Analysis of The Son's Sorrow
William Morris 1834 (Walthamstow) – 1896 (London)
FROM THE ICELANDIC.
The King has asked of his son so good,
“Why art thou hushed and heavy of mood?
O fair it is to ride abroad.
Thou playest not, and thou laughest not;
All thy good game is clean forgot.”
“Sit thou beside me, father dear,
And the tale of my sorrow shalt thou hear.
Thou sendedst me unto a far-off land,
And gavest me into a good Earl’s hand.
Now had this good Earl daughters seven,
The fairest of maidens under heaven.
One brought me my meat when I should dine,
One cut and sewed my raiment fine.
One washed and combed my yellow hair,
And one I fell to loving there.
Befell it on so fair a day,
We minded us to sport and play.
Down in a dale my horse bound I,
Bound on my saddle speedily.
Bright red she was as the flickering flame
When to my saddle-bow she came.
Beside my saddle-bow she stood,
‘To flee with thee to my heart were good.’
Kind was my horse and good to aid,
My love upon his back I laid.
We gat us from the garth away,
And none was ware of us that day.
But as we rode along the sand
Behold a barge lay by the land.
So in that boat did we depart,
And rowed away right glad at heart.
When we came to the dark wood and the shade
To raise the tent my true-love bade.
Three sons my true-love bore me there,
And syne she died who was so dear.
A grave I wrought her with my sword,
With my fair shield the mould I poured.
First in the mould I laid my love,
Then all my sons her breast above.
And I without must lie alone;
So from the place I gat me gone.”
No man now shall stand on his feet
To love that love, to woo that sweet:
O fair it is to ride abroad.
Scheme | x axBcc dx ee ff gg hh ii xx jj aa kk ii ee ll kk hd mm nn xx ooB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 10010 011111111 111101011 11111101 1110111 11111101 11011101 0011110111 111100111 011010111 111111010 0101101010 111111111 1101111 11011101 01111101 01111101 11011101 10011111 11110100 1111101001 11110111 01110111 111111101 11110111 11011111 11110101 01111111 11110101 01011101 10111101 01011111 1111011001 11011111 11111111 01111111 01110111 11110111 10011111 11110101 01011101 11011111 11111111 11111111 11111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,560 |
Words | 332 |
Sentences | 24 |
Stanzas | 21 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 5, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3 |
Lines Amount | 45 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 57 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 16 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:39 min read
- 105 Views
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