Laurel · Eugene Field · A Little Book of Western Verse

Madge: Ye Hoyden

Eugene Field (1850–1895) · 1889

iambic tetrameter · 112 lines · from A Little Book of Western Verse

At Madge, ye hoyden, gossips scofft,Ffor that a romping wench was shee--"Now marke this rede," they bade her oft,"Forsooken sholde your folly bee!"But Madge, ye hoyden, laught & cried,"Oho, oho," in girlish glee,And noe thing mo replied.

No griffe she had nor knew no care,But gayly rompit all daies long,And, like ye brooke that everywhereGoes jinking with a gladsome song,Shee danct and songe from morn till night,--Her gentil harte did know no wrong,Nor did she none despight.

Sir Tomas from his noblesse halleDid trend his path a somer's daye,And to ye hoyden he did callAnd these ffull evill words did say:"O wolde you weare a silken gownAnd binde your haire with ribands gay?Then come with me to town!"

But Madge, ye hoyden, shoke her head,--"I'le be no lemman unto theeFor all your golde and gownes," shee said,"ffor Robin hath bespoken mee."Then ben Sir Tomas sore despight,And back unto his hall went heeWith face as ashen white.

"O Robin, wilt thou wed this girl,Whenas she is so vaine a sprite?"So spak ffull many an envious churleUnto that curteyse countrie wight.But Robin did not pay no heede;And they ben wed a somer night& danct upon ye meade.

Then scarse ben past a yeare & dayeWhan Robin toke unto his bed,And long, long time therein he lay,Nor colde not work to earn his bread;in soche an houre, whan times ben sore,Sr. Tomas came with haughtie tread& knockit at ye doore.

Saies: "Madge, ye hoyden, do you knowhow that you once despighted me?But He forgiff an you will gomy swete harte lady ffor to bee!"But Madge, ye hoyden, heard noe more,--straightway upon her heele turnt shee,& shote ye cottage doore.

Soe Madge, ye hoyden, did her partewhiles that ye years did come and go;'t was somer allwais in her harte,tho' winter strewed her head with snowe.She toilt and span thro' all those yearsnor bid repine that it ben soe,nor never shad noe teares.

Whiles Robin lay within his bed,A divell came and whispered lowe,--"Giff you will doe my will," he said,"None more of sickness you shall knowe!"Ye which gave joy to Robin's soul--Saies Robin: "Divell, be it soe,an that you make me whoale!"

That day, upp rising ffrom his bed,Quoth Robin: "I am well again!"& backe he came as from ye dead,& he ben mickle blithe as whenhe wooed his doxy long ago;& Madge did make ado & thenHer teares ffor joy did flowe.

Then came that hell-born cloven thing--Saies: "Robin, I do claim your life,and I hencefoorth shall be your king,and you shall do my evill strife.Look round about and you shall seesr. Tomas' young and ffoolish wiffe--a comely dame is shee!"

Ye divell had him in his power,and not colde Robin say thereto:Soe Robin from that very houredid what that divell bade him do;He wooed and dipt, and on a dayeSr. Tomas' wife and Robin flewea many leagues away.

Sir Tomas ben wood wroth and swore,And sometime strode thro' leaf & brakeand knockit at ye cottage doorand thus to Madge, ye hoyden, spake:Saies, "I wolde have you ffor mine own,So come with mee & bee my make,syn tother birds ben flown."

But Madge, ye hoyden, bade him noe;Saies: "Robin is my swete harte still,And, tho' he doth despight me soe,I mean to do him good for ill.So goe, Sir Tomas, goe your way;ffor whiles I bee on live I willffor Robin's coming pray!"

Soe Madge, ye hoyden, kneelt & prayedthat Godde sholde send her Robin backe.And tho' ye folke vast scoffing made,and tho' ye worlde ben colde and blacke,And tho', as moneths dragged away,ye hoyden's harte ben like to crackWith griff, she still did praye.

Sicke of that divell's damned charmes,Aback did Robin come at last,And Madge, ye hoyden, sprad her armsand gave a cry and held him fast;And as she clong to him and cried,her patient harte with joy did brast,& Madge, ye hoyden, died.

