Poem IV
Say, shall I to you Flemish church,And at a Popish altar kneel?Oh, do not leave me in the lurch,--I'll cry, ye patron-saints of Lille!
Ye virgins dressed in satin hoops,Ye martyrs slain for mortal weal,Look kindly down! before you stoopsThe miserablest man in Lille.
And lo! as I beheld with aweA pictured saint (I swear 'tis real),It smiled, and turned to grandmamma!--It did! and I had hope in Lille!
'Twas five o'clock, and I could eat,Although I could not pay my meal:I hasten back into the streetWhere lies my inn, the best Lille.
What see I on my table stand,--A letter with a well-known seal?'Tis grandmamma's! I know her hand,--"To Mr. M. A. Titmarsh, Lille."
I feel a choking in my throat,I pant and stagger, faint and reel!It is--it is--a ten-pound note,And I'm no more in pawn at 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,]
- popish a.
- Of or pertaining to the pope; taught or ordained by the pope; hence, of or pertaining to the Roman Catholic Church; -- often used opprobriously.
- kneel v. i.
- To bend the knee; to fall or rest on the knees; -- sometimes with down. [OE. knelen, cneolien; akin to D. knielen, Dan. knæle. See Knee.]
- lurch v. t.
- To leave in the lurch; to cheat.
- pictured a.
- Furnished with pictures; represented by a picture or pictures; as, a pictured scene.
- grandmamma n.
- A grand mother.
- choking a.
- That chokes; producing the feeling of strangulation.
- pant v. i.
- To breathe quickly or in a labored manner, as after exertion or from eagerness or excitement; to respire with heaving of the breast; to gasp. [Cf. F. panteler to gasp for breath, OF. panteisier to be breathless, F. pantois out of breath; perh. akin to E. phantom, the verb prob. orig. meaning, to have t]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poem IV 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 IV, in Ballads (1849–1855), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2732, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/thackeray-ballads/poem-iv.html, id L10412.
Form and metre
Poem IV 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 8.0 syllables. 12% 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 churchA · kneelB · lurchA · lilleB
- 2 ABAB hoopsA · wealB · stoopsA · lilleB
- 3 -A-A awe · realA · grandmamma · lilleA
- 4 ABAB eatA · mealB · streetA · lilleB
- 5 ABAB standA · sealB · handA · lilleB
- 6 ABAB throatA · reelB · noteA · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Say, shall I to you Flemish church, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And at a Popish altar kneel? | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Oh, do not leave me in the lurch,-- | 8 | ········ |
| I'll cry, ye patron-saints of Lille! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Ye virgins dressed in satin hoops, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Ye martyrs slain for mortal weal, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Look kindly down! before you stoops | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The miserablest man in Lille. | 8 | ·/˘˘˘··· |
| And lo! as I beheld with awe | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| A pictured saint (I swear 'tis real), | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| It smiled, and turned to grandmamma!-- | 8 | ········ |
| It did! and I had hope in Lille! | 8 | ········ |
| 'Twas five o'clock, and I could eat, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Although I could not pay my meal: | 8 | ········ |
| I hasten back into the street | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Where lies my inn, the best Lille. | 7 | ······· |
| What see I on my table stand,-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A letter with a well-known seal? | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| 'Tis grandmamma's! I know her hand,-- | 8 | ········ |
| "To Mr. M. A. Titmarsh, Lille." | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I feel a choking in my throat, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I pant and stagger, faint and reel! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| It is--it is--a ten-pound note, | 8 | ········ |
| And I'm no more in pawn at 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.