Request to the Court of Parliament
ALL my five senses, in your several place,Hearing and seeing, taste and touch and smell,Every my member branded with disgrace,—Each on this fashion do ye speak and tell:'Most Sovereign Court, by whom we here befell,Thou that deliveredst us from sore dismays,The tongue sufficeth not thy name to blazeForth in such strain of honour as it should :Wherefore to thee our voices all we raise,Sister of angels, mother of the good!'
Heart, cleave in sunder, or in any caseBe not more hardened and impermeableThan was the black rock in the desert-space,Which with sweet water for the Jews did swell;Melt into tears and mercy cry, as wellBefits a lowly heart that humbly prays:Give to the Court, the kingdom's glory, praise,—The Frenchman's stay, the help of strangerhood,Born of high heaven amidst the empyreal rays :Sister of angels, mother of the good!
And you, my teeth, your sockets leave apace ;Come forward, all, and loudlier than bell,Organ or clarion, render thanks for graceAnd every thought of chewing now repel.Bethink you, I was doomed to death and hell,Heart, spleen and liver palsied with affrays:And you, my body, (else you were more baseThan bear or swine that in the dunghill brood,)Extol the Court, ere worser hap amaze;Sister of angels, mother of the good!
Prince, of thy grace deny me not three daysTo bid my friends adieu and go my ways:Without them, I've nor money, clothes nor food.Triumphant Court, be't as thy suppliant says;Sister of angels, mother of the good!
Words in this poem
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- humbly adv.
- With humility; lowly.
- amidst prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- empyreal a.
- Formed of pure fire or light; refined beyond aërial substance; pertaining to the highest and purest region of heaven. [L. empyrius, empyreus, fiery, Gr. In, and Fire.]
- apace adv.
- With a quick pace; quick; fast; speedily. [Pref. a- + pace. OE. a pas at a walk, in which a is the article. See Pace.]
- clarion n.
- A kind of trumpet, whose note is clear and shrill. [OE. clarioun, OF. clarion, F. clairon, LL. clario, claro; so called from its clear tone, fr. L. clarus clear. See Clear.]
- palsied a.
- Affected with palsy; paralyzed.
- dunghill n.
- A heap of dung.
- extol v. t.
- To place on high; to lift up; to elevate. [L. extollere; ex out + tollere to lift, take up, or raise: cf. OF. extoller. See Tollerate, and cf. Flate.]
- amaze v. t.
- To bewilder; to stupefy; to bring into a maze. [Pref. a- + maze.]
- suppliant a.
- Asking earnestly and submissively; entreating; beseeching; supplicating. [F., p.pr. of supplier to entreat, L. supplicare. See Supplicate, and cf. Supplicant.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Request to the Court of Parliament 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, Request to the Court of Parliament, in The Poems of Master François Villon of Paris (1892), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/villon-poems/ballad-request-to-the-court-of-parliament.html, id L27068.
Form and metre
Request to the Court of Parliament is 35 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 placeA · smellB · disgraceA · tellB · befellB · dismaysC · blazeC · shouldD · raiseC · goodD
- 2 A-ABBCCDCD caseA · impermeable · spaceA · swellB · wellB · praysC · praiseC · strangerhoodD · raysC · goodD
- 3 ABABBCA-C- apaceA · bellB · graceA · repelB · hellB · affraysC · baseA · brood · amazeC · good
- 4 AA--- daysA · waysA · food · says · good
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ALL my five senses, in your several place, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Hearing and seeing, taste and touch and smell, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Every my member branded with disgrace,— | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Each on this fashion do ye speak and tell: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| 'Most Sovereign Court, by whom we here befell, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Thou that deliveredst us from sore dismays, | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| The tongue sufficeth not thy name to blaze | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Forth in such strain of honour as it should : | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Wherefore to thee our voices all we raise, | 10 | /˘··//˘··· |
| Sister of angels, mother of the good!' | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| Heart, cleave in sunder, or in any case | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Be not more hardened and impermeable | 11 | ···/˘·˘/˘˘˘ |
| Than was the black rock in the desert-space, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Which with sweet water for the Jews did swell; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Melt into tears and mercy cry, as well | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Befits a lowly heart that humbly prays: | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| Give to the Court, the kingdom's glory, praise,— | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| The Frenchman's stay, the help of strangerhood, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Born of high heaven amidst the empyreal rays : | 12 | ···/˘/·˘/˘˘· |
| Sister of angels, mother of the good! | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| And you, my teeth, your sockets leave apace ; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Come forward, all, and loudlier than bell, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Organ or clarion, render thanks for grace | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| And every thought of chewing now repel. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Bethink you, I was doomed to death and hell, | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Heart, spleen and liver palsied with affrays: | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And you, my body, (else you were more base | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Than bear or swine that in the dunghill brood,) | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Extol the Court, ere worser hap amaze; | 10 | ˘/···/˘·˘/ |
| Sister of angels, mother of the good! | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| Prince, of thy grace deny me not three days | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| To bid my friends adieu and go my ways: | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Without them, I've nor money, clothes nor food. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Triumphant Court, be't as thy suppliant says; | 11 | ˘/˘····/˘˘· |
| Sister of angels, mother of the good! | 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.