Analysis of Old English Lullaby

Eugene Field 1850 (St. Louis) – 1895 (Chicago)



Hush, bonnie, dinna greit;
Moder will rocke her sweete,-
Balow, my boy!
When that his toile ben done,
Daddie will come anone,-
Hush thee, my lyttel one;
Balow, my boy!

Gin thou dost sleepe, perchaunce
Fayries will come to daunce,-
Balow, my boy!
Oft hath thy moder seene
Moonlight and mirkland queene
Daunce on thy slumbering een,-
Balow, my boy!

Then droned a bomblebee
Saftly this songe to thee:
'Balow, my boy!'
And a wee heather bell,
Pluckt from a fayry dell,
Chimed thee this rune hersell:
'Balow, my boy!'

Soe, bonnie, dinna greit;
Moder doth rock her sweete,-
Balow, my boy!
Give mee thy lyttel hand,
Moder will hold it and
Lead thee to balow land,-
Balow, my boy!


Scheme aaBcccB ddBcccB bxBeeeB aaBaaaB
Poetic Form
Metre 11011 101101 1011 111111 1111 11111 1011 11111 11111 1011 111101 1011 1111001 1011 1101 11111 1011 001101 11011 11111 1011 11011 101101 1011 11111 101110 111101 1011
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 653
Words 130
Sentences 9
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 7, 7, 7, 7
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 18
Words per line (avg) 4
Letters per stanza (avg) 127
Words per stanza (avg) 30
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

38 sec read
106

Eugene Field

Eugene Field, Sr. was an American writer, best known for his children's poetry and humorous essays. more…

All Eugene Field poems | Eugene Field Books

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