The Daemon Lover
"O where have you been, my long, long love,This long seven years and more?"--"O I'm come to seek my former vowsYe granted me before."--
"O hold your tongue of your former vows,For they will breed sad strife;O hold your tongue of your former vows,For I am become a wife."
He turn'd him right and round about,And the tear blinded his ee;"I wad never hae trodden on Irish ground,If it had not been for thee.
"I might hae had a king's daughter,Far, far beyond the sea;I might have had a king's daughter,Had it not been for love o' thee."--
"If ye might have had a king's daughter,Yer sell ye had to blame;Ye might have taken the king's daughter,For ye kend that I was nane."--
"O faulse are the vows of womankind,But fair is their faulse bodie;I never wad hae trodden on Irish ground,Had it not been for love o' thee."--
"If I was to leave my husband dear,And my two babes also,O what have you to take me to,If with you I should go?"--
"I hae seven ships upon the sea,The eighth brought me to land;With four-and-twenty bold mariners,And music on every hand."
She has taken up her two little babes,Kiss'd them baith cheek and chin;"O fair ye weel, my ain two babes,For I'll never see you again."
She set her foot upon the ship,No mariners could she behold;But the sails were o' the taffetie,And the masts o' the beaten gold.
She had not sail'd a league, a league,A league but barely three,When dismal grew his countenance,And drumlie grew his ee.
The masts that were like the beaten gold,Bent not on the heaving seas;But the sails, that were o' the taffetie,Fill'd not in the east land breeze.--
They had not sailed a league, a league,A league but barely three,Until she espied his cloven foot,And she wept right bitterlie.
"O hold your tongue of your weeping," says he,"Of your weeping now let me be;I will show you how the lilies growOn the banks of Italy."--
"O what hills are yon, yon pleasant hills,That the sun shines sweetly on?"--"O yon are the hills of heaven," he said,"Where you will never win."--
"O whaten a mountain is yon," she said,"All so dreary wi' frost and snow?"--"O yon is the mountain of hell," he cried,"Where you and I will go."
And aye when she turn'd her round about,Aye taller he seem'd for to be;Until that the tops o' that gallant shipNae taller were than he.
The clouds grew dark, and the wind grew loud,And the levin fill'd her ee;And waesome wail'd the snaw-white spritesUpon the gurlie sea.
He strack the tap-mast wi' his hand,The fore-mast wi' his knee;And he brake that gallant ship in twain,And sank her in the sea.
Words in this poem
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- womankind n.
- The females of the human race; women, collectively.
- weel
- A kind of trap or snare for fish, made of twigs. Carew. [Prov. E. weel, weal, a wicker basket to catch eels; prob. akin to willow, and so called as made of willow twigs.]
- dismal a.
- Fatal; ill-omened; unlucky. [Formerly a noun; e. g., "I trow it was in the dismalle." Chaucer. Of uncertain origin; but perh. (as suggested by Skeat) from OF. disme, F. dîme, tithe, the phr]
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- levin n.
- Lightning. Spenser. Levin brand, a thunderbolt. [Etymol. uncertain. Cf. Leven.]
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Daemon Lover 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, The Daemon Lover, in English and Scottish Ballads, Volume I (1857), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37031, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/child-ballads/the-daemon-lover.html, id L08593.
