Ballad of Things known and unknown
FLIES in the milk I know full well :I know men by the clothes they wear:I know the walnut by the shell:I know the foul sky from the fair:I know the pear-tree by the pear:I know the worker from the droneAnd eke the good wheat from the tare:I know all save myself alone.
I know the pourpoint by the fellAnd by his gown I know the frère:Master by varlet I can spell :Nuns by the veils that hide their hair:I know the sharper and his snareAnd fools that fat on cates have grown:Wines by the cask I can compare :I know all save myself alone.
I know how horse from mule to tell :I know the load that each can bear:I know both Beatrice and Bell:I know the hazards, odd and pair :I know of visions in the air:I know the power of Peter's throneAnd how misled Bohemians were:I know all save myself alone.
Prince, I know all things: fat and spare,Ruddy and pale, to me are knownAnd Death that endeth all our care:I know all save myself alone.
Words in this poem
- pourpoint n.
- A quilted military doublet or gambeson worn in the 14th and 15th centuries; also, a name for the doublet of the 16th and 17th centuries worn by civilians. [F.]
- varlet n.
- A servant, especially to a knight; an attendant; a valet; a footman. Spenser. Tusser. [OF. varlet, vaslet, vallet, servant, young man, young noble, dim of vassal. See Vassal, and cf. Valet.]
- cates n.
- Provisions; food; viands; especially, luxurious food; delicacies; dainties. [Cf. Acates, and see Cater, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ballad of Things known and unknown 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 Things known and unknown, in The Poems of Master François Villon of Paris (1892), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/villon-poems/ballad-of-things-known-and-unknown.html, id L27071.
Form and metre
Ballad of Things known and unknown is 28 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 ABABBC-C wellA · wearB · shellA · fairB · pearB · droneC · tare · aloneC
- 2 ABABBCBC fellA · frèreB · spellA · hairB · snareB · grownC · compareB · aloneC
- 3 ABABBC-C tellA · bearB · bellA · pairB · airB · throneC · were · aloneC
- 4 ABAB spareA · knownB · careA · aloneB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| FLIES in the milk I know full well : | 8 | ········ |
| I know men by the clothes they wear: | 8 | ········ |
| I know the walnut by the shell: | 8 | ···/···· |
| I know the foul sky from the fair: | 8 | ········ |
| I know the pear-tree by the pear: | 8 | ········ |
| I know the worker from the drone | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And eke the good wheat from the tare: | 8 | ········ |
| I know all save myself alone. | 8 | ·····/˘/ |
| I know the pourpoint by the fell | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And by his gown I know the frère: | 8 | ········ |
| Master by varlet I can spell : | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Nuns by the veils that hide their hair: | 8 | ········ |
| I know the sharper and his snare | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And fools that fat on cates have grown: | 8 | ········ |
| Wines by the cask I can compare : | 8 | ······˘/ |
| I know all save myself alone. | 8 | ·····/˘/ |
| I know how horse from mule to tell : | 8 | ········ |
| I know the load that each can bear: | 8 | ········ |
| I know both Beatrice and Bell: | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| I know the hazards, odd and pair : | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I know of visions in the air: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I know the power of Peter's throne | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| And how misled Bohemians were: | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| I know all save myself alone. | 8 | ·····/˘/ |
| Prince, I know all things: fat and spare, | 8 | ········ |
| Ruddy and pale, to me are known | 8 | /˘······ |
| And Death that endeth all our care: | 8 | ······/· |
| I know all save myself alone. | 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.