Laurel · Oscar Wilde · The Ballad of Reading Gaol

Part II

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) · 1898

iambic tetrameter · 78 lines · from The Ballad of Reading Gaol

Six weeks the guardsman walked the yard,In the suit of shabby gray:His cricket cap was on his head,And his step was light and gay,But I never saw a man who lookedSo wistfully at the day.

I never saw a man who lookedWith such a wistful eyeUpon that little tent of blueWhich prisoners call the sky,And at every wandering cloud that trailedIts ravelled fleeces by.

He did not wring his hands, as doThose witless men who dareTo try to rear the changeling HopeIn the cave of black Despair:He only looked upon the sun,And drank the morning air.

He did not wring his hands nor weep,Nor did he peek or pine,But he drank the air as though it heldSome healthful anodyne;With open mouth he drank the sunAs though it had been wine!

And I and all the souls in pain,Who tramped the other ring,Forgot if we ourselves had doneA great or little thing,And watched with gaze of dull amazeThe man who had to swing.

For strange it was to see him passWith a step so light and gay,And strange it was to see him lookSo wistfully at the day,And strange it was to think that heHad such a debt to pay.

The oak and elm have pleasant leavesThat in the spring-time shoot:But grim to see is the gallows-tree,With its alder-bitten root,And, green or dry, a man must dieBefore it bears its fruit!

The loftiest place is the seat of graceFor which all worldlings try:But who would stand in hempen bandUpon a scaffold high,And through a murderer's collar takeHis last look at the sky?

It is sweet to dance to violinsWhen Love and Life are fair:To dance to flutes, to dance to lutesIs delicate and rare:But it is not sweet with nimble feetTo dance upon the air!

So with curious eyes and sick surmiseWe watched him day by day,And wondered if each one of usWould end the self-same way,For none can tell to what red HellHis sightless soul may stray.

At last the dead man walked no moreAmongst the Trial Men,And I knew that he was standing upIn the black dock's dreadful pen,And that never would I see his faceFor weal or woe again.

Like two doomed ships that pass in stormWe had crossed each other's way:But we made no sign, we said no word,We had no word to say;For we did not meet in the holy night,But in the shameful day.

A prison wall was round us both,Two outcast men we were:The world had thrust us from its heart,And God from out His care:And the iron gin that waits for SinHad caught us in its snare.

Words in this poem 15

guardsman n.: One who guards; a guard.
shabby a.: Torn or worn to rage; poor; mean; ragged. [See Shab, n., Scabby, and Scab.]
wistful a.: Longing; wishful; desirous. [For wishful; perhaps influenced by wistly, which is probably corrupted from OE. wisly certainly (from Icel. viss certain, akin to E. wit). See Wish.]
witless a.: Destitute of wit or understanding; wanting thought; hence, indiscreet; not under the guidance of judgment.
changeling n.: One who, or that which, is left or taken in the place of another, as a child exchanged by fairies. [Change + -ling.]
drank n.: Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [Cf. 3d Drake.]
peek v. i.: To look slyly, or with the eyes half closed, or through a crevice; to peep. [OE. piken: cf. F. piquer to pierce, prick, E. pique. Cf. Peak.]
amaze v. t.: To bewilder; to stupefy; to bring into a maze. [Pref. a- + maze.]
hempen a.: Made of hemp; as, a hempen cord.
curious a.: Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
wondered a.: Having performed wonders; able to perform wonderful things.
sightless a.: Wanting sight; without sight; blind.
amongst prep.: Mixed or mingled; surrounded by. [OE. amongist, amonges, amonge, among, AS. onmang, ongemang, gemang, in a crowd or mixture. For the ending -st see Amidst. See Mingle.]
dreadful a.: Full of dread or terror; fearful.
outcast a.: Cast out; degraded. [Cf. Sw. utkasta to cast out.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Part II is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Ballad of Reading Gaol, Project Gutenberg ebook #301; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Oscar Wilde, Part II, in The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #301, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wilde-reading-gaol/part-ii.html, id L07163.