Words in this poem 35

romping a.: Inclined to romp; indulging in romps.
rede v. t.: To advise or counsel. [See Read, v. t.]
bade: A form of the pat tense of Bid.
girlish a.: Like, or characteristic of, a girl; of or pertaining to girlhood; innocent; artless; immature; weak; as, girlish ways; girlish grief.
glee n.: Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
griffe n.: The offspring of a mulatto woman and a negro; also, a mulatto. [F.]
gayly adv.: With mirth and frolic; merrily; blithely; gleefully.
gladsome a.: Pleased; joyful; cheerful.
morn n.: The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
noblesse n.: Dignity; greatness; noble birth or condition. [F. noblesse. See Noble.]
trend v. i.: To have a particular direction; to run; to stretch; to tend; as, the shore of the sea trends to the southwest. [OE. trenden to roll or turn about; akin to OFries. trind, trund, round, Dan. & Sw. trind, AS. trendel a circle, ring, and E. trendle, trundle.]
golde n.: An old English name of some yellow flower, -- the marigold (Calendula), according to Dr. Prior, but in Chaucer perhaps the turnsole.
went n.: Course; way; path; journey; direction.
ashen a.: Of or pertaining to the ash tree. [See Ash, the tree.]
sprite n.: A spirit; a soul; a shade; also, an apparition. See Spright. [OE. sprit, F. esprit, fr. L. spiritus. See Spirit, and cf. Sprightly.]
envious a.: Malignant; mischievous; spiteful. [OF. envios, F. envieux, fr. L. invidiosus, fr. invidia envy. See Envy, and cf. Invidious.]
wight n.: A whit; a bit; a jot. [OE. wight, wiht, a wight, a whit, AS. wiht, wuht, a creature, a thing; skin to D. wicht a child, OS. & OHG. wiht a creature, thing, G. wicht a creature, Icel. v]
straightway adv.: Immediately; without loss of time; without delay.
shote n.: A fish resembling the trout. Garew. [AS. sceóta a darting fish, a trout, fr. sceótan. See Shoot, v. t.]
whiles conj.: During the time that; while. Chaucer. Fuller.
repine v. i.: To fail; to wane. [Pref. re- + pine to languish.]
divell v. t.: To rend apart. Sir T. Browne. [L. divellere; dit- = dis- + vellere to pluck.]
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,]
quoth v. t.: Said; spoke; uttered; -- used only in the first and third persons in the past tenses, and always followed by its nominative, the word or words said being the object; as, quoth I. quoth he. [AS.cweedhan, imp cwæedh, pl. cwædon; akin to OS. queedhan, OHG. quethan, quedan, Icel. kveedha, Goth. qiþan. sq. root22. Cf. Bequeath.]
mickle a.: Much; great. [Old Eng. & Scot.] [OE. mikel, muchel, mochel, mukel, AS. micel, mycel; akin to OS. mikil, OHG. mihil, mihhil, Icel. mikill, mykill, Goth. mikils, L. magnus, Gr. mahat. sq. root103]
blithe a.: Gay; merry; sprightly; joyous; glad; cheerful; as, a blithe spirit. [AS. bli blithe, kind; akin to Goth. blei kind, Icel. bli mild, gentle, Dan. & Sw. blid gentle, D. blijd blithe, OHG. blidi kind, blithe.]
doxy n.: A loose wench; a disreputable sweetheart. [See Duck a pet.]
strife n.: The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
dame n.: A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
wroth a.: Full of wrath; angry; incensed; much exasperated; wrathful. [OE. wroth, wrap, AS. wraedh wroth, crooked, bad; akin to wriedhan to writhe, and to OS. wreedhangry, D. wreed cruel, OHG. reid twisted, Icel. reiedhr angry, Dan]
sometime adv.: At a past time indefinitely referred to; once; formerly.
flown a.: Flushed, inflated.
godde v. t.: To treat as a god; to idolize.
damned a.: Sentenced to punishment in a future state; condemned; consigned to perdition.
aback n.: An abacus. B. Jonson.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Madge: Ye Hoyden is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Little Book of Western Verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #9606; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Eugene Field, Madge: Ye Hoyden, in A Little Book of Western Verse (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9606, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-western-verse/madge-ye-hoyden.html, id L24623.

