Ballad of Villon in Prison
HAVE pity, friends, have pity now, I pray,If it so please you, at the least, on me!I lie in fosse, not under holm or may,In this duresse, wherein, alas ! I dreeIll fate, as God did thereanent decree.Lasses and lovers, younglings manifold,Dancers and mountebanks, alert and bold,Nimble as quarrel from a crossbow shot ;Singers, that troll as clear as bells of gold,—Will you all leave poor Villon here to rot?
Clerks, that go carolling the livelong day,Scant-pursed, but glad and frank and full of glee;Wandering at will along the broad highway,Harebrained, perchance, but wit-whole too, perdie:Lo! now, I die, whilst that you absent be.Song-singers, when poor Villon's days are told,You will sing psalms for him and candles hold ;Here light nor air nor levin enters not,Where ramparts thick are round about him rolled.Will you all leave poor Villon here to rot?
Consider but his piteous array,High and fair lords, of suit and service free,That nor to king nor kaiser homage pay,But straight from God in heaven hold your fee!Come fast or feast, all days alike fasts he,Whence are his teeth like rakes' teeth to behold:No table hath he but the sheer black mould :After dry bread (not manchets), pot on potThey empty down his throat of water cold:Will you all leave poor Villon here to rot?
Princes and lords aforesaid, young and old,Get me the King his letters sealed and scrolledAnd draw me from this dungeon: for, God wot,Even swine, when one squeaks in the butcher's fold,Flock around their fellow and do squeak and scold.Will you all leave poor Villon here to rot?
Words in this poem
- fosse n.
- A ditch or moat. [F., fr. L. fossa, fr. fodere, fossum, to dig.]
- holm n.
- A common evergreen oak, of Europe (Quercus Ilex); -- called also ilex, and holly. [OE., prob. from AS. holen holly; as the holly is also called holm. See Holly.]
- dree v. i.
- To be able to do or endure.
- troll n.
- A supernatural being, often represented as of diminutive size, but sometimes as a giant, and fabled to inhabit caves, hills, and like places; a witch. Troll flower. (Bot.) Same as Globeflower (a). [Icel. troll. Cf. Droll, Trull.]
- livelong a.
- Whole; entire; long in passing; -- used of time, as day or night, in adverbial phrases, and usually with a sense of tediousness. [For lifelong. Cf. Lifelong.]
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
- harebrained a.
- Wild; giddy; volatile; heedless.
- levin n.
- Lightning. Spenser. Levin brand, a thunderbolt. [Etymol. uncertain. Cf. Leven.]
- kaiser n.
- The ancient title of emperors of Germany assumed by King William of Prussia when crowned sovereign of the new German empire in 1871. [Gr., fr. L. Caesar. Cf. Kesar, and Czar.]
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
- scrolled a.
- Formed like a scroll; contained in a scroll; adorned with scrolls; as, scrolled work.
- dungeon n.
- A close, dark prison, commondonjon or keep of a castle, these being used as prisons. [OE. donjoun highest tower of a castle, tower, prison, F. donjon tower or platform in the midst of a castle, turret, or closet on the top of a house, a keep of a]
- squeak v. i.
- To utter a sharp, shrill cry, usually of short duration; to cry with an acute tone, as an animal; or, to make a sharp, disagreeable noise, as a pipe or quill, a wagon wheel, a door; to creak. [Probably of imitative origin; cf. Sw. sqväka to croak, Icel. skvakka to give a sound as of water shaken in a bottle.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ballad of Villon in Prison 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 Villon in Prison, in The Poems of Master François Villon of Paris (1892), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/villon-poems/ballad-of-villon-in-prison.html, id L27064.
Form and metre
Ballad of Villon in Prison is 36 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 prayA · meB · mayA · dreeB · decreeB · manifoldC · boldC · shotD · goldC · rotD
- 2 ABABBCCDCD dayA · gleeB · highwayA · perdieB · beB · toldC · holdC · notD · rolledC · rotD
- 3 ABABBCCDCD arrayA · freeB · payA · feeB · heB · beholdC · mouldC · potD · coldC · rotD
- 4 AA-AA- oldA · scrolledA · wot · foldA · scoldA · rot
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 |
|---|---|---|
| HAVE pity, friends, have pity now, I pray, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| If it so please you, at the least, on me! | 10 | ·········· |
| I lie in fosse, not under holm or may, | 10 | ·········· |
| In this duresse, wherein, alas ! I dree | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Ill fate, as God did thereanent decree. | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘/ |
| Lasses and lovers, younglings manifold, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Dancers and mountebanks, alert and bold, | 10 | /˘····˘/·· |
| Nimble as quarrel from a crossbow shot ; | 10 | /˘·/˘··/·· |
| Singers, that troll as clear as bells of gold,— | 10 | /˘········ |
| Will you all leave poor Villon here to rot? | 10 | ·········· |
| Clerks, that go carolling the livelong day, | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| Scant-pursed, but glad and frank and full of glee; | 10 | ·········· |
| Wandering at will along the broad highway, | 10 | /˘··˘/··/· |
| Harebrained, perchance, but wit-whole too, perdie: | 10 | /·˘/····˘/ |
| Lo! now, I die, whilst that you absent be. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Song-singers, when poor Villon's days are told, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| You will sing psalms for him and candles hold ; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Here light nor air nor levin enters not, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Where ramparts thick are round about him rolled. | 10 | ·/········ |
| Will you all leave poor Villon here to rot? | 10 | ·········· |
| Consider but his piteous array, | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘˘˘/ |
| High and fair lords, of suit and service free, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That nor to king nor kaiser homage pay, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| But straight from God in heaven hold your fee! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Come fast or feast, all days alike fasts he, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Whence are his teeth like rakes' teeth to behold: | 10 | ········˘/ |
| No table hath he but the sheer black mould : | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| After dry bread (not manchets), pot on pot | 10 | ·········· |
| They empty down his throat of water cold: | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Will you all leave poor Villon here to rot? | 10 | ·········· |
| Princes and lords aforesaid, young and old, | 10 | /˘··˘/···· |
| Get me the King his letters sealed and scrolled | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And draw me from this dungeon: for, God wot, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Even swine, when one squeaks in the butcher's fold, | 10 | /······/˘· |
| Flock around their fellow and do squeak and scold. | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Will you all leave poor Villon here to rot? | 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.