Analysis of May Colven
Andrew Lang 1844 (Selkirk, Scottish Borders) – 1912 (Banchory)
False Sir John a wooing came
To a maid of beauty fair;
May Colven was this lady's name,
Her father's only heir.
He wood her butt, he wood her ben,
He wood her in the ha,
Until he got this lady's consent
To mount and ride awa.
He went down to her father's bower,
Where all the steeds did stand,
And he's taken one of the best steeds
That was in her father's land.
He's got on and she's got on,
As fast as they could flee,
Until they came to a lonesome part,
A rock by the side of the sea.
'Loup off the steed,' says false Sir John,
'Your bridal bed you see;
For I have drowned seven young ladies,
The eighth one you shall be.
'Cast off, cast off, my May Colven,
All and your silken gown,
For it's oer good and oer costly
To rot in the salt sea foam.
'Cast off, cast off, my May Colven.
All and your embroiderd shoen,
For oer good and oer costly
To rot in the salt sea foam.'
'O turn you about, O false Sir John,
And look to the leaf of the tree,
For it never became a gentleman
A naked woman to see.'
He turned himself straight round about,
To look to the leaf of the tree,
So swift as May Colven was
To throw him in the sea.
'O help, O help, my May Colven,
O help, or else I'll drown;
I'll take you home to your father's bower,
And set you down safe and sound.'
'No help, no help, O false Sir John,
No help, nor pity thee;
Tho' seven kings' daughters you have drownd,
But the eighth shall not be me.'
So she went on her father's steed,
As swift as she could flee,
And she came home to her father's bower
Before it was break of day.
Up then and spoke the pretty parrot:
'May Colven, where have you been?
What has become of false Sir John,
That woo'd you so late the streen?
'He woo'd you butt, he woo'd you ben,
He woo'd you in the ha,
Until he got your own consent
For to mount and gang awa.'
'O hold your tongue, my pretty parrot,
Lay not the blame upon me;
Your cup shall be of the flowered gold,
Your cage of the root of the tree.'
Up then spake the king himself,
In the bed-chamber where he lay:
'What ails the pretty parrot,
That prattles so long or day?'
'There came a cat to my cage door,
It almost a worried me,
And I was calling on May Colven
To take the cat from me.'
Scheme | abab cdef ghxh ijxj ijxj CkjL CxjL ijxj xjxj ckgx ijej xjgm nxic cdef njxj xmnm xjcj |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (65%) |
Metre | 1110101 1011101 1111101 010101 11011101 110001 011111001 11011 111101010 110111 011011011 1100101 1110111 111111 011110101 01101101 11011111 110111 111110110 011111 1111111 101101 11110110 1100111 1111111 10111 1110110 1100111 111011111 01101101 1110010100 0101011 11011101 11101101 111111 111001 1111111 111111 1111111010 0111101 11111111 111101 110110111 1011111 11110101 111111 0111101010 0111111 110101010 111111 11011111 1111101 11111111 111001 01111101 111011 111111010 1101011 111110101 11101101 1110101 00110111 1101010 1101111 11011111 110101 01110111 110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,118 |
Words | 456 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 17 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 68 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 95 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:19 min read
- 103 Views
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"May Colven" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2803/may-colven>.
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