Lord John
"I'll wager, I'll wager," says Lord John,"A hundred merks and ten,That ye winna gae to the bonnie broom-fields,And a maid return again."--
"But I'll lay a wager wi' you, Lord John,A' your merks oure again,That I'll gae alane to the bonnie broom-fields,And a maid return again."
Then Lord John mounted his grey steed,And his hound wi' his bells sae bricht,And swiftly he rade to the bonny broom-fields,Wi' his hawks, like a lord or knicht.
"Now rest, now rest, my bonnie grey steed,My lady will soon be here;And I'll lay my head aneath this rose sae red,And the bonnie burn sae near."
But sound, sound, was the sleep he took,For he slept till it was noon;And his lady cam at day, left a taiken and away,Gaed as licht as a glint o' the moon.
She strawed the roses on the ground,Threw her mantle on the brier,And the belt around her middle sae jimp,As a taiken that she'd been there.
The rustling leaves flew round his head,And rous'd him frae his dream;He saw by the roses, and mantle sae green,That his love had been there and was gane.
"O whare was ye, my gude grey steed,That I coft ye sae dear;That ye didna waken your master,Whan ye ken'd that his love was here."--
"I pautit wi' my foot, master,Garr'd a' my bridles ring;And still I cried, Waken, gude master,For now is the hour and time."--
"Then whare was ye, my bonnie grey hound,That I coft ye sae dear,That ye didna waken your master,Whan ye kend that his love was here."--
"I pautit wi' my foot, master,Garr'd a' my bells to ring;And still I cried, Waken, gude master,For now is the hour and time."--
"But whare was ye, my hawks, my hawks,That I coft ye sae dear,That ye didna waken your master,Whan ye ken'd that his love was here."--
"O wyte na me, now, my master dear,I garr'd a' my young hawks sing,And still I cried, Waken, gude master,For now is the hour and time."--
"Then be it sae, my wager gane!'T will skaith frae meikle ill;For gif I had found her in bonnie broom-fields,O' her heart's blude ye'd drunken your fill."
The stanzas below are from an American version of this ballad calledThe Green Broomfield, printed in a cheap song-book. (Graham'sIllustrated Magazine, Sept. 1858.)
"Then when she went to the green broom field,Where her love was fast asleep,With a gray goose-hawk and a green laurel bough,And a green broom under his feet.
"And when he awoke from out his sleep,An angry man was he;He looked to the East, and he looked to the West,And he wept for his sweetheart to see.
"Oh! where was you, my gray goose-hawk,The hawk that I loved so dear,That you did not awake me from out my sleep,When my sweetheart was so near!"
Words in this poem
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- bonny a.
- Handsome; beautiful; pretty; attractively lively and graceful. [OE. boni, prob. fr. F. bon, fem. bonne, good, fr. L. bonus good. See Bounty, and cf. Bonus, Boon.]
- glint n.
- A glimpse, glance, or gleam. [OE. glent.]
- brier n.
- A plant with a slender woody stem bearing stout prickles; especially, species of Rosa, Rubus, and Smilax. [OE. brere, brer, AS. brer, brær; cf. Ir. briar prickle, thorn, brier, pin, Gael. preas bush, brier, W. prys, prysg.]
- jimp a.
- Neat; handsome; elegant. See Gimp. [Cf. Gimp, a.]
- gane v. i.
- To yawn; to gape. [See Yawn.]
- waken v. i.
- To wake; to cease to sleep; to be awakened. [OE. waknen, AS. wæcnan; akin to Goth. gawaknan. See Wake, v. i.]
- wyte
- pl. pres. of Wit.
- sept n.
- A clan, tribe, or family, proceeding from a common progenitor; -- used especially of the ancient clans in Ireland. [A corruption of sect, n.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Lord John 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, Lord John, in English and Scottish Ballads, Volume I (1857), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37031, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/child-ballads/lord-john.html, id L08579.
