Traditional Version
True Thomas lay on Huntlie bank;A ferlie he spied wi' his ee;And there he saw a ladye bright,Come riding down by the Eildon Tree.
Her shirt was o' the grass-green silk,Her mantle o' the velvet fyne;At ilka tett of her horse's mane,Hung fifty siller bells and nine.
True Thomas, he pull'd aff his cap,And louted low down to his knee:"All hail, thou mighty Queen of Heaven!For thy peer on earth I never did see."--
"O no, O no, Thomas," she said,"That name does not belang to me;I am but the Queen of fair Elfland,That am hither come to visit thee.
"Harp and carp, Thomas," she said;"Harp and carp along wi' me;And if ye dare to kiss my lips,Sure of your bodie I will be."--
"Betide me weal, betide me woe,That weird shall never daunton me."--Syne he has kissed her rosy lips,All underneath the Eildon Tree.
"Now, ye maun go wi' me," she said;"True Thomas, ye maun go wi' me;And ye maun serve me seven years,Thro' weal or woe as may chance to be."
She mounted on her milk-white steed;She's ta'en true Thomas up behind:And aye, whene'er her bridle rung,The steed flew swifter than the wind.
O they rade on, and farther on;The steed gaed swifter than the wind;Until they reach'd a desert wide,And living land was left behind.
"Light down, light down, now, true Thomas,And lean your head upon my knee;Abide and rest a little space,And I will shew you ferlies three.
"O see ye not yon narrow road,So thick beset with thorns and briers?That is the path of righteousness,Though after it but few enquires.
"And see ye not that braid braid road,That lies across that lily leven?That is the path of wickedness,Though some call it the road to heaven.
"And see not ye that bonny road,That winds about the fernie brae?That is the road to fair Elfland,Where thou and I this night maun gae.
"But, Thomas, ye maun hold your tongue,Whatever ye may hear or see;For, if you speak word in Elfyn land,Ye'll ne'er get back to your ain countrie."
O they rade on, and farther on,And they waded through rivers aboon the knee,And they saw neither sun nor moon,But they heard the roaring of the sea.
It was mirk mirk night, and there was nae stern light,And they waded through red blude to the knee;For a' the blude that's shed on earthRins through the springs o' that countrie.
Syne they came on to a garden green,And she pu'd an apple frae a tree--"Take this for thy wages, true Thomas;It will give thee the tongue that can never lie."--
"My tongue is mine ain," true Thomas said;"A gudely gift ye wad gie to me!I neither dought to buy nor sell,At fair or tryst where I may be.
"I dought neither speak to prince or peer,Nor ask of grace from fair ladye."--"Now hold thy peace!" the lady said,"For as I say, so must it be."--
He has gotten a coat of the even cloth,And a pair of shoes of velvet green;And till seven years were gane and past,True Thomas on earth was never seen.
Words in this poem
- betide v. t.
- To happen to; to befall; to come to ; as, woe betide the wanderer. [OE. bitiden; pref. bi-, be- + tiden, fr. AS. tidan, to happen, fr. tid time. See Tide.]
- 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,]
- syne adv.
- Afterwards; since; ago. R. of Brunne. [See Since.]
- 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.]
- rung n.
- A floor timber in a ship. [OE. ronge, AS. hrung, a staff, rod, pole; akin to G. runge a short, thick piece of iron or wood, OD. ronghe a prop, support, Icel. röng a rib in a ship, Goth. H]
- swifter v. t.
- To tighten, as slack standing rigging, by bringing the opposite shrouds nearer.
- shew n.
- Show. [Obs. except in shewbread.]
- righteousness n.
- The quality or state of being righteous; holiness; purity; uprightness; rectitude. [AS. rihtwisnes.]
- 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.]
- brae n.
- A hillside; a slope; a bank; a hill. Burns. [See Bray a hill.]
- aboon prep.
- and adv. Above.
- mirk a.
- Dark; gloomy; murky. Spenser. Mrs. Browning. [See Murky.]
- tryst v. i.
- To mutually agree to meet at a certain place.
- gane v. i.
- To yawn; to gape. [See Yawn.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Traditional Version 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, Traditional Version, in English and Scottish Ballads, Volume I (1857), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37031, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/child-ballads/traditional-version.html, id L08574.