Form and metre
The Daemon Lover is 76 lines in 19 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 syllables. 10 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 5% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 love · moreA · vows · beforeA
- 2 ABAB vowsA · strifeB · vowsA · wifeB
- 3 -A-A about · eeA · ground · theeA
- 4 ABAB daughterA · seaB · daughterA · theeB
- 5 A-A- daughterA · blame · daughterA · nane
- 6 A-A- womankindA · bodie · groundA · thee
- 8 -A-A sea · landA · mariners · handA
- 9 A-A- babesA · chin · babesA · again
- 10 -A-A ship · beholdA · taffetie · goldA
- 11 -A-A league · threeA · countenance · eeA
- 12 -A-A gold · seasA · taffetie · breezeA
- 14 AA-- heA · beA · grow · italy
- 16 -A-A said · snowA · cried · goA
- 17 -A-A about · beA · ship · heA
- 18 -A-A loud · eeA · sprites · seaA
- 19 -A-A hand · kneeA · twain · seaA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| "O where have you been, my long, long love, | 9 | ········· |
| This long seven years and more?"-- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| "O I'm come to seek my former vows | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Ye granted me before."-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| "O hold your tongue of your former vows, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| For they will breed sad strife; | 6 | ······ |
| O hold your tongue of your former vows, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| For I am become a wife." | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| He turn'd him right and round about, | 8 | ········ |
| And the tear blinded his ee; | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| "I wad never hae trodden on Irish ground, | 10 | ··/·/˘·/˘· |
| If it had not been for thee. | 7 | ······· |
| "I might hae had a king's daughter, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Far, far beyond the sea; | 6 | ······ |
| I might have had a king's daughter, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Had it not been for love o' thee."-- | 8 | ········ |
| "If ye might have had a king's daughter, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Yer sell ye had to blame; | 6 | ······ |
| Ye might have taken the king's daughter, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| For ye kend that I was nane."-- | 7 | ······· |
| "O faulse are the vows of womankind, | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| But fair is their faulse bodie; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| I never wad hae trodden on Irish ground, | 10 | ·/··/˘·/˘· |
| Had it not been for love o' thee."-- | 8 | ········ |
| "If I was to leave my husband dear, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And my two babes also, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| O what have you to take me to, | 8 | ········ |
| If with you I should go?"-- | 6 | ······ |
| "I hae seven ships upon the sea, | 8 | ··/····· |
| The eighth brought me to land; | 6 | ······ |
| With four-and-twenty bold mariners, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘˘ |
| And music on every hand." | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘· |
| She has taken up her two little babes, | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| Kiss'd them baith cheek and chin; | 8 | ········ |
| "O fair ye weel, my ain two babes, | 8 | ········ |
| For I'll never see you again." | 8 | ··/˘··˘/ |
| She set her foot upon the ship, | 8 | ········ |
| No mariners could she behold; | 8 | ·/˘˘··˘/ |
| But the sails were o' the taffetie, | 9 | ········· |
| And the masts o' the beaten gold. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| She had not sail'd a league, a league, | 8 | ········ |
| A league but barely three, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| When dismal grew his countenance, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| And drumlie grew his ee. | 6 | ······ |
| The masts that were like the beaten gold, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Bent not on the heaving seas; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| But the sails, that were o' the taffetie, | 10 | ·········· |
| Fill'd not in the east land breeze.-- | 7 | ······· |
| They had not sailed a league, a league, | 8 | ········ |
| A league but barely three, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Until she espied his cloven foot, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And she wept right bitterlie. | 7 | ······· |
| "O hold your tongue of your weeping," says he, | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| "Of your weeping now let me be; | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| I will show you how the lilies grow | 9 | ······/˘· |
| On the banks of Italy."-- | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| "O what hills are yon, yon pleasant hills, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| That the sun shines sweetly on?"-- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| "O yon are the hills of heaven," he said, | 9 | ······/·· |
| "Where you will never win."-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| "O whaten a mountain is yon," she said, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| "All so dreary wi' frost and snow?"-- | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| "O yon is the mountain of hell," he cried, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| "Where you and I will go." | 6 | ······ |
| And aye when she turn'd her round about, | 9 | ········· |
| Aye taller he seem'd for to be; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Until that the tops o' that gallant ship | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Nae taller were than he. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The clouds grew dark, and the wind grew loud, | 9 | ········· |
| And the levin fill'd her ee; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And waesome wail'd the snaw-white sprites | 8 | ········ |
| Upon the gurlie sea. | 6 | ······ |
| He strack the tap-mast wi' his hand, | 8 | ········ |
| The fore-mast wi' his knee; | 6 | ······ |
| And he brake that gallant ship in twain, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| And sank her in the sea. | 6 | ······ |
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.