirate from head to heel;I'd like to hire a one-horse chaise,How can I, without cash at Lille?
I pass in sunshine burning hotBy cafés where in beer they deal;I think how pleasant were a pot,A frothing pot of beer of Lille!
What is yon house with walls so thick,All girt around with guard and grille?O gracious gods! it makes me sick,It is the PRISON-HOUSE of Lille!
O cursed prison strong and barred,It does my very blood congeal!I tremble as I pass the guard,And quit that ugly part of Lille.
The church-door beggar whines and prays,I turn away at his appealAh, church-door beggar! go thy ways!You're not the poorest man in Lille.
My heart is weary, my peace is gone,How shall I e'er any woes reveal?I have no money, I lie in pawn,A stranger in the town of Lille.
Words in this poem
- chaise n.
- A two-wheeled carriage for two persons, with a calash top, and the body hung on leather straps, or thoroughbraces. It is usually drawn by one horse. [F. chaise seat, or chair, chaise or carriage, for chaire, from a peculiar Parisian pronunciation. See Chair.]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- frothing n.
- Exaggerated declamation; rant.
- girt v. t.
- To gird; to encircle; to invest by means of a girdle; to measure the girth of; as, to girt a tree. [From Girt, n., cf. Girth, v.]
- grille a.
- A lattice or grating. [F. See Grill, v. t.]
- cursed a.
- Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.
- 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 III 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 III, in Ballads (1849–1855), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2732, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/thackeray-ballads/poem-iii.html, id L10411.
Form and metre
Poem III is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 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 blazeA · heelB · chaiseA · lilleB
- 2 ABAB hotA · dealB · potA · lilleB
- 3 ABAB thickA · grilleB · sickA · lilleB
- 4 ABAB barredA · congealB · guardA · lilleB
- 5 ABAB praysA · appealB · waysA · lilleB
- 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 |
|---|---|---|
| The sun bursts out in furious blaze, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I perspirate from head to heel; | 8 | ········ |
| I'd like to hire a one-horse chaise, | 8 | ···/···· |
| How can I, without cash at Lille? | 8 | ········ |
| I pass in sunshine burning hot | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| By cafés where in beer they deal; | 7 | ······· |
| I think how pleasant were a pot, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A frothing pot of beer of Lille! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| What is yon house with walls so thick, | 8 | ········ |
| All girt around with guard and grille? | 8 | ········ |
| O gracious gods! it makes me sick, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| It is the PRISON-HOUSE of Lille! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| O cursed prison strong and barred, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| It does my very blood congeal! | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| I tremble as I pass the guard, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And quit that ugly part of Lille. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The church-door beggar whines and prays, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I turn away at his appeal | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Ah, church-door beggar! go thy ways! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| You're not the poorest man in Lille. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| My heart is weary, my peace is gone, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| How shall I e'er any woes reveal? | 9 | ····/˘·˘/ |
| 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.