The Pimlico Pavilion

William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–1863) · 1849–1855

anapaestic tetrameter · unrhymed · 68 lines · from Ballads

Ye pathrons of janius, Minerva and Vanius,Who sit on Parnassus, that mountain of snow,Descind from your station and make observationOf the Prince's pavilion in sweet Pimlico.

This garden, by jakurs, is forty poor acres,(The garner he tould me, and sure ought to know;)And yet greatly bigger, in size and in figure,Than the Phanix itself, seems the Park Pimlico.

O 'tis there that the spoort is, when the Queen and the Court isWalking magnanimous all of a row,Forgetful what state is among the patatiesAnd the pine-apple gardens of sweet Pimlico.

There in blossoms odorous the birds sing a chorus,Of "God save the Queen" as they hop to and fro;And you sit on the binches and hark to the finches,Singing melodious in sweet Pimlico.

There shuiting their phanthasies, they pluck polyanthusesThat round in the gardens resplindently grow,Wid roses and jessimins, and other sweet specimins,Would charm bould Linnayus in sweet Pimlico.

You see when you inther, and stand in the cinther,Where the roses, and necturns, and collyflowers blow,A hill so tremindous, it tops the top-windowsOf the elegant houses of famed Pimlico.

And when you've ascinded that precipice splindidYou see on its summit a wondtherful show--A lovely Swish building, all painting and gilding,The famous Pavilion of sweet Pimlico.

Prince Albert, of Flandthers, that Prince of Commandthers,(On whom my best blessings hereby I bestow,)With goold and vermilion has decked that Pavilion,Where the Queen may take tay in her sweet Pimlico.

There's lines from John Milton the chamber all gilt on,And pictures beneath them that's shaped like a bow;I was greatly astounded to think that that RoundheadShould find an admission to famed Pimlico.

O lovely's each fresco, and most picturesque O;And while round the chamber astonished I go,I think Dan Maclise's it baits all the piecesSurrounding the cottage of famed Pimlico.

Eastlake has the chimney, (a good one to limn he,)And a vargin he paints with a sarpent below;While bulls, pigs, and panthers, and other enchanthers,Are painted by Landseer in sweet Pimlico.

And nature smiles opposite, Stanfield he copies it;O'er Claude or Poussang sure 'tis he that may crow:But Sir Ross's best faiture is small mini-áture--He shouldn't paint frescoes in famed Pimlico.

There's Leslie and Uwins has rather small doings;There's Dyce, as brave masther as England can show;And the flowers and the sthrawherries, sure he no dauber is,That painted the panels of famed Pimlico.

In the pictures from Walther Scott, never a fault there's got,Sure the marble's as natural as thrue Scaglio;And the Chamber Pompayen is sweet to take tay in,And ait butther'd muffins in sweet Pimlico.

There's landscapes by Gruner, both solar and lunar,Them two little Doyles too, deserve a bravo;Wid de piece by young Townsend, (for janins abounds in't;)And that's why he's shuited to paint Pimlico.

That picture of Severn's is worthy of rever'nce,But some I won't mintion is rather so so;For sweet philoso'phy, or crumpets and coffee,O where's a Pavilion like sweet Pimlico?

O to praise this Pavilion would puzzle Quintilian,Daymosthenes, Brougham, or young Cicero;So heavenly Goddess, d'ye pardon my modesty,And silence, my lyre! about sweet Pimlico.

Words in this poem 17
minerva n.
The goddess of wisdom, of war, of the arts and sciences, of poetry, and of spinning and weaving; -- identified with the Grecian Pallas Athene. [L.]
parnassus n.
A mountain in Greece, sacred to Apollo and the Muses, and famous for a temple of Apollo and for the Castalian spring. Grass of Parnassus. (Bot.) See under Grass, and Parnassia.
pavilion n.
A temporary movable habitation; a large tent; a marquee; esp., a tent raised on posts. [F. pavillon, fr. L. pavilio a butterfly, also, a tent, because spread out like a butterfly's wings.]
pimlico n.
The friar bird.
garner n.
A granary; a building or place where grain is stored for preservation. [OE. garner, gerner, greiner, OF. gernier, grenier, F. grenier, fr. L. granarium, fr. granum. See 1st Grain, and cf. Granary.]
ought p. p.
Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
bigger a.
, compar. of Big.
forgetful a.
Apt to forget; easily losing remembrance; as, a forgetful man should use helps to strengthen his memory.
precipice n.
A sudden or headlong fall. Fuller. [F. précipice, L. praecipitium, fr. praeceps, - cipitis, headlong; prae before + caput, capitis, the head. See Pre-, and Chief.]
swish v. t.
To flourish, so as to make the sound swish. Coleridge. [From the sound. Cf. Swash.]
hereby adv.
By means of this.
roundhead n.
A nickname for a Puritan. See Roundheads, the, in the Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction. Toone.
fresco n.
A cool, refreshing state of the air; duskiness; coolness; shade. [It., fr. fresco fresh; of German origin. See Fresh, a.]
chimney n.
A fireplace or hearth. Sir W. Raleigh.
limn v. t.
To draw or paint; especially, to represent in an artistic way with pencil or brush. [OE. limnen, fr. luminen, for enluminen, F. enluminer to illuminate, to limn, LL. illuminare to paint. Illuminate, Luminous.]
dauber n.
One who, or that which, daubs; especially, a coarse, unskillful painter.
bravo n.
A daring villain; a bandit; one who sets law at defiance; a professional assassin or murderer. [I. See Brave, a.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Pimlico Pavilion 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, The Pimlico Pavilion, in Ballads (1849–1855), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2732, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/thackeray-ballads/the-pimlico-pavilion.html, id L10416.