Form and metre
Lord John is 71 lines in 18 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.6 syllables. 10 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 -A-A john · tenA · fields · againA
- 2 -A-A john · againA · fields · againA
- 3 -A-A steed · brichtA · fields · knichtA
- 4 -A-A steed · hereA · red · nearA
- 5 -A-A took · noonA · away · moonA
- 8 -A-A steed · dearA · master · hereA
- 9 A-A- masterA · ring · masterA · time
- 10 -A-A hound · dearA · master · hereA
- 11 A-A- masterA · ring · masterA · time
- 12 -A-A hawks · dearA · master · hereA
- 14 -A-A gane · illA · fields · fillA
- 17 -A-A sleep · heA · west · seeA
- 18 -A-A hawk · dearA · sleep · nearA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| "I'll wager, I'll wager," says Lord John, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| "A hundred merks and ten, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| That ye winna gae to the bonnie broom-fields, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| And a maid return again."-- | 7 | ···˘/˘/ |
| "But I'll lay a wager wi' you, Lord John, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| A' your merks oure again, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| That I'll gae alane to the bonnie broom-fields, | 11 | ···˘/··/˘·· |
| And a maid return again." | 7 | ···˘/˘/ |
| Then Lord John mounted his grey steed, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And his hound wi' his bells sae bricht, | 8 | ········ |
| And swiftly he rade to the bonny broom-fields, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| Wi' his hawks, like a lord or knicht. | 8 | ········ |
| "Now rest, now rest, my bonnie grey steed, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| My lady will soon be here; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And I'll lay my head aneath this rose sae red, | 11 | ·····˘/···· |
| And the bonnie burn sae near." | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| But sound, sound, was the sleep he took, | 8 | ········ |
| For he slept till it was noon; | 7 | ······· |
| And his lady cam at day, left a taiken and away, | 14 | ··/˘········˘/ |
| Gaed as licht as a glint o' the moon. | 9 | ········· |
| She strawed the roses on the ground, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Threw her mantle on the brier, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| And the belt around her middle sae jimp, | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| As a taiken that she'd been there. | 8 | ········ |
| The rustling leaves flew round his head, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And rous'd him frae his dream; | 6 | ······ |
| He saw by the roses, and mantle sae green, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| That his love had been there and was gane. | 9 | ········· |
| "O whare was ye, my gude grey steed, | 8 | ········ |
| That I coft ye sae dear; | 6 | ······ |
| That ye didna waken your master, | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| Whan ye ken'd that his love was here."-- | 8 | ········ |
| "I pautit wi' my foot, master, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Garr'd a' my bridles ring; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And still I cried, Waken, gude master, | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| For now is the hour and time."-- | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| "Then whare was ye, my bonnie grey hound, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| That I coft ye sae dear, | 6 | ······ |
| That ye didna waken your master, | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| Whan ye kend that his love was here."-- | 8 | ········ |
| "I pautit wi' my foot, master, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Garr'd a' my bells to ring; | 6 | ······ |
| And still I cried, Waken, gude master, | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| For now is the hour and time."-- | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| "But whare was ye, my hawks, my hawks, | 8 | ········ |
| That I coft ye sae dear, | 6 | ······ |
| That ye didna waken your master, | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| Whan ye ken'd that his love was here."-- | 8 | ········ |
| "O wyte na me, now, my master dear, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| I garr'd a' my young hawks sing, | 7 | ······· |
| And still I cried, Waken, gude master, | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| For now is the hour and time."-- | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| "Then be it sae, my wager gane! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| 'T will skaith frae meikle ill; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| For gif I had found her in bonnie broom-fields, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| O' her heart's blude ye'd drunken your fill." | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| The stanzas below are from an American version of this ballad called | 18 | ·/˘·····˘/˘/˘··/˘· |
| The Green Broomfield, printed in a cheap song-book. (Graham's | 13 | ··/·/˘·····/˘ |
| Illustrated Magazine, Sept. 1858.) | 8 | /˘·˘/˘·· |
| "Then when she went to the green broom field, | 9 | ········· |
| Where her love was fast asleep, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| With a gray goose-hawk and a green laurel bough, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| And a green broom under his feet. | 8 | ········ |
| "And when he awoke from out his sleep, | 9 | ···˘/···· |
| An angry man was he; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| He looked to the East, and he looked to the West, | 11 | ··········· |
| And he wept for his sweetheart to see. | 9 | ·····/··· |
| "Oh! where was you, my gray goose-hawk, | 8 | ········ |
| The hawk that I loved so dear, | 8 | ·····˘·· |
| That you did not awake me from out my sleep, | 11 | ····˘/····· |
| When my sweetheart was so near!" | 7 | ··/···· |
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.