The Flower of Nut-Brown Maids
If thou wilt come with me to the County of Leitrim,Flower of Nut-brown Maids--Honey of bees and mead to the beaker's brimI'll offer thee, Nut-brown Maid.Where the pure air floats o'er the swinging boats of the strand,Under the white-topped wave that laves the edge of the sand,There without fear we will wander together, hand clasped in hand,Flower of Nut-brown Maids.
My heart never gave you liking or love,Said the Flower of Nut-brown Maids;Though sweet are your words, there's black famine above,Said the Flower of Nut-brown Maids;Will gentle words feed me when need and grim hunger come by?Better be free than with thee to the woodlands to fly;What gain to us both if together we famish and die?Wept the Flower of Nut-brown Maids.
I saw her coming towards me o'er the face of the mountainLike a star glimmering through the mist;In the field of furze where the slow cows were browsingIn pledge of our love we kissed;In the bend of the hedge where the tall trees play with the sun,I wrote her the lines that should bind us for ever in one;Had you a right to deny me the dues I had won,O Flower of Nut-brown Maids?
My grief and my torment that thou art not here with me now,Flower of Nut-brown Maids!Alone, all alone, it matters not where or how,O Flower of Nut-brown Maids;On a slender bed, O little black head, strained close to thee,Or a heap of hay, until break of day, it were one to me,Laughing in gladness and glee together, with none to see,My Flower of Nut-brown Maids.
Words in this poem
- county n.
- An earldom; the domain of a count or earl. [F. comt, fr. LL. comitatus. See Count.]
- famine n.
- General scarcity of food; dearth; a want of provisions; destitution. [F. famine, fr. L. fames hunger; cf. Gr. hani loss, lack, ha to leave.]
- famish v. t.
- To starve, kill, or destroy with hunger. [OE. famen; cf. OF. afamer, L. fames. See Famine, and cf. Affamish.]
- browsing n.
- Browse; also, a place abounding with shrubs where animals may browse.
- wrote v. i.
- To root with the snout. See 1st Root. [OE. wroten. See 1st Root.]
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Flower of Nut-Brown Maids 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 Flower of Nut-Brown Maids, in The Poem-Book of the Gael (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #46917, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hull-gael/the-flower-of-nut-brown-maids.html, id L11719.
Form and metre
The Flower of Nut-Brown Maids is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCCCB, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.8 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 9% 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 -A--BBBA leitrim · maidsA · brim · maid · strandB · sandB · handB · maidsA
- 2 ABABCCCB loveA · maidsB · aboveA · maidsB · byC · flyC · dieC · maidsB
- 3 AB-BAAA- mountainA · mistB · browsing · kissedB · sunA · oneA · wonA · maids
- 4 ABABCCCB nowA · maidsB · howA · maidsB · theeC · meC · seeC · maidsB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If thou wilt come with me to the County of Leitrim, | 13 | ········/˘··· |
| Flower of Nut-brown Maids-- | 6 | /˘···· |
| Honey of bees and mead to the beaker's brim | 11 | /˘······/˘· |
| I'll offer thee, Nut-brown Maid. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Where the pure air floats o'er the swinging boats of the strand, | 13 | ·······/˘···· |
| Under the white-topped wave that laves the edge of the sand, | 13 | ············· |
| There without fear we will wander together, hand clasped in hand, | 15 | ······/˘˘/˘···· |
| Flower of Nut-brown Maids. | 6 | /˘···· |
| My heart never gave you liking or love, | 9 | ··/··/˘·· |
| Said the Flower of Nut-brown Maids; | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Though sweet are your words, there's black famine above, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Said the Flower of Nut-brown Maids; | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Will gentle words feed me when need and grim hunger come by? | 14 | ·/˘·······/˘·· |
| Better be free than with thee to the woodlands to fly; | 13 | /˘·······/··· |
| What gain to us both if together we famish and die? | 14 | ······˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Wept the Flower of Nut-brown Maids. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| I saw her coming towards me o'er the face of the mountain | 14 | ···/˘·······/˘ |
| Like a star glimmering through the mist; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In the field of furze where the slow cows were browsing | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| In pledge of our love we kissed; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In the bend of the hedge where the tall trees play with the sun, | 14 | ·············· |
| I wrote her the lines that should bind us for ever in one; | 13 | ··········/·· |
| Had you a right to deny me the dues I had won, | 13 | ·····˘/······ |
| O Flower of Nut-brown Maids? | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| My grief and my torment that thou art not here with me now, | 14 | ····/········· |
| Flower of Nut-brown Maids! | 6 | /˘···· |
| Alone, all alone, it matters not where or how, | 12 | ˘/·˘/·/˘···· |
| O Flower of Nut-brown Maids; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| On a slender bed, O little black head, strained close to thee, | 14 | ··/˘··/˘······ |
| Or a heap of hay, until break of day, it were one to me, | 15 | ··············· |
| Laughing in gladness and glee together, with none to see, | 14 | /˘·/˘··˘/˘···· |
| My Flower of Nut-brown Maids. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
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.