Analysis of The Elphin Nourrice
Andrew Lang 1844 (Selkirk, Scottish Borders) – 1912 (Banchory)
I heard a cow low, a bonnie cow low,
An' a cow low down in yon glen;
Lang, lang will my young son greet,
Or his mither bid him come ben.
I heard a cow low, a bonnie cow low,
An' a cow low down in yon fauld;
Lang, lang will my young son greet,
Or is mither take him frae cauld.
Waken, Queen of Elfan,
An hear your Nourrice moan.
O moan ye for your meat,
Or moan ye for your fee,
Or moan ye for the ither bounties
That ladies are wont to gie?
I moan na for my meat,
Nor yet for my fee,
But I mourn for Christened land--
It's there I fain would be.
O nurse my bairn, Nourice, she says,
Till he stan' at your knee,
An' ye's win hame to Christen land,
Whar fain it's ye wad be.
O keep my bairn, Nourice,
Till he gang by the hauld,
An' ye's win hame to your young son,
Ye left in four nights auld.
Scheme | AbCb AcCc bxcdex cdfd xdfd ecxx |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101101011 10111011 1111111 1111111 1101101011 10111011 1111111 1111111 10111 11111 111111 111111 11110110 1101111 111111 11111 1111101 111111 1111111 111111 11111101 111111 11111 111101 11111111 110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 774 |
Words | 172 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 6, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 26 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 97 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 28 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 52 sec read
- 56 Views
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"The Elphin Nourrice" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2831/the-elphin-nourrice>.
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