Analysis of Johnie Faa
Andrew Lang 1844 (Selkirk, Scottish Borders) – 1912 (Banchory)
The gypsies came to our good lord's gate
And wow but they sang sweetly!
They sang sae sweet and sae very complete
That down came the fair lady.
And she came tripping doun the stair,
And a' her maids before her;
As soon as they saw her weel-far'd face,
They coost the glamer o'er her.
'O come with me,' says Johnie Faw,
'O come with me, my dearie;
For I vow and I swear by the hilt of my sword,
That your lord shall nae mair come near ye.'
Then she gied them the beer and the wine,
And they gied her the ginger;
But she gied them a far better thing,
The goud ring aff her finger.
'Gae take frae me this yay mantle,
And bring to me a plaidie;
For if kith and kin, and a' had sworn,
I'll follow the gypsy laddie.
'Yestreen I lay in a weel-made bed,
Wi' my good lord beside me;
But this night I'll lye in a tenant's barn,
Whatever shall betide me!'
'Come to your bed,' says Johnie Faw,
'Oh, come to your bed, my dearie:
For I vow and swear by the hilt of my sword,
Your lord shall nae mair come near ye.'
'I'll go to bed to my Johnie Faw,
I'll go to bed to my dearie;
For I vow and I swear by the fan in my hand,
My lord shall nae mair come near me.
'I'll mak a hap to my Johnie Faw,
I'll mak a hap to my dearie;
And he's get a' the coat gaes round,
And my lord shall nae mair come near me.'
And when our lord came hame at e'en,
And spier'd for his fair lady,
The tane she cry'd, and the other reply'd,
'She's awa' wi' the gypsy laddie!'
'Gae saddle to me the black black steed,
Gae saddle and make him ready;
Before that I either eat or sleep,
I'll gae seek my fair lady.'
And we were fifteen weel-made men,
Altho' we were na bonny;
And we were a' put down but ane,
For a fair young wanton lady.
Scheme | ABXB CDXD ECFB XDXD XAXA XBXB ECFB ECXB ECXB GBAA XBXB GBXB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (58%) |
Metre | 0101110111 0111110 1111011001 1110110 01110101 0001010 111110111 1101100 11111101 111111 111011101111 111111111 111101001 0110010 111101101 0111010 11111110 011101 111010011 1100101 11100111 1111011 1111100101 101011 11111101 1111111 11101101111 11111111 111111101 1111111 111011101011 11111111 110111101 1101111 01100111 011111111 0110111111 0111110 011100101 1110101 110110111 11001110 011110111 1111110 01001111 110110 01001111 10111010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,653 |
Words | 361 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 104 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 29 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:51 min read
- 106 Views
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