Analysis of The Troubadour
William Schwenck Gilbert 1836 – 1911
A troubadour he played
Without a castle wall,
Within, a hapless maid
Responded to his call.
"Oh, willow, woe is me!
Alack and well-a-day!
If I were only free
I'd hide me far away!"
Unknown her face and name,
But this he knew right well,
The maiden's wailing came
From out a dungeon cell.
A hapless woman lay
Within that dungeon grim -
That fact, I've heard him say,
Was quite enough for him.
"I will not sit or lie,
Or eat or drink, I vow,
Till thou art free as I,
Or I as pent as thou."
Her tears then ceased to flow,
Her wails no longer rang,
And tuneful in her woe
The prisoned maiden sang:
"Oh, stranger, as you play,
I recognize your touch;
And all that I can say
Is, thank you very much."
He seized his clarion straight,
And blew thereat, until
A warden oped the gate.
"Oh, what might be your will?"
"I've come, Sir Knave, to see
The master of these halls:
A maid unwillingly
Lies prisoned in their walls."'
With barely stifled sigh
That porter drooped his head,
With teardrops in his eye,
"A many, sir," he said.
He stayed to hear no more,
But pushed that porter by,
And shortly stood before
SIR HUGH DE PECKHAM RYE.
SIR HUGH he darkly frowned,
"What would you, sir, with me?"
The troubadour he downed
Upon his bended knee.
"I've come, DE PECKHAM RYE,
To do a Christian task;
You ask me what would I?
It is not much I ask.
"Release these maidens, sir,
Whom you dominion o'er -
Particularly her
Upon the second floor.
"And if you don't, my lord" -
He here stood bolt upright,
And tapped a tailor's sword -
"Come out, you cad, and fight!"
SIR HUGH he called - and ran
The warden from the gate:
"Go, show this gentleman
The maid in Forty-eight."
By many a cell they past,
And stopped at length before
A portal, bolted fast:
The man unlocked the door.
He called inside the gate
With coarse and brutal shout,
"Come, step it, Forty-eight!"
And Forty-eight stepped out.
"They gets it pretty hot,
The maidens what we cotch -
Two years this lady's got
For collaring a wotch."
"Oh, ah! - indeed - I see,"
The troubadour exclaimed -
"If I may make so free,
How is this castle named?
The warden's eyelids fill,
And sighing, he replied,
"Of gloomy Pentonville
This is the female side!"
The minstrel did not wait
The Warden stout to thank,
But recollected straight
He'd business at the Bank.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF DGDG HIHI JKJK DLDL MNMN COCO HPHP QHQH RCRC HSHS TTTQ UVUV XMXM WQWQ MXMX YLYL CZCZ N1 B1 M2 M2 |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (95%) |
Metre | 01011 010101 010101 010111 11111 10101 110101 111101 010101 111111 01101 110101 010101 011101 111111 110111 111111 111111 111111 111111 011111 011101 010001 010101 110111 11011 011111 111101 1111001 01101 010101 111111 111111 010111 010100 110011 110101 110111 11011 010111 111111 111101 010101 111101 111101 111111 01011 011101 111101 110101 111111 111111 011101 1101010 10000 010101 011111 111101 01011 111101 111101 010101 111100 010101 1100111 011101 010101 010101 110101 110101 111101 010111 111101 010111 111101 1101 110111 01001 111111 111101 01011 010101 1101 11011 010111 010111 10101 110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 2,205 |
Words | 445 |
Sentences | 29 |
Stanzas | 22 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 88 |
Letters per line (avg) | 19 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 78 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 20 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:13 min read
- 43 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Troubadour" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41338/the-troubadour>.
Discuss this William Schwenck Gilbert poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In