Ronsard to His Mistress
"Quand vous serez bien vielle, le soir à la chandelleAssise auprès du feu devisant et filant,Direz, chantant mes vers en vous esmerveillant,Ronsard m'a célébré du temps que j'étois belle."
Some winter night, shut snugly inBeside the fagot in the hall,I think I see you sit and spin,Surrounded by your maidens all.Old tales are told, old songs are sung,Old days come back to memory;You say, "When I was fair and young,A poet sang of me!"
There's not a maiden in your hall,Though tired and sleepy ever so,But wakes, as you my name recall,And longs the history to know.And, as the piteous tale is said,Of lady cold and lover true,Each, musing, carries it to bed,And sighs and envies you!
"Our lady's old and feeble now,"They'll say; "she once was fresh and fair,And yet she spurn'd her lover's vow,And heartless left him to despair:The lover lies in silent earth,No kindly mate the lady cheers;She sits beside a lonely hearth,With threescore and ten years!"
Ah! dreary thoughts and dreams are those,But wherefore yield me to despair,While yet the poet's bosom glows,While yet the dame is peerless fair!Sweet lady mine! while yet 'tis timeRequite my passion and my truth,And gather in their blushing primeThe roses of your youth!
Words in this poem
- vielle n.
- An old stringed instrument played upon with a wheel; a hurdy- gurdy. [F. Cf. Viol.]
- assise n.
- An assembly of knights and other substantial men, with a bailiff or justice, in a certain place and at a certain time, for public business. [OE. assise, asise, OF. assise, F. assises, assembly of judges, the decree pronounced by them, tax, impost, fr. assis, assise, p. p. of asseoir, fr. L. assid to ]
- chantant a.
- Composed in a melodious and singing style. [F. singing.]
- vers n.
- A verse or verses. See Verse.
- belle n.
- A young lady of superior beauty and attractions; a handsome lady, or one who attracts notice in society; a fair lady. [F. belle, fem. of bel, beau, beautiful, fine. See Beau.]
- snugly adv.
- In a snug manner; closely; safely.
- heartless a.
- Without a heart.
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ronsard to His Mistress 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, Ronsard to His Mistress, in Ballads (1849–1855), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2732, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/thackeray-ballads/ronsard-to-his-mistress.html, id L10345.
Form and metre
Ronsard to His Mistress is 36 lines in 5 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, in 2 of the 5 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 11% 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 ABBA chandelleA · filantB · esmerveillantB · belleA
- 2 ABABC-C- inA · hallB · spinA · allB · sungC · memory · youngC · me
- 3 ABABCDCD hallA · soB · recallA · knowB · saidC · trueD · bedC · youD
- 4 ABAB-C-C nowA · fairB · vowA · despairB · earth · cheersC · hearth · yearsC
- 5 ABABCDCD thoseA · despairB · glowsA · fairB · timeC · truthD · primeC · youthD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| "Quand vous serez bien vielle, le soir à la chandelle | 12 | ············ |
| Assise auprès du feu devisant et filant, | 11 | ··········· |
| Direz, chantant mes vers en vous esmerveillant, | 12 | ············ |
| Ronsard m'a célébré du temps que j'étois belle." | 11 | ··········· |
| Some winter night, shut snugly in | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Beside the fagot in the hall, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| I think I see you sit and spin, | 8 | ········ |
| Surrounded by your maidens all. | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Old tales are told, old songs are sung, | 8 | ········ |
| Old days come back to memory; | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| You say, "When I was fair and young, | 8 | ········ |
| A poet sang of me!" | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| There's not a maiden in your hall, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Though tired and sleepy ever so, | 8 | ·/·/˘/˘· |
| But wakes, as you my name recall, | 8 | ······/· |
| And longs the history to know. | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| And, as the piteous tale is said, | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| Of lady cold and lover true, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Each, musing, carries it to bed, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And sighs and envies you! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| "Our lady's old and feeble now," | 8 | //˘··/˘· |
| They'll say; "she once was fresh and fair, | 8 | ········ |
| And yet she spurn'd her lover's vow, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And heartless left him to despair: | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The lover lies in silent earth, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| No kindly mate the lady cheers; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| She sits beside a lonely hearth, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| With threescore and ten years!" | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Ah! dreary thoughts and dreams are those, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But wherefore yield me to despair, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| While yet the poet's bosom glows, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| While yet the dame is peerless fair! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Sweet lady mine! while yet 'tis time | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Requite my passion and my truth, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| And gather in their blushing prime | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The roses of your youth! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
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.