English Verse Part 50

_Envoy_

Therfore, thou vache, leve thyn old wrecchednesse Unto the worlde; leve now to be thral; Crye him mercy, that of his hy goodnesse Made thee of noght, and in especial Draw unto him, and pray in general For thee, and eek for other, hevenlich mede; And trouthe shal delivere, hit is no drede.

(CHAUCER: _Balade de bon conseyl._ ab. 1385.)

Here Chaucer follows the rules of the ballade carefully, but in the "rime royal" stanza. It will be noticed that the rime-word "al" seems to be repeated, but it is used each time in a distinct sense, hence--according to the rules of Chaucer's time, as of modern French--is regarded as a different rime-word each time.

Compare, also, Chaucer's _Fortune_ ("_Balades de visage sanz peinture_"), made of three ballades, with one envoy; the _Balade to Rosemound_ and _Moral Balade on Gentilesse_, without envoys; the ballades on _Lak of Stedfastnesse_ and the _Compleint of Chaucer to his Empty Purse_, with envoys addressed to the king; also the ballade in the Prologue to the _Legend of Good Women_, B-text, ll.

249-269. The _Compleynt of Venus_, like _Fortune_, is in three ballades, with one envoy, and is of special interest as being based on three French ballades of Graunson.[48] Says Chaucer:

"And eek to me hit is a greet penaunce, Sith rym in English hath swich scarsitee, To folowe word by word the curiositee Of Graunson, flour of hem that make in Fraunce."

In the Prologue to the _Legend of Good Women_, when Chaucer is accused by the G.o.d of love for his translation of the _Romance of the Rose_, Alcestis defends him by enumerating his other works, which include:

"many an ympne for your halydayes, That highten Balades, Roundels, Virelayes."

(B-text, ll. 422 f.)

On the roundels, see below; none of Chaucer's virelays have come down to us. Chaucer's contemporary, John Gower, also wrote ballades, but in French.

Tell me now in what hidden way is Lady Flora the lovely Roman?

Where's Hipparcha, and where is Thais, Neither of them the fairer woman?

Where is Echo, beheld of no man, Only heard on river and mere,-- She whose beauty was more than human?-- But where are the snows of yester-year?

Where's Heloise, the learned nun, For whose sake Abeillard, I ween, Lost manhood and put priesthood on?

(From love he won such dule and teen!) And where, I pray you, is the Queen Who willed that Buridan should steer Sewed in a sack's mouth down the Seine?-- But where are the snows of yester-year?

White Queen Blanche, like a queen of lilies, With a voice like any mermaiden,-- Bertha Broadfoot, Beatrice, Alice, And Ermengarde the lady of Maine,-- And that good Joan whom Englishmen At Rouen doomed and burned her there,-- Mother of G.o.d, where are they then?-- But where are the snows of yester-year?--

Nay, never ask this week, fair lord, Where they are gone, nor yet this year, Except with this for an overword,-- But where are the snows of yester-year?

(ROSSETTI: _The Ballad of Dead Ladies_, from the French of Francois Villon, 1450.)

This is a notable translation of a notable ballade, but it will be observed that it does not follow the strict rules as to the number of rimes. In Mr. Andrew Lang's _Ballades of Blue China_ is a formally correct translation.

Where are the cities of the plain?

And where the shrines of rapt Bethel?

And Calah, built of Tubal-Cain?

And s.h.i.+nar whence King Amraphal Came out in arms, and fought, and fell, Decoyed into the pits of slime By Siddim, and sent sheer to h.e.l.l; Where are the cities of old time?

Where now is Karnak, that great fane With granite built, a miracle?

And Luxor smooth without a stain, Whose graven scriptures still we spell?

The jackal and the owl may tell, Dark snakes around their ruins climb, They fade like echo in a sh.e.l.l; Where are the cities of old time?

And where is white Shusan, again, Where Vashti's beauty bore the bell, And all the Jewish oil and grain Were brought to Mithridath to sell, Where Nehemiah would not dwell, Because another town sublime Decoyed him with her oracle?

Where are the cities of old time?

_Envoy_

Prince, with a dolorous, ceaseless knell, Above their wasted toil and crime The waters of oblivion swell: Where are the cities of old time?