Form and metre
Traditional Version is 80 lines in 20 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.4 syllables. 11 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 bank · eeA · bright · treeA
- 2 -A-A silk · fyneA · mane · nineA
- 3 -A-A cap · kneeA · heaven · seeA
- 4 -A-A said · meA · elfland · theeA
- 5 -A-A said · meA · lips · beA
- 6 -A-A woe · meA · lips · treeA
- 7 -A-A said · meA · years · beA
- 8 -A-A steed · behindA · rung · windA
- 9 -A-A on · windA · wide · behindA
- 10 ABAB thomasA · kneeB · spaceA · threeB
- 11 -A-A road · briersA · righteousness · enquiresA
- 15 -A-A on · kneeA · moon · seaA
- 17 -A-A green · treeA · thomas · lieA
- 18 -A-A said · meA · sell · beA
- 20 -A-A cloth · greenA · past · seenA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| True Thomas lay on Huntlie bank; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A ferlie he spied wi' his ee; | 8 | ········ |
| And there he saw a ladye bright, | 8 | ········ |
| Come riding down by the Eildon Tree. | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Her shirt was o' the grass-green silk, | 8 | ········ |
| Her mantle o' the velvet fyne; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| At ilka tett of her horse's mane, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Hung fifty siller bells and nine. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| True Thomas, he pull'd aff his cap, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And louted low down to his knee: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "All hail, thou mighty Queen of Heaven! | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| For thy peer on earth I never did see."-- | 9 | ······/·· |
| "O no, O no, Thomas," she said, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| "That name does not belang to me; | 8 | ········ |
| I am but the Queen of fair Elfland, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| That am hither come to visit thee. | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| "Harp and carp, Thomas," she said; | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| "Harp and carp along wi' me; | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| And if ye dare to kiss my lips, | 8 | ········ |
| Sure of your bodie I will be."-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "Betide me weal, betide me woe, | 8 | ˘/··˘/·· |
| That weird shall never daunton me."-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Syne he has kissed her rosy lips, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| All underneath the Eildon Tree. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| "Now, ye maun go wi' me," she said; | 8 | ········ |
| "True Thomas, ye maun go wi' me; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And ye maun serve me seven years, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thro' weal or woe as may chance to be." | 9 | ········· |
| She mounted on her milk-white steed; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| She's ta'en true Thomas up behind: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And aye, whene'er her bridle rung, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| The steed flew swifter than the wind. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| O they rade on, and farther on; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The steed gaed swifter than the wind; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Until they reach'd a desert wide, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And living land was left behind. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "Light down, light down, now, true Thomas, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And lean your head upon my knee; | 8 | ········ |
| Abide and rest a little space, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| And I will shew you ferlies three. | 7 | ······· |
| "O see ye not yon narrow road, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| So thick beset with thorns and briers? | 9 | ··˘/···/˘ |
| That is the path of righteousness, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Though after it but few enquires. | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| "And see ye not that braid braid road, | 8 | ········ |
| That lies across that lily leven? | 9 | ··˘/·/˘/˘ |
| That is the path of wickedness, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Though some call it the road to heaven. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| "And see not ye that bonny road, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That winds about the fernie brae? | 8 | ········ |
| That is the road to fair Elfland, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Where thou and I this night maun gae. | 8 | ········ |
| "But, Thomas, ye maun hold your tongue, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Whatever ye may hear or see; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For, if you speak word in Elfyn land, | 9 | ········· |
| Ye'll ne'er get back to your ain countrie." | 9 | ········· |
| O they rade on, and farther on, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And they waded through rivers aboon the knee, | 11 | ··/˘·/˘˘/·· |
| And they saw neither sun nor moon, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But they heard the roaring of the sea. | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| It was mirk mirk night, and there was nae stern light, | 11 | ··········· |
| And they waded through red blude to the knee; | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| For a' the blude that's shed on earth | 8 | ········ |
| Rins through the springs o' that countrie. | 8 | ········ |
| Syne they came on to a garden green, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And she pu'd an apple frae a tree-- | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| "Take this for thy wages, true Thomas; | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| It will give thee the tongue that can never lie."-- | 10 | ········/· |
| "My tongue is mine ain," true Thomas said; | 9 | ······/˘· |
| "A gudely gift ye wad gie to me! | 10 | ·········· |
| I neither dought to buy nor sell, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| At fair or tryst where I may be. | 8 | ········ |
| "I dought neither speak to prince or peer, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Nor ask of grace from fair ladye."-- | 8 | ········ |
| "Now hold thy peace!" the lady said, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| "For as I say, so must it be."-- | 8 | ········ |
| He has gotten a coat of the even cloth, | 10 | ··/˘····/· |
| And a pair of shoes of velvet green; | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And till seven years were gane and past, | 8 | ··/····· |
| True Thomas on earth was never seen. | 8 | ·/˘···/· |
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.