Analysis of My Darling Dear, My Daisy Flower
John Skelton 1460 (Norfolk) – 1529 (London)
WITH lullay, lullay, like a child,
Thou sleepèst too long, thou art beguiled!
'My darling dear, my daisy flower,
Let me,' quoth he, 'lie in your lap.'
'Lie still,' quoth she, 'my paramour,
Lie still hardily1, and take a nap.'
His head was heavy, such was his hap,
All drowsy, dreaming, drowned in sleep,
That of his love he took no keep,
With hey, lullay, etc.
With ba, ba, ba, and bas, bas, bas!
She cherished him both cheek and chin
That he wist never where he was;
He had forgotten all deadly sin!
He wanted wit her love to win:
He trusted her payment and lost all his pay;
She left him sleeping and stale2 away,
With hey, lullay, etc.
The rivers rough, the waters wan;
She sparèd not to wet her feet.
She waded over, she found a man
That halsèd3 her heartily and kissed her sweet;
Thus after her cold she caught a heat.
'My lief,4' she said, 'rowteth5 in his bed;
Iwys6 he hath an heavy head,'
With hey, lullay, etc.
What dreamest thou, drunkard, drowsy pate?
Thy lust and liking is from thee gone;
Thou blinkard blowboll7, thou wakèst too late;
Behold thou liest, luggard, alone!
Well may thou sigh, well may thou groan,
To deal with her so cowardly.
Ywis, pole-hatchet,8 she blearèd thine eye!
Scheme | aabcbccddE fgfgghhE xixiijjE kxkllxx |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111101 111111101 110111010 11111011 111111 1110101 111101111 11010101 11111111 111100 11110111 11011101 11110111 110101101 11010111 11001001111 111100101 111100 01010101 11111101 110101101 11101000101 110011101 11111011 1111101 111100 11110101 110101111 11111111 0111101 11111111 11101100 111011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,180 |
Words | 230 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 8, 8, 7 |
Lines Amount | 33 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 224 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 55 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 02, 2023
- 1:07 min read
- 106 Views
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