The Banshee
Alice Guerin Crist 1876 (Clare Castle) – 1941 (Toowoomba)
As we came down the old boreen,
Rose and I – Rose and I,
At vesper time on Sunday e’en,
We heard a banshee cry!
Beyond the churchyard dim and dark,
‘Neath whispering elms, and yew-trees stark,
Where our star shone-a corpse-like spark-
Against the wintry sky.
We heard and shuddered sick with dread,
Rose and I- Rose and I,
As the shrill keening rang o’erhead
Where cloud-wrack floated high.
Our two young hearts long, sorely tried,
By poverty and love denied
Still waiting for some favouring tide,
And now! Death come so nigh.
‘Which of us two is called away
You or I-You or I?”
I heard my patient poor love say,
With bitter plaintive sigh.
‘Neither, dear girl,” I bravely said,
‘To Mary Mother bow your head,
And cry for help to Her instead,
Nor heed the Banshee’s cry’.
We raised our hearts in fervent prayer,
Rose and I-Rose and I,
Nor knew our troubles ended there,
Our happiness came nigh.
For ‘twas the grim old farmer, he-
My only kin, rich, miserly,
Who, dying left his wealth to me-
For whom the banshee cried.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 29, 2023
- 57 sec read
- 107 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABCCCB DBDBEEEB FBFBDDDB GBGBHHHE |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,020 |
Words | 191 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
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"The Banshee" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/1518/the-banshee>.
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