Form and metre

The Pimlico Pavilion is 68 lines in 17 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%). 80% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.6 syllables. 31 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

See other poems in anapaestic 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. 10 AA-- oA · goA · pieces · pimlico
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 anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.

LineSyl.Stress
Ye pathrons of janius, Minerva and Vanius,12······˘/˘···
Who sit on Parnassus, that mountain of snow,11····/˘·/˘··
Descind from your station and make observation12····/˘···˘/˘
Of the Prince's pavilion in sweet Pimlico.12··/˘˘/˘··/˘˘
This garden, by jakurs, is forty poor acres,12·/˘····/˘·/˘
(The garner he tould me, and sure ought to know;)11·/˘········
And yet greatly bigger, in size and in figure,12··/˘/˘····/˘
Than the Phanix itself, seems the Park Pimlico.12····˘/···/˘˘
O 'tis there that the spoort is, when the Queen and the Court is14··············
Walking magnanimous all of a row,9/˘˘/˘····
Forgetful what state is among the pataties11˘/˘········
And the pine-apple gardens of sweet Pimlico.12···/˘/˘··/˘˘
There in blossoms odorous the birds sing a chorus,12··/˘/˘····/˘
Of "God save the Queen" as they hop to and fro;11···········
And you sit on the binches and hark to the finches,13···········/˘
Singing melodious in sweet Pimlico.10/˘˘/˘··/˘˘
There shuiting their phanthasies, they pluck polyanthuses12············
That round in the gardens resplindently grow,11····/˘·····
Wid roses and jessimins, and other sweet specimins,14·/˘·····/˘····
Would charm bould Linnayus in sweet Pimlico.10·······/˘˘
You see when you inther, and stand in the cinther,12············
Where the roses, and necturns, and collyflowers blow,13··/˘·········
A hill so tremindous, it tops the top-windows12··········/˘
Of the elegant houses of famed Pimlico.11··/˘/˘··/˘˘
And when you've ascinded that precipice splindid11·······/˘··
You see on its summit a wondtherful show--11····/˘·····
A lovely Swish building, all painting and gilding,12·/˘·/˘·/˘·/˘
The famous Pavilion of sweet Pimlico.11·/˘˘/˘··/˘˘
Prince Albert, of Flandthers, that Prince of Commandthers,12·/˘·········
(On whom my best blessings hereby I bestow,)11····/˘˘/·˘/
With goold and vermilion has decked that Pavilion,12···˘/˘···˘/˘
Where the Queen may take tay in her sweet Pimlico.12·········/˘˘
There's lines from John Milton the chamber all gilt on,12····/˘·/˘···
And pictures beneath them that's shaped like a bow;11·/˘········
I was greatly astounded to think that that Roundhead13··/˘˘/˘····/·
Should find an admission to famed Pimlico.11···˘/˘··/˘˘
O lovely's each fresco, and most picturesque O;11·/˘·/˘··/˘·
And while round the chamber astonished I go,11····/˘˘/˘··
I think Dan Maclise's it baits all the pieces12··········/˘
Surrounding the cottage of famed Pimlico.11˘/˘·/˘··/˘˘
Eastlake has the chimney, (a good one to limn he,)12····/˘······
And a vargin he paints with a sarpent below;12············
While bulls, pigs, and panthers, and other enchanthers,12····/˘·/˘···
Are painted by Landseer in sweet Pimlico.11·/˘·····/˘˘
And nature smiles opposite, Stanfield he copies it;12·/˘·/˘/··/˘·
O'er Claude or Poussang sure 'tis he that may crow:11···········
But Sir Ross's best faiture is small mini-áture--12··/˘·····/˘·
He shouldn't paint frescoes in famed Pimlico.11·/˘·/˘··/˘˘
There's Leslie and Uwins has rather small doings;12·/˘····/˘·/˘
There's Dyce, as brave masther as England can show;11·······/˘··
And the flowers and the sthrawherries, sure he no dauber is,12··/·······/·
That painted the panels of famed Pimlico.11·/˘·/˘··/˘˘
In the pictures from Walther Scott, never a fault there's got,13··/˘·/˘·/····
Sure the marble's as natural as thrue Scaglio;11··/˘·/˘····
And the Chamber Pompayen is sweet to take tay in,12··/˘········
And ait butther'd muffins in sweet Pimlico.11····/˘··/˘˘
There's landscapes by Gruner, both solar and lunar,12·/··/˘·/˘·/˘
Them two little Doyles too, deserve a bravo;11··/˘··˘/·/˘
Wid de piece by young Townsend, (for janins abounds in't;)13·····/˘···˘/·
And that's why he's shuited to paint Pimlico.11········/˘˘
That picture of Severn's is worthy of rever'nce,12·/˘·/˘·/˘···
But some I won't mintion is rather so so;11·······/˘··
For sweet philoso'phy, or crumpets and coffee,11··˘/˘····/˘
O where's a Pavilion like sweet Pimlico?11···˘/˘··/˘˘
O to praise this Pavilion would puzzle Quintilian,13····˘/˘·/˘···
Daymosthenes, Brougham, or young Cicero;10···/˘··/˘·
So heavenly Goddess, d'ye pardon my modesty,11·/˘/˘·/˘·/˘
And silence, my lyre! about sweet Pimlico.11·/˘·····/˘˘

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.

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