The Shaving of Murdoch
Murdoch, whet thy knife, that we may shave our crowns to theGreat King,Let us sweetly give our vow, and the hair of both our heads tothe Trinity.I will shave mine to Mary, this is the doing of a true heart,To Mary shave thou these locks, well-formed, soft-eyed man.Seldom hast thou had, handsome man, a knife on thy hair to shave it,Oftener has a sweet, soft queen, comb'd her hair beside thee.Whenever it was that we did bathe, with Brian of the well-curledlocks,And once on a time that I did bathe, at the well of the fair-hairedBoroimhe,I strove in swimming with Ua Chais, on the cold waters of the Fergus.
When he came ashore from the stream, Ua Chais and I strove in a race.These two knives, one to each, were given us by Duncan Cairbreach,No knives of knives were better; shave gently then, Murdoch.Whet your sword, Cathal, which wins the fertile Banva,Ne'er was thy wrath heard without fighting, brave, red-handed Cathal,Preserve our shaved heads from cold and from heat, gentle daughterof Joachim,Preserve us in the land of heat, softest branch, Mary.
Words in this poem
- whet v. t.
- To rub or on with some substance, as a piece of stone, for the purpose of sharpening; to sharpen by attrition; as, to whet a knife. [AS. hwettan; akin to D. wetten, G. wetzen, OHG. wezzen, Icel. hvetja, Sw. vättja, and AS. hwæt vigorous, brave, OS. hwat, OHG. waz, was, sharp, Icel. hvatr, bol]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Shaving of Murdoch 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 Shaving of Murdoch, in The Poem-Book of the Gael (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #46917, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hull-gael/the-shaving-of-murdoch.html, id L11709.
Form and metre
The Shaving of Murdoch is 21 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. 82% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.6 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 24% 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-A---------- theA · king · toA · trinity · heart · man · it · thee · curled · locks · haired · boroimhe · fergus
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Murdoch, whet thy knife, that we may shave our crowns to the | 13 | /˘·······/··· |
| Great King, | 2 | ·· |
| Let us sweetly give our vow, and the hair of both our heads to | 15 | ··/˘·/······/·· |
| the Trinity. | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| I will shave mine to Mary, this is the doing of a true heart, | 15 | ·····/˘···/···· |
| To Mary shave thou these locks, well-formed, soft-eyed man. | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| Seldom hast thou had, handsome man, a knife on thy hair to shave it, | 16 | /˘···/˘········· |
| Oftener has a sweet, soft queen, comb'd her hair beside thee. | 13 | /˘·········/· |
| Whenever it was that we did bathe, with Brian of the well-curled | 16 | ˘/˘·······/˘···· |
| locks, | 1 | · |
| And once on a time that I did bathe, at the well of the fair-haired | 16 | ················ |
| Boroimhe, | 2 | ·· |
| I strove in swimming with Ua Chais, on the cold waters of the Fergus. | 17 | ···/˘······/˘··/˘ |
| When he came ashore from the stream, Ua Chais and I strove in a race. | 16 | ···˘/··········· |
| These two knives, one to each, were given us by Duncan Cairbreach, | 14 | ·······/··/˘·· |
| No knives of knives were better; shave gently then, Murdoch. | 13 | ·····/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Whet your sword, Cathal, which wins the fertile Banva, | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| Ne'er was thy wrath heard without fighting, brave, red-handed Cathal, | 15 | ·······/˘··/˘·· |
| Preserve our shaved heads from cold and from heat, gentle daughter | 14 | ˘//·······/˘/˘ |
| of Joachim, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Preserve us in the land of heat, softest branch, Mary. | 13 | ˘/······/˘·/˘ |
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.