Kemp Owyne
"On sea, on land, thou still didst braveThe dangerous cliff and rapid wave;Like Urien, who subdued the knight,And the fell dragon put to flight,Yon moss-grown fount beside;The grim, black warrior of the flood,The dragon, gorged with human blood,The waters' scaly pride."Jones's Welsh Bards, i. 41.
Her mother died when she was young,Which gave her cause to make great moan;Her father married the warst womanThat ever lived in Christendom.
She served her with foot and hand,In every thing that she could dee;Till once, in an unlucky time,She threw her in ower Craigy's sea.
Says, "Lie you there, dove Isabel,And all my sorrows lie with thee;Till Kemp Owyne come ower the sea,And borrow you with kisses three,Let all the warld do what they will,Oh borrowed shall you never be."
Her breath grew strang, her hair grew lang,And twisted thrice about the tree,And all the people, far and near,Thought that a savage beast was she;This news did come to Kemp Owyne,Where he lived far beyond the sea.
He hasted him to Craigy's sea,And on the savage beast look'd he;Her breath was strang, her hair was lang,And twisted was about the tree,And with a swing she came about:"Come to Craigy's sea, and kiss with me.
"Here is a royal belt," she cried,"That I have found in the green sea;And while your body it is on,Drawn shall your blood never be;But if you touch me, tail or fin,I vow my belt your death shall be."
He stepped in, gave her a kiss,The royal belt he brought him wi';Her breath was strang, her hair was lang,And twisted twice about the tree,And with a swing she came about:"Come to Craigy's sea, and kiss with me.
"Here is a royal ring," she said,"That I have found in the green sea;And while your finger it is on,Drawn shall your blood never be;But if you touch me, tail or fin,I swear my ring your death shall be."
He stepped in, gave her a kiss,The royal ring he brought him wi';Her breath was strang, her hair was lang,And twisted ance around the tree,And with a swing she came about:"Come to Craigy's sea, and kiss with me.
"Here is a royal brand," she said,"That I have found in the green sea;And while your body it is on,Drawn shall your blood never be;But if you touch me, tail or fin,I swear my brand your death shall be."
He stepped in, gave her a kiss,The royal brand he brought him wi';Her breath was sweet, her hair grew short,And twisted nane about the tree;And smilingly she came about,As fair a woman as fair could be.
Words in this poem
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- gorged a.
- Having a gorge or throat.
- christendom n.
- The profession of faith in Christ by baptism; hence, the Christian religion, or the adoption of it. [AS. cristend; cristen a Christian + -dom.]
- kemp n.
- Coarse, rough hair wool or fur, injuring its quality.
- borrow v. t.
- To receive from another as a loan, with the implied or expressed intention of returning the identical article or its equivalent in kind; -- the opposite of lend. [OE. borwen, AS. borgian, fr. borg, borh, pledge; akin to D. borg, G. borg; prob. fr. root of AS. beorgan to protect. Borough.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- strang a.
- Strong. [Obs. or Prov. Eng. & Scot.] Halliwell. [See Strong.]
- smilingly adv.
- In a smiling manner.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Kemp Owyne is in the public domain. This text is taken from English and Scottish Ballads, Volume I, Project Gutenberg ebook #37031; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Francis James Child, Kemp Owyne, in English and Scottish Ballads, Volume I (1857), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37031, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/child-ballads/kemp-owyne.html, id L08581.
Form and metre
Kemp Owyne is 71 lines in 12 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABBCDDC- braveA · waveA · knightB · flightB · besideC · floodD · bloodD · prideC · —
- 2 -AA- young · moanA · womanA · christendom
- 3 -A-A hand · deeA · time · seaA
- 4 -AAA-A isabel · theeA · seaA · threeA · will · beA
- 5 -A-A-A lang · treeA · near · sheA · owyne · seaA
- 6 AA-A-A seaA · heA · lang · treeA · about · meA
- 7 -A-A-A cried · seaA · on · beA · fin · beA
- 8 ---A-A kiss · wi · lang · treeA · about · meA
- 9 -A-A-A said · seaA · on · beA · fin · beA
- 10 ---A-A kiss · wi · lang · treeA · about · meA
- 11 -A-A-A said · seaA · on · beA · fin · beA
- 12 ---A-A kiss · wi · short · treeA · about · beA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| "On sea, on land, thou still didst brave | 8 | ········ |
| The dangerous cliff and rapid wave; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Like Urien, who subdued the knight, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| And the fell dragon put to flight, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Yon moss-grown fount beside; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The grim, black warrior of the flood, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The dragon, gorged with human blood, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The waters' scaly pride." | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Jones's Welsh Bards, i. 41. | 5 | /˘··· |
| Her mother died when she was young, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Which gave her cause to make great moan; | 8 | ········ |
| Her father married the warst woman | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| That ever lived in Christendom. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| She served her with foot and hand, | 8 | ··˘····· |
| In every thing that she could dee; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Till once, in an unlucky time, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| She threw her in ower Craigy's sea. | 9 | ········· |
| Says, "Lie you there, dove Isabel, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And all my sorrows lie with thee; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Till Kemp Owyne come ower the sea, | 9 | ········· |
| And borrow you with kisses three, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Let all the warld do what they will, | 8 | ········ |
| Oh borrowed shall you never be." | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Her breath grew strang, her hair grew lang, | 8 | ········ |
| And twisted thrice about the tree, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And all the people, far and near, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thought that a savage beast was she; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| This news did come to Kemp Owyne, | 8 | ········ |
| Where he lived far beyond the sea. | 8 | ········ |
| He hasted him to Craigy's sea, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And on the savage beast look'd he; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Her breath was strang, her hair was lang, | 8 | ········ |
| And twisted was about the tree, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And with a swing she came about: | 8 | ········ |
| "Come to Craigy's sea, and kiss with me. | 9 | ········· |
| "Here is a royal belt," she cried, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "That I have found in the green sea; | 8 | ········ |
| And while your body it is on, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Drawn shall your blood never be; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| But if you touch me, tail or fin, | 8 | ········ |
| I vow my belt your death shall be." | 8 | ········ |
| He stepped in, gave her a kiss, | 8 | ··˘····· |
| The royal belt he brought him wi'; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Her breath was strang, her hair was lang, | 8 | ········ |
| And twisted twice about the tree, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And with a swing she came about: | 8 | ········ |
| "Come to Craigy's sea, and kiss with me. | 9 | ········· |
| "Here is a royal ring," she said, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "That I have found in the green sea; | 8 | ········ |
| And while your finger it is on, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Drawn shall your blood never be; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| But if you touch me, tail or fin, | 8 | ········ |
| I swear my ring your death shall be." | 8 | ········ |
| He stepped in, gave her a kiss, | 8 | ··˘····· |
| The royal ring he brought him wi'; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Her breath was strang, her hair was lang, | 8 | ········ |
| And twisted ance around the tree, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And with a swing she came about: | 8 | ········ |
| "Come to Craigy's sea, and kiss with me. | 9 | ········· |
| "Here is a royal brand," she said, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "That I have found in the green sea; | 8 | ········ |
| And while your body it is on, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Drawn shall your blood never be; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| But if you touch me, tail or fin, | 8 | ········ |
| I swear my brand your death shall be." | 8 | ········ |
| He stepped in, gave her a kiss, | 8 | ··˘····· |
| The royal brand he brought him wi'; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Her breath was sweet, her hair grew short, | 8 | ········ |
| And twisted nane about the tree; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And smilingly she came about, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| As fair a woman as fair could be. | 9 | ···/˘···· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.