Death the Comrade
When I rose up in the morning earlyOn a sunny day in the burst of spring,My step was lithe, and my form was burly,I felt as blithe as a bird on the wing;As I was going out my wayWho should stand in the path but Death;I knew he was strong, and would not be said nay,So I wished him "Good-morrow,"--but I caught my breath,When, "Hurry on, Shawn, for I'm wanting you to come with me," hesaith.
Oh, then, Maura, is it parting I am from you,My thousand loves for ever on earth?I who would plant the potatoes for you,I whom you needed to cut the turf!I who would buy you the young milch cow,I who would croon you to sleep with a rann,I who at eve would lie down with your leave--What ever would you do without your man?O Maura, keep me with you a little, little longer, if you can!
"There's many an old man down in the town,And no manner of use or abuse in him more;There's little Dominic, wizened and brown,Begging his scraps from door to door;And his wife and children famished with coldTrying to find him his bit of bread;O Death, 'tis your right to take the old--And they say that Dominic's wrong in his head--O Death, take Dominic with you, for 'tis badly I'm wanted here,"I said.
"It's a fine man you are, but you stand in my way,I'd be thankful you'd let me get on to my fields;"He raised his arm, it was cold as clay,And strong as the flail the thresher wields.I tried to push him out of my road,But his bony fingers clutched me tight;"I am your comrade henceforth," he said,"Another man tends your sheep to-night;Hurry home, Shawn, I call for you again before the morning'slight."
Words in this poem
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- lithe v. i.
- To listen or listen to; to hearken to. P. Plowman. [Icel Listen.]
- 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.]
- saith
- 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
- milch a.
- Giving milk; -- now applied only to beasts. [OE. milche; akin to G. melk, Icel. milkr, mj, and to E. milk. See Milk.]
- croon v. i.
- To make a continuous hollow moan, as cattle do when in pain.
- rann n.
- Open robbery. Lambarde. [As. ran.]
- wizened a.
- Dried; shriveled; withered; shrunken; weazen; as, a wizened old man.
- thankful a.
- Obtaining or deserving thanks; thankworthy. [AS. Þancfull.]
- thresher n.
- One who, or that which, thrashes grain; a thrashing machine.
- henceforth adv.
- From this time forward; henceforward.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Death the Comrade 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, Death the Comrade, in The Poem-Book of the Gael (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #46917, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hull-gael/death-the-comrade.html, id L11782.
Form and metre
Death the Comrade is 39 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.6 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 13% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABABCDCD-D earlyA · springB · burlyA · wingB · wayC · deathD · nayC · breathD · he · saithD
- 2 A-A--B-BB youA · earth · youA · turf · cow · rannB · leave · manB · canB
- 3 ABABCDCD-D townA · moreB · brownA · doorB · coldC · breadD · oldC · headD · here · saidD
- 4 ABAB-C-C-C wayA · fieldsB · clayA · wieldsB · road · tightC · said · nightC · morning's · lightC
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When I rose up in the morning early | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| On a sunny day in the burst of spring, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| My step was lithe, and my form was burly, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| I felt as blithe as a bird on the wing; | 10 | ·········· |
| As I was going out my way | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Who should stand in the path but Death; | 8 | ········ |
| I knew he was strong, and would not be said nay, | 11 | ··········· |
| So I wished him "Good-morrow,"--but I caught my breath, | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| When, "Hurry on, Shawn, for I'm wanting you to come with me," he | 15 | ·/˘····/˘······ |
| saith. | 1 | · |
| Oh, then, Maura, is it parting I am from you, | 12 | ··/˘··/˘···· |
| My thousand loves for ever on earth? | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| I who would plant the potatoes for you, | 10 | ·····˘/˘·· |
| I whom you needed to cut the turf! | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| I who would buy you the young milch cow, | 9 | ········· |
| I who would croon you to sleep with a rann, | 10 | ·········· |
| I who at eve would lie down with your leave-- | 10 | ·········· |
| What ever would you do without your man? | 9 | ·/······· |
| O Maura, keep me with you a little, little longer, if you can! | 17 | ·/˘·····/˘/˘/˘··· |
| "There's many an old man down in the town, | 9 | ·/······· |
| And no manner of use or abuse in him more; | 12 | ··/˘···˘/··· |
| There's little Dominic, wizened and brown, | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘·· |
| Begging his scraps from door to door; | 8 | /˘······ |
| And his wife and children famished with cold | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Trying to find him his bit of bread; | 9 | /˘······· |
| O Death, 'tis your right to take the old-- | 9 | ········· |
| And they say that Dominic's wrong in his head-- | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| O Death, take Dominic with you, for 'tis badly I'm wanted here," | 15 | ···/˘····/˘·/˘· |
| I said. | 2 | ·· |
| "It's a fine man you are, but you stand in my way, | 12 | ············ |
| I'd be thankful you'd let me get on to my fields;" | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| He raised his arm, it was cold as clay, | 9 | ········· |
| And strong as the flail the thresher wields. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| I tried to push him out of my road, | 9 | ········· |
| But his bony fingers clutched me tight; | 9 | ··/˘/˘··· |
| "I am your comrade henceforth," he said, | 9 | ···/·//·· |
| "Another man tends your sheep to-night; | 9 | ˘/˘······ |
| Hurry home, Shawn, I call for you again before the morning's | 15 | /˘······˘/···/˘ |
| light." | 1 | · |
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