The Keening of Mary
"O Peter, O Apostle, hast thou seen my bright love?"M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó!"I saw Him even now in the midst of His foemen,"M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó!
"Come hither, two Marys, till ye keen my bright love."M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó!"What have we to keen if we keen not His bones?"M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó!
"Who is that stately man on the tree of the Passion?"M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó!"Dost thou not know thy Son, O Mother?"M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó!
"And is that the little Son I carried nine months?M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó!"And is that the little Son that was born in the stable?M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó!
"And is that the little Son that was nursed at Mary's breast?"M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó!"Hush, O Mother, and be not sorrowful."M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó!
"And is that the hammer that struck home nails through Thee?M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó!"And is that the spear that went through Thy white side?M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó!
"And is that the crown of thorns that crowned Thy beauteous head?"M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó!"Hush, O Mother, be not sorrowful.M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó!
"Hush, O Mother, and be not sorrowful,M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó!"The women of my keening are yet unborn, little Mother."M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó!
"O woman, who weepest by this My death,M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó!"There will be hundreds to-day in the Garden of Paradise!"M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó!
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
- unborn a.
- Not born; no yet brought into life; being still to appear; future.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Keening of Mary 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 Keening of Mary, in The Poem-Book of the Gael (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #46917, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hull-gael/the-keening-of-mary.html, id L11761.
Form and metre
The Keening of Mary is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 72%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.9 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 love · — · foemen · —
- 2 -A-A love · — · bones · —
- 3 -A-A passion · — · mother · —
- 4 -A-A months · — · stable · —
- 5 -A-A breast · — · sorrowful · —
- 6 -A-A thee · — · side · —
- 7 -A-A head · — · sorrowful · —
- 8 -A-A sorrowful · — · mother · —
- 9 -A-A death · — · paradise · —
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| "O Peter, O Apostle, hast thou seen my bright love?" | 13 | ·/˘·˘/˘······ |
| M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó! | 6 | ······ |
| "I saw Him even now in the midst of His foemen," | 12 | ···/········ |
| M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó! | 6 | ······ |
| "Come hither, two Marys, till ye keen my bright love." | 12 | ·/˘·/˘······ |
| M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó! | 6 | ······ |
| "What have we to keen if we keen not His bones?" | 11 | ··········· |
| M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó! | 6 | ······ |
| "Who is that stately man on the tree of the Passion?" | 13 | ···/˘······/˘ |
| M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó! | 6 | ······ |
| "Dost thou not know thy Son, O Mother?" | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó! | 6 | ······ |
| "And is that the little Son I carried nine months? | 12 | ····/˘··/˘·· |
| M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó! | 6 | ······ |
| "And is that the little Son that was born in the stable? | 14 | ····/˘······/˘ |
| M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó! | 6 | ······ |
| "And is that the little Son that was nursed at Mary's breast?" | 14 | ····/˘·····/˘· |
| M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó! | 6 | ······ |
| "Hush, O Mother, and be not sorrowful." | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó! | 6 | ······ |
| "And is that the hammer that struck home nails through Thee? | 12 | ····/˘······ |
| M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó! | 6 | ······ |
| "And is that the spear that went through Thy white side? | 11 | ··········· |
| M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó! | 6 | ······ |
| "And is that the crown of thorns that crowned Thy beauteous head?" | 14 | ··········/˘˘· |
| M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó! | 6 | ······ |
| "Hush, O Mother, be not sorrowful. | 9 | ··/˘··/˘˘ |
| M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó! | 6 | ······ |
| "Hush, O Mother, and be not sorrowful, | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó! | 6 | ······ |
| "The women of my keening are yet unborn, little Mother." | 15 | ·/˘··/˘··///˘/˘ |
| M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó! | 6 | ······ |
| "O woman, who weepest by this My death, | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó! | 6 | ······ |
| "There will be hundreds to-day in the Garden of Paradise!" | 15 | ···/˘····/˘·/˘· |
| M'óchón agus m'óchón, Ó! | 6 | ······ |
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