Analysis of The Forsaken Bride
O waly waly up the bank,
And waly waly down the brae,
And waly waly yon burn-side
Where I and my Love wont to gae!
I leant my back unto an aik,
I thought it was a trusty tree;
But first it bow'd, and syne it brak,
Sae my true Love did lichtly me.
O waly waly, but love be bonny
A little time while it is new;
But when 'tis auld, it waxeth cauld
And fades awa' like morning dew.
O wherefore should I busk my head?
Or wherefore should I kame my hair?
For my true Love has me forsook,
And says he'll never lo'e me mair.
Now Arthur-seat sall be my bed,
The sheets shall ne'er be prest by me,
Saint Anton's well sall be my drink,
Since my true Love has forsaken me.
Marti'mas wind, when wilt thou blaw
And shake the green leaves aff the tree?
O gentle Death, when wilt thou come?
For of my life I am wearïe.
'Tis not the frost that freezes fell,
Nor blawing snaw's inclemencie—
'Tis not sic cauld that makes me cry,
But my Love's heart grown cauld to me.
When we came in by Glasgow town
We were a comely sight to see;
My Love was clad in the black velvét,
And I mysell in cramasie.
But had I wist, before I kist,
That love had been sae ill to win,
I had lockt my heart in a case of gowd
And pinn'd it with a siller pin.
And oh, if my young babe were born,
And set upon the nurse's knee,
And I mysell were dead and gane,
And the green grass growing over me!
Scheme | AXBCADAD DEBEFGXG FDXDHDXD HICDXDDI XJBJXDED |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 111101 011101 011111 11011111 110111011 11110101 11110111 1111111 11111110 01011111 1111111 0111101 1111111 1111111 11111101 011101111 11011111 01111111 1111111 111110101 10111111 01011101 11011111 11111111 11011101 1111 11111111 11111111 1110111 10010111 111100111 01101 11110111 11111111 1111100111 01110101 01111101 01010101 0110101 001110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,456 |
Words | 281 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 203 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 56 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 03, 2023
- 1:27 min read
- 100 Views
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"The Forsaken Bride" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/3489/the-forsaken-bride>.
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