Analysis of Achill Girl's Song

Padraic Colum 1881 (County Longford) – 1972 (Enfield)



FROM THE IRISH

I’d bring you these for dowry
A field from heather free,
White sheep upon the mountain,
And calves that follow me.

I saw you by the well-side
Upon Saint Finnian's Day;
I thought you'd come and ask for me
But you kept far away.

Oh, if you ask not for me,
But leave me here instead,
The petticoat in dye-pot here
Will never fast its red

For me upon the well-slope
To wear on Finnian's Day
My dress will be the sheet bleached there,
My place, below the clay!


Scheme X AAXA XBAB ACXC XBXB
Poetic Form
Metre 1010 1111110 011101 1101010 011101 1111011 01111 11110111 111101 1111111 111101 0100111 110111 1101011 11111 11110111 110101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 464
Words 94
Sentences 4
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 1, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 17
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 72
Words per stanza (avg) 18
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 02, 2023

29 sec read
382

Padraic Colum

Padraic Colum was an Irish poet, novelist, dramatist, biographer, playwright, children's author and collector of folklore. more…

All Padraic Colum poems | Padraic Colum Books

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