Form and metre

Madge: Ye Hoyden is 112 lines in 16 stanzas of 7 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCBC, in 6 of the 16 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).

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-ABAB scofft · shee^A · oft · bee^A · cried^B · glee^A · replied^B
2 ABABCBC care^A · long^B · everywhere^A · song^B · night^C · wrong^B · despight^C
3 -A-ABAB halle · daye^A · call · say^A · gown^B · gay^A · town^B
4 ABABCBC head^A · thee^B · said^A · mee^B · despight^C · hee^B · white^C
5 -A-ABAB girl · sprite^A · churle · wight^A · heede^B · night^A · meade^B
6 ABAB-B- daye^A · bed^B · lay^A · bread^B · sore · tread^B · doore
7 ABAB-B- know^A · me^B · go^A · bee^B · more · shee^B · doore
8 ABAB--- parte^A · go^B · harte^A · snowe^B · years · soe · teares
9 ABABC-C bed^A · lowe^B · said^A · knowe^B · soul^C · soe · whoale^C
10 ABABCBC bed^A · again^B · dead^A · when^B · ago^C · then^B · flowe^C
11 ABABC-C thing^A · life^B · king^A · strife^B · see^C · wiffe · shee^C
12 ---ABAB power · thereto · houre · do^A · daye^B · flewe^A · away^B
13 ABABCBC swore^A · brake^B · door^A · spake^B · own^C · make^B · flown^C
14 -A-ABAB noe · still^A · soe · ill^A · way^B · will^A · pray^B
15 ABABCBC prayed^A · backe^B · made^A · blacke^B · away^C · crack^B · praye^C
16 ABABCBC charmes^A · last^B · arms^A · fast^B · cried^C · brast^B · died^C

