Analysis of The Auncient Acquaintance, Madam, Betwen Vs Twayn
John Skelton 1460 (Norfolk) – 1529 (London)
The auncient acquaintance, madam, betwen vs twayn,
The famylyaryte, the formal dalyaunce,
Causyth me that I can not myself refrayne
But that I must wryte for my plesaunt pastaunce:
Remembryng your passying goodly countenaunce,
Your goodly port, your bewteous visage,
Ye may be countyd comfort of all corage.
Of all your feturs fauorable to make tru discripcion,
I am insuffycyent to make such enterpryse;
For thus dare I say, without [con]tradiccyon,
That dame Menolope was neuer half so wyse:
Yet so it is that a rumer begynneth for to ryse,
How in good horsmen ye set your hole delyght,
And haue forgoten your old trew louyng knyght.
Wyth bound and rebound, bounsyngly take vp
Hys jentyll curtoyl, and set nowght by small naggys!
Spur vp at the hynder gyrth, with Gup, morell, gup!
With, Jayst ye, jenet of Spayne, for your tayll waggys!
Ye cast all your corage vppon such courtly haggys.
Haue in sergeaunt ferrour, myne horse behynd is bare;
He rydeth well the horse, but he rydeth better the mare.
Ware, ware, the mare wynsyth wyth her wanton hele!
She kykyth with her kalkyns and keylyth with a clench;
She goyth wyde behynde, and hewyth neuer a dele:
Ware gallyng in the widders, ware of that wrenche!
It is perlous for a horseman to dyg in the trenche.
Thus greuyth your husband, that ryght jentyll knyght,
And so with youre seruantys he fersly doth fyght.
So fersly he fytyth, his mynde is so fell,
That he dryuyth them doune with dyntes on ther day wach;
He bresyth theyr braynpannys and makyth them to swell,
Theyre browys all to-brokyn, such clappys they cach;
Whose jalawsy malycyous makyth them to lepe the hach;
By theyr conusaunce knowing how they serue a wily py:
Ask all your neybours whether that I ly.
It can be no counsell that is cryed at the cros:
For youre jentyll husband sorowfull am I;
How be it, he is not furst hath had a los:
Aduertysyng you, madame, to warke more secretly,
Let not all the world make an owtcry;
Play fayre play, madame, and loke ye play clene,
Or ells with gret shame your game wylbe sene.
Qd Skelton, laureat.
Scheme | ABABBCC ABABBDD EBEBBFF GHGHHDD GXGHXEG BXBGFAA D |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01010101101 010101 11111111 111111111 111101 11011110 111110111 111111111 1111111 11111011 111110111 111110101111 101111111 01111111 11001111 111011111 11101111101 1111111111 1111111101 101111111 111011111001 1101110101 1110101101 1111011001 110011111 111101011001 111101111 011111111 111111111 11111111111 111101111 111111111 111111101 111101110101 111110111 111110111101 11110111 11111111101 1110111100 11101111 1111001111 111111111 1101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 2,027 |
Words | 368 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 1 |
Lines Amount | 43 |
Letters per line (avg) | 38 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 232 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 52 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:50 min read
- 83 Views
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"The Auncient Acquaintance, Madam, Betwen Vs Twayn" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/24108/the-auncient-acquaintance%2C-madam%2C-betwen-vs-twayn>.
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