Form and metre

Part II is 78 lines in 13 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 40% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

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 -A-A-A yard · gray^A · head · gay^A · looked · day^A
2 -A-A-A looked · eye^A · blue · sky^A · trailed · by^A
3 -A-A-A do · dare^A · hope · despair^A · sun · air^A
4 -A-A-A weep · pine^A · held · anodyne^A · sun · wine^A
5 -A-A-A pain · ring^A · done · thing^A · amaze · swing^A
6 -A-A-A pass · gay^A · look · day^A · he · pay^A
7 -ABABA leaves · shoot^A · tree^B · root^A · die^B · fruit^A
8 -A-A-A grace · try^A · band · high^A · take · sky^A
9 -A-A-A violins · fair^A · lutes · rare^A · feet · air^A
10 -A-A-A surmise · day^A · us · way^A · hell · stray^A
11 -A-A-A more · men^A · up · pen^A · face · again^A
12 -A-A-A storm · way^A · word · say^A · night · day^A
13 ---A-A both · were · heart · care^A · sin · snare^A

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
Six weeks the guardsman walked the yard,	8	···/····
In the suit of shabby gray:	7	····/˘·
His cricket cap was on his head,	8	·/˘·····
And his step was light and gay,	7	·······
But I never saw a man who looked	8	··/·····
So wistfully at the day.	6	·/˘···
I never saw a man who looked	7	·/·····
With such a wistful eye	6	···/˘·
Upon that little tent of blue	8	···/˘···
Which prisoners call the sky,	6	·/˘···
And at every wandering cloud that trailed	9	··/˘/˘···
Its ravelled fleeces by.	6	·/˘/˘·
He did not wring his hands, as do	8	········
Those witless men who dare	6	·/˘···
To try to rear the changeling Hope	8	·····/˘·
In the cave of black Despair:	7	·····˘/
He only looked upon the sun,	8	·/˘·····
And drank the morning air.	6	···/˘·
He did not wring his hands nor weep,	8	········
Nor did he peek or pine,	6	······
But he drank the air as though it held	9	·········
Some healthful anodyne;	6	·/˘/˘˘
With open mouth he drank the sun	8	·/˘·····
As though it had been wine!	6	······
And I and all the souls in pain,	8	········
Who tramped the other ring,	6	···/˘·
Forgot if we ourselves had done	8	˘/··˘/··
A great or little thing,	6	···/˘·
And watched with gaze of dull amaze	8	······˘/
The man who had to swing.	6	······
For strange it was to see him pass	8	········
With a step so light and gay,	7	·······
And strange it was to see him look	8	········
So wistfully at the day,	6	·/˘···
And strange it was to think that he	8	········
Had such a debt to pay.	6	······
The oak and elm have pleasant leaves	8	·····/˘·
That in the spring-time shoot:	6	······
But grim to see is the gallows-tree,	9	······/˘·
With its alder-bitten root,	7	··/˘/˘·
And, green or dry, a man must die	8	········
Before it bears its fruit!	6	······
The loftiest place is the seat of grace	9	·········
For which all worldlings try:	6	······
But who would stand in hempen band	8	·····/˘·
Upon a scaffold high,	6	···/˘·
And through a murderer's collar take	8	···/˘/˘·
His last look at the sky?	6	······
It is sweet to dance to violins	8	······˘/
When Love and Life are fair:	6	······
To dance to flutes, to dance to lutes	8	········
Is delicate and rare:	6	·/˘˘··
But it is not sweet with nimble feet	9	······/˘·
To dance upon the air!	6	······
So with curious eyes and sick surmise	9	··/˘···˘/
We watched him day by day,	6	······
And wondered if each one of us	8	·/˘·····
Would end the self-same way,	6	······
For none can tell to what red Hell	8	········
His sightless soul may stray.	6	·/˘···
At last the dead man walked no more	8	········
Amongst the Trial Men,	6	···/˘·
And I knew that he was standing up	9	······/˘·
In the black dock's dreadful pen,	7	····/˘·
And that never would I see his face	8	··/·····
For weal or woe again.	6	····˘/
Like two doomed ships that pass in storm	8	········
We had crossed each other's way:	7	····/˘·
But we made no sign, we said no word,	9	·········
We had no word to say;	6	······
For we did not meet in the holy night,	10	·······/˘·
But in the shameful day.	6	···/˘·
A prison wall was round us both,	8	·/˘·····
Two outcast men we were:	6	·/····
The world had thrust us from its heart,	8	········
And God from out His care:	6	······
And the iron gin that waits for Sin	8	··/·····
Had caught us in its snare.	6	······

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.

More by Oscar Wilde

The Ballad of Reading Gaol