Analysis of The Wife Of Usher's Well
Andrew Lang 1844 (Selkirk, Scottish Borders) – 1912 (Banchory)
There lived a wife at Usher's Well,
And a wealthy wife was she;
She had three stout and stalwart sons,
And sent them oer the sea,
They hadna been a week from her,
A week but barely ane,
When word came to the carline wife
That her three sons were gane.
They hadna been a week from her,
A week but barely three,
Whan word came to the carlin wife
That her sons she'd never see.
'I wish the wind may never cease,
Nor fashes in the flood,
Till my three sons come hame to me,
In earthly flesh and blood!'
It fell about the Martinmass,
Whan nights are lang and mirk,
The carline wife's three sons came hame,
And their hats were o the birk.
It neither grew in syke nor ditch,
Nor yet in ony sheugh;
But at the gates o Paradise
That birk grew fair eneugh.
* * * * *
'Blow up the fire, my maidens!
Bring water from the well;
For a' my house shall feast this night,
Since my three sons are well.'
And she has made to them a bed,
She's made it large and wide;
And she's taen her mantle her about,
Sat down at the bedside.
* * * * *
Up then crew the red, red cock,
And up and crew the gray;
The eldest to the youngest said,
''Tis time we were away.'
The cock he hadna crawd but once,
And clapp'd his wings at a',
Whan the youngest to the eldest said,
'Brother, we must awa.
'The cock doth craw, the day doth daw,
The channerin worm doth chide;
Gin we be mist out o our place,
A sair pain we maun bide.
'Fare ye weel, my mother dear!
Fareweel to barn and byre!
And fare ye weel, the bonny lass
That kindles my mother's fire!'
Scheme | abcb Defe Dbfb xgbg chxh xbxf caxa ijxj hkik xxix xjxj xdxd |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (28%) |
Metre | 1101111 0010111 11110101 011101 1110110 011101 1111011 101101 1110110 011101 11110101 1011101 11011101 11001 11111111 010101 110101 111101 0111111 0110101 11010111 11011 1101110 11111 1 11010110 110101 10111111 111111 01111101 111101 011010001 11101 1 1110111 010101 01010101 111001 0111111 011110 101010101 10111 01110111 01111 111111101 011111 1111101 11101 01110101 1111010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,470 |
Words | 314 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 14 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 1, 4, 4, 1, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 50 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 80 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 22 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 1:35 min read
- 281 Views
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"The Wife Of Usher's Well" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2840/the-wife-of-usher%27s-well>.
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