Analysis of The Little HandMaiden
Archibald Lampman 1861 (Upper Canada) – 1899 (Ottawa, Canada)
The King's son walks in the garden fair-
Oh, the maiden's heart is merry!
He little knows for his toil and care,
That the bride is gone and the bower is bare.
Put on garments of white, my maidens!
The sun shines bright through the casement high-
Oh, the maiden's heart is merry!
The little handmaid, with a laughing eye,
Looks down on the king's son, strolling by.
Put on garments of white, my maidens!
'He little knows that the bride is gone,
And the Earl knows little as he;
She is fled with her lover afar last night
And the King's son is left to me.'
And back to her chamber with velvety step
The little handmaid did glide,
And a gold key took from her bosom sweet,
And opened the great chests wide.
She bound her hair with a band of blue,
And a garland of lilies sweet;
And put on her delicate silken shoes,
With roses at her feet.
She clad her body in spotless white,
With a girdle as red as blood.
The glad white raiment her beauty bound,
As the sepels blind the bud.
And round and round her white neck she flung
A necklace of sapphires blue;
On one white finger of either hand
A shining ring she drew.
And down the stairway and out of the door
She glided, as soft and light,
As an airy tuft of a thistle seed
Might glide through the grasses bright.
And into the garden sweet she stole-
The little birds carolled loud-
Her beauty shone as a star might shine
In the rift of the morning cloud.
The King's son walked in the garden fair,
And the little handmaiden came,
Through the midst of a shimmer of roses red,
Like a sunbeam through a flame.
The King's son marvelled, his heart leaped up,
'And art thou my bride?' said he,
'For, North or South, I have never beheld
A lovelier maid than thee.'
'And dost thou love me?' the little maid cried,
'A fine King's son, I wis!'
And the king's son took her with both his hands,
And her ruddy lips did kiss.
And the little maid laughed till the beaded tears,
Ran down in a silver rain.
'O foolish King's son!' and she clapped her hands,
Till the gold rings rang again.
'O King's son, foolish and fooled art thou,
For a goodly game is played:
Thy bride is away with her lover last night,
And I am her little handmaid.'
And the King's son sware a great oath, said he-
Oh, the maiden's heart is merry!
'If the Earl's fair daughter a traitress be,
The little handmaid is enough for me.'
Put on garments of white, my maidens!
The King's son walks in the garden fair-
Oh, the maiden's heart is merry!
And the little handmaiden walketh there,
But the old Earl pulleth his beard for care.
Put on garments of white, my maidens!
Scheme | ABaaC dBddC xbeb xfgf hgxg eixi xhxh xexe xjxj akxk xbeb flml xxmx xxee bBbbC ABaaC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 011100101 1011110 110111101 10111001011 111011110 01111011 1011110 010110101 111011101 111011110 110110111 00111011 11110100111 00111111 01101011001 010111 0011110101 0100111 110110111 00101101 0110100101 110101 110100101 10101111 01110101 101101 010101111 01011001 111101101 010111 010101101 1101101 1110110101 1110101 001010111 010111 010110111 00110101 011100101 001011 10110101101 101101 01111111 0111111 111111101 01111 0111101011 011111 0011101111 0010111 00101110101 1100101 1101101101 1011101 111100111 1010111 11101101011 0110101 0011101111 1011110 101110011 010110111 111011110 011100101 1011110 0010111 101111111 111011110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,506 |
Words | 501 |
Sentences | 31 |
Stanzas | 16 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 68 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 123 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 31 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:32 min read
- 65 Views
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"The Little HandMaiden" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/3698/the-little-handmaiden>.
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