(EDMUND GOSSE: _Ballad of Dead Cities._)

In this ballade Mr. Gosse finely reproduces the more serious tones of the old form, and imitates the ancient custom of addressing the envoy to royalty. This _motif_, of old things lost, is a favorite one for the serious ballade, being suggested by Villon's _Ballade of Dead Ladies_.

Compare Mr. Lang's _Ballade of Dead Cities_, in _Ballades of Blue China_.

On the other hand, the next specimen ill.u.s.trates the use of the form for the light familiarity of _vers de societe_ and parody.

He lived in a cave by the seas, He lived upon oysters and foes, But his list of forbidden degrees An extensive morality shows; Geological evidence goes To prove he had never a pan, But he shaved with a sh.e.l.l when he chose, 'Twas the manner of Primitive Man!

He wors.h.i.+pp'd the rain and the breeze, He wors.h.i.+pp'd the river that flows, And the Dawn, and the Moon, and the trees, And bogies, and serpents, and crows; He buried his dead with their toes Tucked up, an original plan, Till their knees came right under their nose, 'Twas the manner of Primitive Man!

His communal wives, at his ease, He would curb with occasional blows; Or his state had a queen, like the bees (As another philosopher trows): When he spoke it was never in prose, But he sang in a strain that would scan, For (to doubt it, perchance, were morose) 'Twas the manner of Primitive Man!

_Envoy_

Max, proudly your Aryans pose, But their rigs they undoubtedly ran, For, as every Darwinian knows, 'Twas the manner of Primitive Man!

(ANDREW LANG: _Ballade of Primitive Man._)

In Mr. Lang's _Ballades of Blue China_ this appears as a _double ballade_, with three more stanzas.

From the sunny climes of France, Flying to the west, Came a flock of birds by chance, There to sing and rest: Of some secrets deep in quest,-- Justice for their wrongs,-- Seeking one to s.h.i.+eld their breast, One to write their songs.

Melodies of old romance, Joy and gentle jest, Notes that made the dull heart dance With a merry zest;-- Maids in matchless beauty drest, Youths in happy throngs;-- These they sang to tempt and test One to write their songs.

In old London's wide expanse Built each feathered guest,-- Man's small pleasure to entrance, Singing him to rest,-- Came, and tenderly confessed, Perched on leafy p.r.o.ngs, Life were sweet if they possessed One to write their songs.

_Envoy_

Austin, it was you they blest: Fame to you belongs!

Time has proven you're the best One to write their songs.

(FRANK DEMPSTER SHERMAN: _To Austin Dobson._)

Mr. Austin Dobson is said to have been the first to reintroduce the ballade into English poetry, and the present specimen is a tribute to his success by an American poet.

Bird of the bitter bright gray golden morn Scarce risen upon the dusk of dolorous years, First of us all and sweetest singer born Whose far shrill note the world of new men hears Cleave the cold shuddering shade as twilight clears; When song new-born put off the old world's attire And felt its tune on her changed lips expire, Writ foremost on the roll of them that came Fresh girt for service of the latter lyre, Villon, our sad bad glad mad brother's name!

(SWINBURNE: _Ballad of Francois Villon, Prince of all Ballad-Makers_, st. i.)

This specimen represents the ballade in ten-line stanzas.

There is also an extended form of the ballade, called the _Chant Royal_, with five stanzas and envoy, the stanzas consisting of eleven verses.

The usual rime-scheme is _ababccddede_, with envoy _ddede_. For admirable specimens, see Mr. Dobson's _Dance of Death_ and Mr. Gosse's _Praise of Dionysus_, in _Ballades and Rondeaus_, pp. 98, 100. Mr. White says of this form: "The chant royal in the old form is usually devoted to the unfolding of an allegory in its five stanzas, the envoy supplying the key; but this is not always observed in modern examples. Whatever be the subject, however, it must always march in stately rhythm with splendid imagery, using all the poetic adornments of sonorous, highly-wrought lines and rich embroidery of words, to clothe a theme in itself a lofty one. Unless the whole poem is constructed with intense care, the monotony of its sixty-one lines rhymed on five sounds is unbearable." (_Ballades and Rondeaus_, Introduction, p. liv.)

B.--THE RONDEAU AND RONDEL