Ballad of Fortune
I OF old times by makers Fortune hight,—Whom, François, thou dost rail at and decry,—Far better men than thou, poor nameless wight,I grind into the dust with povertyAnd gar them delve i' the quarries till they die:Wherefore complainest thou? If thou live ill,Thou art not singular: so, peace, be still.Think but how many mighty men of yoreI've laid stark dead to stiffen in their gore,By whom thou'rt but a scullion knave, perdie.Content thee, then, and chide thy fate no more;I rede thee, Villon, take it all in gree.
Oft have I girded me to wreak my spiteUpon great kings: lo, in the days gone by,Priam I slew; and all his warlike mightAvailed him nought, towers, walls nor ramparts high.'Gainst Hannibal no less did I apply,Who was attaint in Carthage by my skill:And Scipio Africanus did I kill :Great Cæsar to the Senate I gave o'erAnd wrecked stout Pompey upon Egypt shore:Jason I drowned by tempest on the seaAnd burned both Rome and Romans heretofore :I rede thee, Villon, take it all in gree.
Nay, Alexander, that renownèd knight,Who longed to reach the backward of the skyAnd shed much blood, with poison did I blight;I made Arphaxad on the field to lie,Dead, by his royal standard. Thus did IFull many a time and yet more will fulfil:Nor time nor reason can awry my will.Huge Holophernes, too, that did adoreStrange gods, whom Judith with his sword of warSlew as he slept: and Absalom, as heFled, by the love-locks hanged I that he wore.I rede thee, Villon, take it all in gree.
Poor François, set my rede in thy heart's core:If I could aught without God's leave or lore,I'd leave no rag to one of all that be;For each ill done I'd compass half a score :I rede thee, Villon, take it all in gree.
Words in this poem 16
- hight v. t.
- To be called or named. [OE. heiten, highten, haten, hoten; also hight, hatte, hette, is called, was called, AS. hatan to call, name, be called, to command, promise; also hatte is calle]
- decry v. t.
- To cry down; to censure as faulty, mean, or worthless; to clamor against; to blame clamorously; to discredit; to disparage. [F. décrier, OF. descrier; pref. des- (L. dis-) + crier to cry. See Cry, and cf. Descry.]
- nameless a.
- Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.
- wight n.
- A whit; a bit; a jot. [OE. wight, wiht, a wight, a whit, AS. wiht, wuht, a creature, a thing; skin to D. wicht a child, OS. & OHG. wiht a creature, thing, G. wicht a creature, Icel. v]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- singular a.
- Separate or apart from others; single; distinct. [OE. singuler, F. singulier, fr. L. singularius, singularis, fr. singulus single. See Single, a.]
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- stark adv.
- Wholly; entirely; absolutely; quite; as, stark mind.
- scullion n.
- A servant who cleans pots and kettles, and does other menial services in the kitchen. [OF. escouillon (Cot.) a dishclout, apparently for escouvillon, F. écouvillon a swab; cf. also OF. souillon a servant employed for base offices. Cf. Scovel.]
- knave n.
- A boy; especially, a boy servant. Wyclif. [OE., boy, servant, knave, AS. cnafa boy, youth; cf. AS. cnapa boy, youth, D. kna, G. knabe boy, knappe esquire, Icel. knapi, Sw. knape esquire, knäfvel knave.]
- rede v. t.
- To advise or counsel. [See Read, v. t.]
- gree n.
- Good will; favor; pleasure; satisfaction; -- used esp. in such phrases as: to take in gree; to accept in gree; that is, to take favorably. [F. gré. See Grateful, and cf. Agree.]
- wreak v. i.
- To reck; to care.
- attaint v. t.
- To attain; to get act; to hit. [OE. atteynten to convict, fr. atteynt, OF. ateint, p. p. of ateindre, ataindre. The meanings 3, 4, 5, and 6 were influenced by a supposed connection with taint.]
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ballad of Fortune is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Master François Villon of Paris, now first done into English verse, in the original forms, with a biographical and critical introduction, by John Payne, Internet Archive, the John Payne translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: François Villon, Ballad of Fortune, in The Poems of Master François Villon of Paris (1892), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/villon-poems/ballad-of-fortune.html, id L27073.
Form and metre
Ballad of Fortune is 41 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABA-BCCDD-D- hightA · decryB · wightA · poverty · dieB · illC · stillC · yoreD · goreD · perdie · moreD · gree
- 2 ABABBCC-DEDE spiteA · byB · mightA · highB · applyB · skillC · killC · o'er · shoreD · seaE · heretoforeD · greeE
- 3 ABABB--CCDCD knightA · skyB · blightA · lieB · iB · fulfil · will · adoreC · warC · heD · woreC · greeD
- 4 AABAB coreA · loreA · beB · scoreA · greeB
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I OF old times by makers Fortune hight,— | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Whom, François, thou dost rail at and decry,— | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Far better men than thou, poor nameless wight, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| I grind into the dust with poverty | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| And gar them delve i' the quarries till they die: | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| Wherefore complainest thou? If thou live ill, | 10 | /˘˘/˘····· |
| Thou art not singular: so, peace, be still. | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| Think but how many mighty men of yore | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| I've laid stark dead to stiffen in their gore, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| By whom thou'rt but a scullion knave, perdie. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Content thee, then, and chide thy fate no more; | 10 | /˘········ |
| I rede thee, Villon, take it all in gree. | 10 | ·········· |
| Oft have I girded me to wreak my spite | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Upon great kings: lo, in the days gone by, | 10 | ·········· |
| Priam I slew; and all his warlike might | 10 | /˘·····/·· |
| Availed him nought, towers, walls nor ramparts high. | 10 | ˘/··/··/·· |
| 'Gainst Hannibal no less did I apply, | 10 | ·/˘˘····˘/ |
| Who was attaint in Carthage by my skill: | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| And Scipio Africanus did I kill : | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Great Cæsar to the Senate I gave o'er | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| And wrecked stout Pompey upon Egypt shore: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Jason I drowned by tempest on the sea | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| And burned both Rome and Romans heretofore : | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| I rede thee, Villon, take it all in gree. | 10 | ·········· |
| Nay, Alexander, that renownèd knight, | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| Who longed to reach the backward of the sky | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And shed much blood, with poison did I blight; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I made Arphaxad on the field to lie, | 10 | ·········· |
| Dead, by his royal standard. Thus did I | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Full many a time and yet more will fulfil: | 10 | ·/········ |
| Nor time nor reason can awry my will. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Huge Holophernes, too, that did adore | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Strange gods, whom Judith with his sword of war | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Slew as he slept: and Absalom, as he | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Fled, by the love-locks hanged I that he wore. | 10 | ·········· |
| I rede thee, Villon, take it all in gree. | 10 | ·········· |
| Poor François, set my rede in thy heart's core: | 10 | ·········· |
| If I could aught without God's leave or lore, | 10 | ·········· |
| I'd leave no rag to one of all that be; | 10 | ·········· |
| For each ill done I'd compass half a score : | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I rede thee, Villon, take it all in gree. | 10 | ·········· |
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