Ballad of the Tree of Love
I HAVE within my heart of hearts a tree,A plant of Love, fast rooted therewithin,That bears no fruit, save only misery;Hardship its leaves and trouble its flowers bin.But, since to set it there Love did begin,It hath so mightily struck root and spreadThat, for its shadow, all my cheer is fledAnd all my joys do wither and decay:Yet win I not, of all my lustihead,Other to plant or tear the old away.
Year after year, its branches watered beWith tears as bitter and as salt as sin ;And yet its fruits no fairer are to seeNor any comfort therefrom can I win:Yet pluck I them among the leaves thin ;My heart thereon full bitterly is fed,That better had lain fallow, ay, or dead,Than to bear fruits of poison and dismay:But Love his law allows me not insteadOther to plant or tear the old away.
If, in this time of May, when wood and leaAre broidered all with leaves and blossoms sheen,Love would vouchsafe this succour unto me,—To prune away the boughs that lie between,That so the sun among the buds be seen,And imp thereon some graft of goodlihead,—Full many a pleasant burgeon would it shed,Whence joy should issue, lovelier than the day;And no more were despair solicitedOther to plant or tear the old away.
Dear my Princess, my chiefest hope and dread,Whom my heart serves in penitential stead,The woes that harrow it do thou allayAnd suffer not thy constant thought be ledOther to plant or tear the old away.
Words in this poem
- mightily adv.
- In a mighty manner; with might; with great earnestness; vigorously; powerfully. [From Mighty.]
- thereon adv.
- On that or this. [AS. . See There, and On.]
- bitterly adv.
- In a bitter manner.
- sheen v. i.
- To shine; to glisten.
- vouchsafe v. t.
- To condescend to grant; to concede; to bestow. [Vouch + safe, that is, to vouch or answer for safety.]
- succour v. t.
- tiono run to, or run to support; hence, to help or relieve when in difficulty, want, or distress; to assist and deliver from suffering; to relieve; as, to succor a besieged city. [OE. socouren, OF. sucurre, soucourre, secorre, F. secourir, L. succurrere, succursum, to run under, run to the aid of, help, succor; sub under + currere to run.]
- burgeon v. i.
- To bud. See Bourgeon.
- princess n.
- A female prince; a woman having sovereign power, or the rank of a prince. [F. princesse. See Prince, and cf. Princesse.]
- chiefest a.
- First or foremost; chief; principal. [Superl. of Chief.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ballad of the Tree of Love 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 the Tree of Love, in The Poems of Master François Villon of Paris (1892), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/villon-poems/ballad-of-the-tree-of-love.html, id L27080.
Form and metre
Ballad of the Tree of Love is 35 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABBCCDCD, complete in 3 of its 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 ABABBCCDCD treeA · therewithinB · miseryA · binB · beginB · spreadC · fledC · decayD · lustiheadC · awayD
- 2 ABABBCCDCD beA · sinB · seeA · winB · thinB · fedC · deadC · dismayD · insteadC · awayD
- 3 ABABBCCDCD leaA · sheenB · meA · betweenB · seenB · goodliheadC · shedC · dayD · solicitedC · awayD
- 4 AABAB dreadA · steadA · allayB · ledA · awayB
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 HAVE within my heart of hearts a tree, | 10 | ·········· |
| A plant of Love, fast rooted therewithin, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| That bears no fruit, save only misery; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Hardship its leaves and trouble its flowers bin. | 10 | /˘···/˘·/· |
| But, since to set it there Love did begin, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| It hath so mightily struck root and spread | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| That, for its shadow, all my cheer is fled | 10 | ···/······ |
| And all my joys do wither and decay: | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Yet win I not, of all my lustihead, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Other to plant or tear the old away. | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| Year after year, its branches watered be | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| With tears as bitter and as salt as sin ; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And yet its fruits no fairer are to see | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Nor any comfort therefrom can I win: | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘/··· |
| Yet pluck I them among the leaves thin ; | 9 | ········· |
| My heart thereon full bitterly is fed, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘˘·· |
| That better had lain fallow, ay, or dead, | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| Than to bear fruits of poison and dismay: | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| But Love his law allows me not instead | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| Other to plant or tear the old away. | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| If, in this time of May, when wood and lea | 10 | ·········· |
| Are broidered all with leaves and blossoms sheen, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Love would vouchsafe this succour unto me,— | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| To prune away the boughs that lie between, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| That so the sun among the buds be seen, | 10 | ·········· |
| And imp thereon some graft of goodlihead,— | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Full many a pleasant burgeon would it shed, | 10 | ·/·/˘/˘··· |
| Whence joy should issue, lovelier than the day; | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| And no more were despair solicited | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Other to plant or tear the old away. | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| Dear my Princess, my chiefest hope and dread, | 10 | ··/˘·/˘··· |
| Whom my heart serves in penitential stead, | 10 | ·········· |
| The woes that harrow it do thou allay | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| And suffer not thy constant thought be led | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Other to plant or tear the old away. | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
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.