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
At Madge, ye hoyden, gossips scofft,	8	···/˘/˘·
Ffor that a romping wench was shee--	8	···/˘···
"Now marke this rede," they bade her oft,	8	········
"Forsooken sholde your folly bee!"	8	·····/˘·
But Madge, ye hoyden, laught & cried,	7	···/˘··
"Oho, oho," in girlish glee,	8	˘/˘/·/˘·
And noe thing mo replied.	6	····˘/
No griffe she had nor knew no care,	8	········
But gayly rompit all daies long,	8	·/˘·····
And, like ye brooke that everywhere	8	·····/˘·
Goes jinking with a gladsome song,	8	·····/˘·
Shee danct and songe from morn till night,--	8	········
Her gentil harte did know no wrong,	8	·/˘·····
Nor did she none despight.	6	······
Sir Tomas from his noblesse halle	8	·˘/··˘/·
Did trend his path a somer's daye,	8	·····/˘·
And to ye hoyden he did call	8	···/˘···
And these ffull evill words did say:	8	···/˘···
"O wolde you weare a silken gown	8	·····/˘·
And binde your haire with ribands gay?	8	········
Then come with me to town!"	6	······
But Madge, ye hoyden, shoke her head,--	8	···/˘···
"I'le be no lemman unto thee	9	····/˘···
For all your golde and gownes," shee said,	8	········
"ffor Robin hath bespoken mee."	8	·/˘·····
Then ben Sir Tomas sore despight,	8	···˘/···
And back unto his hall went hee	8	········
With face as ashen white.	6	···/˘·
"O Robin, wilt thou wed this girl,	8	·/˘·····
Whenas she is so vaine a sprite?"	8	/˘······
So spak ffull many an envious churle	9	···/·/˘··
Unto that curteyse countrie wight.	8	········
But Robin did not pay no heede;	8	·/˘·····
And they ben wed a somer night	8	·····/˘·
& danct upon ye meade.	5	·····
Then scarse ben past a yeare & daye	7	·······
Whan Robin toke unto his bed,	8	·/˘·····
And long, long time therein he lay,	8	········
Nor colde not work to earn his bread;	8	········
in soche an houre, whan times ben sore,	8	········
Sr. Tomas came with haughtie tread	9	/˘˘/·····
& knockit at ye doore.	5	·····
Saies: "Madge, ye hoyden, do you know	8	···/˘···
how that you once despighted me?	8	········
But He forgiff an you will go	8	········
my swete harte lady ffor to bee!"	8	···/˘···
But Madge, ye hoyden, heard noe more,--	8	···/˘···
straightway upon her heele turnt shee,	9	/˘·······
& shote ye cottage doore.	5	··/˘·
Soe Madge, ye hoyden, did her parte	8	···/˘···
whiles that ye years did come and go;	8	········
't was somer allwais in her harte,	9	··/˘·····
tho' winter strewed her head with snowe.	8	·/˘·····
She toilt and span thro' all those years	8	········
nor bid repine that it ben soe,	8	··˘/····
nor never shad noe teares.	6	·/˘···
Whiles Robin lay within his bed,	8	·/˘·····
A divell came and whispered lowe,--	8	·····/˘·
"Giff you will doe my will," he said,	8	········
"None more of sickness you shall knowe!"	8	···/˘···
Ye which gave joy to Robin's soul--	8	·····/˘·
Saies Robin: "Divell, be it soe,	8	·/˘·····
an that you make me whoale!"	7	·······
That day, upp rising ffrom his bed,	8	···/˘···
Quoth Robin: "I am well again!"	8	·/˘···˘/
& backe he came as from ye dead,	7	·······
& he ben mickle blithe as when	7	··/˘···
he wooed his doxy long ago;	8	···/˘·˘/
& Madge did make ado & then	6	···˘/·
Her teares ffor joy did flowe.	6	······
Then came that hell-born cloven thing--	8	·····/˘·
Saies: "Robin, I do claim your life,	8	·/˘·····
and I hencefoorth shall be your king,	9	·········
and you shall do my evill strife.	8	·····/˘·
Look round about and you shall see	8	········
sr. Tomas' young and ffoolish wiffe--	9	/˘˘/·····
a comely dame is shee!"	6	·/˘···
Ye divell had him in his power,	9	·······/˘
and not colde Robin say thereto:	8	···/˘·˘/
Soe Robin from that very houre	8	·/˘··/˘·
did what that divell bade him do;	8	········
He wooed and dipt, and on a daye	8	········
Sr. Tomas' wife and Robin flewe	9	/˘˘/··/˘·
a many leagues away.	6	·/˘·˘/
Sir Tomas ben wood wroth and swore,	8	·˘/·····
And sometime strode thro' leaf & brake	7	·/·····
and knockit at ye cottage door	8	·····/˘·
and thus to Madge, ye hoyden, spake:	8	·····/˘·
Saies, "I wolde have you ffor mine own,	8	········
So come with mee & bee my make,	7	·······
syn tother birds ben flown."	6	······
But Madge, ye hoyden, bade him noe;	8	···/˘···
Saies: "Robin is my swete harte still,	8	·/˘·····
And, tho' he doth despight me soe,	8	········
I mean to do him good for ill.	8	········
So goe, Sir Tomas, goe your way;	8	···˘/···
ffor whiles I bee on live I will	8	········
ffor Robin's coming pray!"	6	·/˘/˘·
Soe Madge, ye hoyden, kneelt & prayed	8	···/˘··˘
that Godde sholde send her Robin backe.	8	·····/˘·
And tho' ye folke vast scoffing made,	8	·····/˘·
and tho' ye worlde ben colde and blacke,	8	········
And tho', as moneths dragged away,	8	······˘/
ye hoyden's harte ben like to crack	8	········
With griff, she still did praye.	6	······
Sicke of that divell's damned charmes,	8	······˘·
Aback did Robin come at last,	8	˘/·/˘···
And Madge, ye hoyden, sprad her arms	8	···/˘···
and gave a cry and held him fast;	8	········
And as she clong to him and cried,	8	········
her patient harte with joy did brast,	8	·/˘·····
& Madge, ye hoyden, died.	5	··/˘·

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.

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