Another Version
Salutation to thee,O Seagull, who flew to my bosom,As the Maid of the WestWinged her way o'er the waves of the sea;In wrath I will ravage the countryRight up to the ridge of Roscuain;But when I turn home again,Back to my bird again,'Tis I who am conquered then,Conquered by thee.
Whiter thy neck, thousand loves,Than the swan that floats out on the billow;Redder thy cheekThan the rose-blossom dropped from the tree;Softer thy voiceThan the cuckoo's low call from the willow,And smoother than silk,The fine silk of the silkworm,The silkworm in spinning,The fair locks of thee.
Maid without spot, matchless maiden,How lovely the bloom of thy forehead!Where is the fortunate youthI would care to betroth to thee?Why should I hide or conceal it?The gloom of my soul I reveal it;The mists round me thicken,With death I am stricken,'Twas the Red Man who smoteWhen he stole thee from me.
Blossom of beauty, my blossom,Ten thousand blessings before thee,Sick to the death is my heartFor sorrowful lack of thee.If I could coax thee and tell theeHow lonely I am and weary,Thy wild eyes would soften,Would soften in sorrow,At the pain of my loss,By the Red Man and thee.
Though in a gaol I were fast,There below in the old Down quarter,Bolts on my wrist, and my waistFastened tight under lock and key;Swift as the flight of the falconOr the swan swooping down on the harbour,I'd find thee and bind thee,In my arms I'd entwine thee,Ere the Red Man could part us,Could part thee from me.
Words in this poem
- billow n.
- A great wave or surge of the sea or other water, caused usually by violent wind. [Cf. Icel. bylgja billow, Dan. bölge, Sw. bölja; akin to MHG. bulge billow, bag, and to E. bulge. See Bulge.]
- smoother n.
- One who, or that which, smooths.
- stricken p. p.
- Struck; smitten; wounded; as, the stricken deer.
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- harbour n.
- A station for rest and entertainment; a place of security and comfort; a refuge; a shelter. [OE herbor, herberwe, herberge, Icel. herbergi (cf. OHG. heriberga), orig., a shelter for soldiers; herr army + bjarga to save, help, defend; akin to AS. here ar]
- entwine v. t.
- To twine, twist, or wreathe together or round. [Pref. en- + twine. Cf. Intwine.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Another Version is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poem-Book of the Gael Translations from Irish Gaelic Poetry into English Prose and Verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #46917; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Eleanor Hull, Another Version, in The Poem-Book of the Gael (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #46917, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hull-gael/another-version-4.html, id L11785.
Form and metre
Another Version is 50 lines in 5 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 71%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 16 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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-BBBBA theeA · bosom · west · seaA · country · roscuainB · againB · againB · thenB · theeA
- 2 ---A-----A loves · billow · cheek · treeA · voice · willow · silk · silkworm · spinning · theeA
- 3 ---ABBCC-A maiden · forehead · youth · theeA · itB · itB · thickenC · strickenC · smote · meA
- 4 -A-AA----A blossom · theeA · heart · theeA · theeA · weary · soften · sorrow · loss · theeA
- 5 ---A--AA-A fast · quarter · waist · keyA · falcon · harbour · theeA · theeA · us · meA
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Salutation to thee, | 6 | ······ |
| O Seagull, who flew to my bosom, | 9 | ·/·····/˘ |
| As the Maid of the West | 6 | ······ |
| Winged her way o'er the waves of the sea; | 9 | ········· |
| In wrath I will ravage the country | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| Right up to the ridge of Roscuain; | 8 | ········ |
| But when I turn home again, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Back to my bird again, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| 'Tis I who am conquered then, | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| Conquered by thee. | 4 | /˘·· |
| Whiter thy neck, thousand loves, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Than the swan that floats out on the billow; | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Redder thy cheek | 4 | /˘·· |
| Than the rose-blossom dropped from the tree; | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Softer thy voice | 4 | /˘·· |
| Than the cuckoo's low call from the willow, | 10 | ··/˘····/· |
| And smoother than silk, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| The fine silk of the silkworm, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The silkworm in spinning, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| The fair locks of thee. | 5 | ····· |
| Maid without spot, matchless maiden, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| How lovely the bloom of thy forehead! | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Where is the fortunate youth | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| I would care to betroth to thee? | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Why should I hide or conceal it? | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| The gloom of my soul I reveal it; | 9 | ······˘/· |
| The mists round me thicken, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| With death I am stricken, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| 'Twas the Red Man who smote | 6 | ······ |
| When he stole thee from me. | 6 | ······ |
| Blossom of beauty, my blossom, | 8 | /˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Ten thousand blessings before thee, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Sick to the death is my heart | 7 | ······· |
| For sorrowful lack of thee. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| If I could coax thee and tell thee | 8 | ········ |
| How lonely I am and weary, | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| Thy wild eyes would soften, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Would soften in sorrow, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| At the pain of my loss, | 6 | ······ |
| By the Red Man and thee. | 6 | ······ |
| Though in a gaol I were fast, | 7 | ······· |
| There below in the old Down quarter, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Bolts on my wrist, and my waist | 7 | ······· |
| Fastened tight under lock and key; | 8 | /˘······ |
| Swift as the flight of the falcon | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Or the swan swooping down on the harbour, | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| I'd find thee and bind thee, | 6 | ······ |
| In my arms I'd entwine thee, | 7 | ····˘/· |
| Ere the Red Man could part us, | 7 | ······· |
| Could part thee from me. | 5 | ····· |
Notes from the edition 1
Eleanor Hull's notes to The Poem-Book of the Gael (1912; Project Gutenberg #46917).
- Stanza 1, line 4 i.e. Deirdre, who fled with the sons of Usnach to Scotland.
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.