Epitaph in Form of Ballad
BROTHERS, that after us on life remain,Harden your hearts against us not as stone;For, if to pity us poor wights you're fain,God shall the rather grant you benison.You see us six, the gibbet hereupon :As for the flesh that we too well have fed,'Tis all devoured and rotted, shred by shred.Let none make merry of our piteous case,Whose crumbling bones the life long since hath fled :The rather pray, God grant us of His grace!
Yea, we conjure you, look not with disdain,Brothers, on us, though we to death were done,By justice. Well you know, the saving grainOf sense springs not in every mother's son :Commend us, therefore, now we're dead and gone,To Christ, the Son of Mary's maidenhead,That he leave not His grace on us to shedAnd save us from the nether torture-place.Let no one harry us: forsooth, we're sped :The rather pray, God grant us of His grace!
We are whiles scoured and soddened of the rainAnd whiles burnt up and blackened of the sun :Corbies and pyets have our eyes out-ta'enAnd plucked our beard and hair out, one by one.Whether by night or day, rest have we none:Now here, now there, as the wind shifts its stead,We swing and creak and rattle overhead,No thimble dinted like our bird-pecked face.Brothers, have heed and shun the life we led:The rather pray, God grant us of His grace.
Prince Jesus, over all empoweréd,Let us not fall into the Place of Dread,But all our reckoning with the Fiend efface.Folk, mock us not that are forspent and dead;The rather pray, God grant us of His grace!
Words in this poem
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- benison n.
- Blessing; beatitude; benediction. [OE. beneysun, benesoun, OF. beneï, beneïson, fr. L. benedictio, fr. benedicere to bless; bene (adv. of bonus good) + dicere to say. See Bounty, and Diction, and]
- gibbet n.
- A kind of gallows; an upright post with an arm projecting from the top, on which, formerly, malefactors were hanged in chains, and their bodies allowed to remain asa warning. [OE. gibet, F. gibet, in OF. also club, fr. LL. gibetum;; cf. OF. gibe sort of sickle or hook, It. giubbetto gibbet, and giubbetta, dim. of giubba mane, also, an]
- hereupon adv.
- On this; hereon.
- conjure v. t.
- To call on or summon by a sacred name or in solemn manner; to implore earnestly; to adjure. [F. conjurer, fr. L. conjurare to swear together, to conspire; con- + jurare to swear. See Jury.]
- maidenhead n.
- The state of being a maiden; maidenhood; virginity. [See Maidenhood.]
- nether a.
- Situated down or below; lying beneath, or in the lower part; having a lower position; belonging to the region below; lower; under; -- opposed to upper. [OE. nethere, neithere, AS. ni, fr. the adv. ni downward; akin to neo below, beneath, D. neder down, G. nieder, Sw. nedre below, nether, a. & adv., and also to S]
- harry v. i.
- To make a predatory incursion; to plunder or lay waste.
- forsooth v. t.
- To address respectfully with the term forsooth.
- whiles conj.
- During the time that; while. Chaucer. Fuller.
- creak v. i.
- To make a prolonged sharp grating or ssqueaking sound, as by the friction of hard substances; as, shoes creak. [OE. creken, prob. of imitative origin; cf. E. crack, and. D. kreiken to crackle, chirp.]
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- forspent a.
- Wasted in strength; tired; exhausted. [AS. forspendan to consume; pref. for- + spendan to spend.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Epitaph in Form of Ballad 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, Epitaph in Form of Ballad, in The Poems of Master François Villon of Paris (1892), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/villon-poems/epitaph-in-ballad-form.html, id L27067.
Form and metre
Epitaph in Form of Ballad is 35 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
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 A-ABBCCDCD remainA · stone · fainA · benisonB · hereuponB · fedC · shredC · caseD · fledC · graceD
- 2 ABAB-CCDCD disdainA · doneB · grainA · sonB · gone · maidenheadC · shedC · placeD · spedC · graceD
- 3 -A-AABBCBC rain · sunA · ta'en · oneA · noneA · steadB · overheadB · faceC · ledB · graceC
- 4 -ABAB empoweréd · dreadA · effaceB · deadA · graceB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| BROTHERS, that after us on life remain, | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| Harden your hearts against us not as stone; | 10 | /˘········ |
| For, if to pity us poor wights you're fain, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| God shall the rather grant you benison. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| You see us six, the gibbet hereupon : | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| As for the flesh that we too well have fed, | 10 | ·········· |
| 'Tis all devoured and rotted, shred by shred. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Let none make merry of our piteous case, | 11 | ···/˘·//˘˘· |
| Whose crumbling bones the life long since hath fled : | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The rather pray, God grant us of His grace! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Yea, we conjure you, look not with disdain, | 10 | ··/˘····˘/ |
| Brothers, on us, though we to death were done, | 10 | /˘········ |
| By justice. Well you know, the saving grain | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Of sense springs not in every mother's son : | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Commend us, therefore, now we're dead and gone, | 10 | ˘/········ |
| To Christ, the Son of Mary's maidenhead, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| That he leave not His grace on us to shed | 10 | ·········· |
| And save us from the nether torture-place. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Let no one harry us: forsooth, we're sped : | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| The rather pray, God grant us of His grace! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| We are whiles scoured and soddened of the rain | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| And whiles burnt up and blackened of the sun : | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Corbies and pyets have our eyes out-ta'en | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| And plucked our beard and hair out, one by one. | 10 | ··/······· |
| Whether by night or day, rest have we none: | 10 | ·········· |
| Now here, now there, as the wind shifts its stead, | 10 | ·········· |
| We swing and creak and rattle overhead, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘/ |
| No thimble dinted like our bird-pecked face. | 10 | ·/˘/˘·/··· |
| Brothers, have heed and shun the life we led: | 10 | /˘········ |
| The rather pray, God grant us of His grace. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Prince Jesus, over all empoweréd, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Let us not fall into the Place of Dread, | 10 | ·········· |
| But all our reckoning with the Fiend efface. | 10 | ··//˘···˘/ |
| Folk, mock us not that are forspent and dead; | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| The rather pray, God grant us of His grace! | 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.