The Yellow Bittern
The yellow bittern that never broke outIn a drinking-bout, might well have drunk;His bones are thrown on a naked stoneWhere he lived alone like a hermit monk.O yellow bittern! I pity your lot,Though they say that a sot like myself is curst--I was sober a while, but I'll drink and be wiseFor fear I should die in the end of thirst.
It's not for the common birds that I'd mourn,The blackbird, the corncrake or the crane,But for the bittern that's shy and apartAnd drinks in the marsh from the lone bog-drain.Oh! if I had known you were near your death,While my breath held out I'd have run to you,Till a splash from the Lake of the Son of the BirdYour soul would have stirred and waked anew.
My darling told me to drink no moreOr my life would be o'er in a little short while;But I told her 'tis drink gives me health and strength,And will lengthen my road by many a mile.You see how the bird of the long smooth neck,Could get his death from the thirst at last--Come, son of my soul, and drain your cup,You'll get no sup when your life is past.
In a wintering island by Constantine's halls,A bittern calls from a wineless place,And tells me that hither he cannot comeTill the summer is here and the sunny days.When he crosses the stream there and wings o'er the sea,Then a fear comes to me he may fail in his flight--Well, the milk and the ale are drunk every drop,And a dram won't stop our thirst this night.
Words in this poem
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- curst a.
- Froward; malignant; mischievous; malicious; snarling. [SeeCurse.]
- corncrake n.
- A bird (Crex crex or C. pratensis) which frequents grain fields; the European crake or land rail; -- called also corn bird.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- wineless a.
- destitute of wine; as, wineless life.
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Yellow Bittern 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 Yellow Bittern, in The Poem-Book of the Gael (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #46917, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hull-gael/the-yellow-bittern.html, id L11771.
Form and metre
The Yellow Bittern is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 22% 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-B-B out · drunkA · stone · monkA · lot · curstB · wise · thirstB
- 2 -A-A-B-B mourn · craneA · apart · drainA · death · youB · bird · anewB
- 3 -A-A-B-B more · whileA · strength · mileA · neck · lastB · cup · pastB
- 4 -----A-A halls · place · come · days · sea · flightA · drop · nightA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The yellow bittern that never broke out | 9 | ·/˘/˘·/·· |
| In a drinking-bout, might well have drunk; | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| His bones are thrown on a naked stone | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Where he lived alone like a hermit monk. | 10 | ···˘/··/˘· |
| O yellow bittern! I pity your lot, | 10 | ·/˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Though they say that a sot like myself is curst-- | 11 | ········/·· |
| I was sober a while, but I'll drink and be wise | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| For fear I should die in the end of thirst. | 10 | ·········· |
| It's not for the common birds that I'd mourn, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| The blackbird, the corncrake or the crane, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| But for the bittern that's shy and apart | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| And drinks in the marsh from the lone bog-drain. | 10 | ·········· |
| Oh! if I had known you were near your death, | 10 | ·········· |
| While my breath held out I'd have run to you, | 10 | ·········· |
| Till a splash from the Lake of the Son of the Bird | 12 | ············ |
| Your soul would have stirred and waked anew. | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| My darling told me to drink no more | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Or my life would be o'er in a little short while; | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| But I told her 'tis drink gives me health and strength, | 11 | ··········· |
| And will lengthen my road by many a mile. | 10 | ··/˘···/·· |
| You see how the bird of the long smooth neck, | 10 | ·········· |
| Could get his death from the thirst at last-- | 9 | ········· |
| Come, son of my soul, and drain your cup, | 9 | ········· |
| You'll get no sup when your life is past. | 9 | ········· |
| In a wintering island by Constantine's halls, | 11 | ··/˘/˘·/˘·· |
| A bittern calls from a wineless place, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| And tells me that hither he cannot come | 10 | ····/˘·˘/· |
| Till the summer is here and the sunny days. | 11 | ··/˘····/˘· |
| When he crosses the stream there and wings o'er the sea, | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| Then a fear comes to me he may fail in his flight-- | 12 | ············ |
| Well, the milk and the ale are drunk every drop, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| And a dram won't stop our thirst this night. | 9 | ·····/··· |
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.