The Coolun
Oh, had you seen the Coolun, walking down by the cuckoo's street,With the dew of the meadow shining on her milk-white twinkling feet,My love she is, and my coleen oge, and she dwells in Bal'nagar;And she bears the palm of beauty bright, from the fairest that in Erinare.
In Bal'nagar is the Coolun, like the berry on the bough her cheek;Bright beauty dwells for ever on her fair neck and ringlets sleek;Oh, sweeter is her mouth's soft music, than the lark or thrush atdawn,Or the blackbird in the greenwood singing farewell to the setting sun.
Rise up, my boy! make ready my horse, for I forth would ride,To follow the modest damsel, where she walks on the green hill side;For, ever since our youth were we plighted, in faith, troth, andwedlock true--She is sweeter to me nine times over than organ or cuckoo!
For, ever since my childhood I loved the fair and darling child;But our people came between us, and with lucre our pure love defiled;Oh, my woe it is, and my bitter pain, and I weep it night and day,That the coleen bawn of my early love is torn from my heart away.
Sweetheart and faithful treasure, be constant still, and true;Nor for want of herds and houses leave one who would ne'er leave you:I'll pledge you the blessed Bible, without and eke within,That the faithful God will provide for us, without thanks to kithand kin.
Oh, love, do you remember when we lay all night alone,Beneath the ash in the winter-storm, when the oak wood round didgroan?No shelter then from the blast had we, the bitter blast and sleet,But your gown to wrap about our heads, and my coat around our feet.
Words in this poem
- twinkling n.
- The act of one who, or of that which, twinkles; a quick movement of the eye; a wink; a twinkle. Holland.
- erin n.
- An early, and now a poetic, name of Ireland. [Ir. Cf. Aryan.]
- greenwood n.
- A forest as it appears is spring and summer.
- damsel n.
- A young person, either male or female, of noble or gentle extraction; as, Damsel Pepin; Damsel Richard, Prince of Wales. [OE. damosel, damesel, damisel, damsel, fr. OF. damoisele, damisele, gentlewoman, F. demoiselle young lady; cf. OF. damoisel young nobleman, F. damoiseau; fr. LL]
- troth n.
- Belief; faith; fidelity. [A variant of truth. See Truth.]
- childhood n.
- The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty. [AS. cildhad; cild child + -had. See Child, and hood.]
- lucre n.
- Gain in money or goods; profit; riches; -- often in an ill sense. [F. lucre, L. lucrum.]
- bawn n.
- An inclosure with mud or stone walls, for keeping cattle; a fortified inclosure. [Ir. & Gael. babhun inclosure, bulwark.]
- kith n.
- Acquaintance; kindred. [OE. kith, cu, AS. cc known. Uncouth, Can, and cf. Kythe.]
- sleet n.
- The part of a mortar extending from the chamber to the trunnions.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Coolun 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, The Coolun, in The Poem-Book of the Gael (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #46917, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hull-gael/the-coolun.html, id L11776.
Form and metre
The Coolun is 29 lines in 6 stanzas. 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.9 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 AAB-B streetA · feetA · bal'nagarB · erin · areB
- 2 AA--- cheekA · sleekA · at · dawn · sun
- 3 AA-BB rideA · sideA · and · trueB · cuckooB
- 4 AABB childA · defiledA · dayB · awayB
- 5 AAB-B trueA · youA · withinB · kith · kinB
- 6 A-ABB aloneA · did · groanA · sleetB · feetB
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Oh, had you seen the Coolun, walking down by the cuckoo's street, | 15 | ·······/˘···/˘· |
| With the dew of the meadow shining on her milk-white twinkling feet, | 16 | ·····/·/˘····/˘· |
| My love she is, and my coleen oge, and she dwells in Bal'nagar; | 16 | ······˘/········ |
| And she bears the palm of beauty bright, from the fairest that in Erin | 17 | ······/˘···/˘··/˘ |
| are. | 1 | · |
| In Bal'nagar is the Coolun, like the berry on the bough her cheek; | 17 | ··········/˘····· |
| Bright beauty dwells for ever on her fair neck and ringlets sleek; | 14 | ·/˘··/········ |
| Oh, sweeter is her mouth's soft music, than the lark or thrush at | 15 | ·/˘····/˘······ |
| dawn, | 1 | · |
| Or the blackbird in the greenwood singing farewell to the setting sun. | 17 | ··/˘··/·/˘·/··/˘· |
| Rise up, my boy! make ready my horse, for I forth would ride, | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| To follow the modest damsel, where she walks on the green hill side; | 16 | ·/˘·/˘/˘········ |
| For, ever since our youth were we plighted, in faith, troth, and | 13 | ·/·/···/˘···· |
| wedlock true-- | 3 | /·· |
| She is sweeter to me nine times over than organ or cuckoo! | 15 | ··/˘······/˘·/· |
| For, ever since my childhood I loved the fair and darling child; | 14 | ·/··/······/˘· |
| But our people came between us, and with lucre our pure love defiled; | 17 | ·//˘······/˘/···· |
| Oh, my woe it is, and my bitter pain, and I weep it night and day, | 17 | ·······/˘········ |
| That the coleen bawn of my early love is torn from my heart away. | 17 | ··˘/···/˘······˘/ |
| Sweetheart and faithful treasure, be constant still, and true; | 13 | /··/˘/˘·/˘··· |
| Nor for want of herds and houses leave one who would ne'er leave you: | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| I'll pledge you the blessed Bible, without and eke within, | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| That the faithful God will provide for us, without thanks to kith | 15 | ··/˘··˘/······· |
| and kin. | 2 | ·· |
| Oh, love, do you remember when we lay all night alone, | 14 | ····˘/˘·····˘/ |
| Beneath the ash in the winter-storm, when the oak wood round did | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| groan? | 1 | · |
| No shelter then from the blast had we, the bitter blast and sleet, | 15 | ·/˘·······/˘··· |
| But your gown to wrap about our heads, and my coat around our feet. | 16 | ·······/······/· |
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.