Analysis of A Ballad of Hell
'A letter from my love to-day!
Oh, unexpected, dear appeal!'
She struck a happy tear away,
And broke the crimson seal.
'My love, there is no help on earth,
No help in heaven; the dead-man's bell
Must toll our wedding; our first hearth
Must be the well-paved floor of hell.'
The colour died from out her face,
Her eyes like ghostly candles shone;
She cast dread looks about the place,
Then clenched her teeth and read right on.
'I may not pass the prison door;
Here must I rot from day to day,
Unless I wed whom I abhor,
My cousin, Blanche of Valencay.
'At midnight with my dagger keen,
I'll take my life; it must be so.
Meet me in hell to-night, my queen,
For weal and woe.'
She laughed although her face was wan,
She girded on her golden belt,
She took her jewelled ivory fan,
And at her glowing missal knelt.
Then rose, 'And am I mad?' she said:
She broke her fan, her belt untied;
With leather girt herself instead,
And stuck a dagger at her side.
She waited, shuddering in her room,
Till sleep had fallen on all the house.
She never flinched; she faced her doom:
They two must sin to keep their vows.
Then out into the night she went,
And, stooping, crept by hedge and tree;
Her rose-bush flung a snare of scent,
And caught a happy memory.
She fell, and lay a minute's space;
She tore the sward in her distress;
The dewy grass refreshed her face;
She rose and ran with lifted dress.
She started like a morn-caught ghost
Once when the moon came out and stood
To watch; the naked road she crossed,
And dived into the murmuring wood.
The branches snatched her streaming cloak;
A live thing shrieked; she made no stay!
She hurried to the trysting-oak—
Right well she knew the way.
Without a pause she bared her breast,
And drove her dagger home and fell,
And lay like one that takes her rest,
And died and wakened up in hell.
She bathed her spirit in the flame,
And near the centre took her post;
From all sides to her ears there came
The dreary anguish of the lost.
The devil started at her side,
Comely, and tall, and black as jet.
'I am young Malespina's bride;
Has he come hither yet?'
'My poppet, welcome to your bed.'
'Is Malespina here?'
'Not he! To-morrow he must wed
His cousin Blanche, my dear!'
'You lie, he died with me to-night.'
'Not he! it was a plot' ... 'You lie.'
'My dear, I never lie outright.'
'We died at midnight, he and I.'
The devil went. Without a groan
She, gathered up in one fierce prayer,
Took root in hell's midst all alone,
And waited for him there.
She dared to make herself at home
Amidst the wail, the uneasy stir.
The blood-stained flame that filled the dome,
Scentless and silent, shrouded her.
How long she stayed I cannot tell;
But when she felt his perfidy,
She marched across the floor of hell;
And all the damned stood up to see.
The devil stopped her at the brink:
She shook him off; she cried, 'Away!'
'My dear, you have gone mad, I think.'
'I was betrayed: I will not stay.'
Across the weltering deep she ran;
A stranger thing was never seen:
The damned stood silent to a man;
They saw the great gulf set between.
To her it seemed a meadow fair;
And flowers sprang up about her feet
She entered heaven; she climbed the stair
And knelt down at the mercy-seat.
Seraphs and saints with one great voice
Welcomed that soul that knew not fear.
Amazed to find it could rejoice,
Hell raised a hoarse, half-human cheer.
Scheme | ABAB XCXC DEDF GAGH IJIJ FKLK MNMN OXOX PQPQ DRDR STUT HAHA VCVC WSWU NXNX MXMY Z1 Z1 E2 E2 3 4 3 4 CQCQ HAHA LILI 2 5 2 5 6 Y6 Y |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (79%) |
Metre | 01011111 1010101 11010101 010101 11111111 110100111 1110101011 11011111 0111101 01110101 11110101 11010111 11110101 11111111 01111101 110111 1111101 11111111 11011111 1101 1110111 1110101 11011001 01010101 11011111 11010101 11010101 01010101 110100001 111101101 11011101 11111111 11010111 01011101 01110111 01010100 11010101 11010001 01010101 11011101 11010111 11011101 11010111 010101001 01010101 01111111 1101011 111101 01011101 01010101 01111101 0101101 11010001 01010101 11110111 01010101 01010101 10010111 11111 111101 1110111 111 11110111 110111 11111111 11110111 11110111 1111101 01010101 11010111 11011101 010111 11110111 010100101 01111101 1010100 11111101 11111100 11010111 01011111 01010101 11111101 11111111 11011111 0101111 01011101 01110101 11011101 1011011 010110101 110101101 01110101 1011111 10111111 01111101 11011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 3,270 |
Words | 646 |
Sentences | 45 |
Stanzas | 24 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 96 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 106 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 25, 2023
- 3:10 min read
- 157 Views
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"A Ballad of Hell" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22427/a-ballad-of-hell>.
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