The Song of Manchan the Hermit
Abbot of Liath Manchan, now Lemanaghan, in King's Co.Died 665 A.D.
I wish, O Son of the Living God, O Ancient Eternal King,For a hidden hut in the wilderness, a simple secluded thing.
The all-blithe lithe little lark in his place, chanting hislightsome lay;The calm, clear pool of the Spirit's grace, washing my sins away.
A wide, wild woodland on every side, its shades the nurseryOf glad-voiced songsters, who at day-dawn chant their sweet psalmfor me.
A southern aspect to catch the sun, a brook across the floor,A choice land, rich with gracious gifts, down-stretching from mydoor.
Few men and wise, these I would prize, men of content and power,To raise Thy praise throughout the days at each canonical hour.
Four times three, three times four, fitted for every need,To the King of the Sun praying each one, this were a grace, indeed.
Twelve in the church to chant the hours, kneeling there twain andtwain;And I before, near the chancel door, listening their low refrain.
A pleasant church with an Altar-cloth, where Christ sits at theboard,And a shining candle shedding its ray on the white words of theLord.
Brief meals between, when prayer is done, our modest needs supply;No greed in our share of the simple fare, no boasting or ribaldry.
This is the husbandry I choose, laborious, simple, free,The fragrant leek about my door, the hen and the humble bee.
Rough raiment of tweed, enough for my need, this will my King allow;And I to be sitting praying to God under every leafy bough.
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- lithe v. i.
- To listen or listen to; to hearken to. P. Plowman. [Icel Listen.]
- lightsome a.
- Having light; lighted; not dark or gloomy; bright.
- nursery n.
- The act of nursing. [Cf. F. nourricerie.]
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- greed n.
- An eager desire or longing; greediness; as, a greed of gain. [Akin to Goth. grdus hunger, Icel. graedhr. sq. root34. See Greedy.]
- ribaldry n.
- The talk of a ribald; low, vulgar language; indecency; obscenity; lewdness; -- now chiefly applied to indecent language, but formerly, as by Chaucer, also to indecent acts or conduct. [OE. ribaldrie, ribaudrie, OF. ribalderie, ribauderie.]
- tweed n.
- A soft and flexible fabric for men's wear, made wholly of wool except in some inferior kinds, the wool being dyed, usually in two colors, before weaving. [Probably a corruption of twills. See Twill.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Song of Manchan the Hermit 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 Song of Manchan the Hermit, in The Poem-Book of the Gael (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #46917, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hull-gael/the-song-of-manchan-the-hermit.html, id L11690.
Form and metre
The Song of Manchan the Hermit is 30 lines in 12 stanzas. 81% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.5 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 23% 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.
- 2 AA kingA · thingA
- 3 -AA his · layA · awayA
- 5 A-A floorA · my · doorA
- 6 AA powerA · hourA
- 7 AA needA · indeedA
- 8 -AA and · twainA · refrainA
- 9 ABAB theA · boardB · theA · lordB
- 11 AA freeA · beeA
- 12 AA allowA · boughA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Abbot of Liath Manchan, now Lemanaghan, in King's Co. | 14 | /˘············ |
| Died 665 A.D. | 3 | ··· |
| I wish, O Son of the Living God, O Ancient Eternal King, | 16 | ······/˘··/˘˘/˘· |
| For a hidden hut in the wilderness, a simple secluded thing. | 16 | ··/˘···/˘·/˘˘/˘· |
| The all-blithe lithe little lark in his place, chanting his | 13 | ····/˘····/˘· |
| lightsome lay; | 3 | /˘· |
| The calm, clear pool of the Spirit's grace, washing my sins away. | 15 | ······/˘·/˘··˘/ |
| A wide, wild woodland on every side, its shades the nursery | 14 | ···/··/˘····/˘ |
| Of glad-voiced songsters, who at day-dawn chant their sweet psalm | 13 | ············· |
| for me. | 2 | ·· |
| A southern aspect to catch the sun, a brook across the floor, | 15 | ·/˘/·······˘/·· |
| A choice land, rich with gracious gifts, down-stretching from my | 13 | ·····/˘··/˘·· |
| door. | 1 | · |
| Few men and wise, these I would prize, men of content and power, | 14 | ··········˘/·/ |
| To raise Thy praise throughout the days at each canonical hour. | 14 | ··········˘/˘/ |
| Four times three, three times four, fitted for every need, | 12 | ······/˘·/˘· |
| To the King of the Sun praying each one, this were a grace, indeed. | 16 | ······/˘······˘/ |
| Twelve in the church to chant the hours, kneeling there twain and | 13 | ·······//˘··· |
| twain; | 1 | · |
| And I before, near the chancel door, listening their low refrain. | 15 | ······/˘·/˘··˘/ |
| A pleasant church with an Altar-cloth, where Christ sits at the | 14 | ·/˘···/˘······ |
| board, | 1 | · |
| And a shining candle shedding its ray on the white words of the | 16 | ··/˘/˘/˘········ |
| Lord. | 1 | · |
| Brief meals between, when prayer is done, our modest needs supply; | 14 | ········//˘·˘/ |
| No greed in our share of the simple fare, no boasting or ribaldry. | 16 | ···/···/˘··/˘·/˘ |
| This is the husbandry I choose, laborious, simple, free, | 13 | ···/˘··˘/˘/˘· |
| The fragrant leek about my door, the hen and the humble bee. | 15 | ·/˘·········/˘· |
| Rough raiment of tweed, enough for my need, this will my King allow; | 16 | ·/˘··˘/·······˘/ |
| And I to be sitting praying to God under every leafy bough. | 17 | ····/˘/˘····/˘/˘· |
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.