Anonymous: The Milk White Doe
IT was a mother and a maidThat walked the woods among,And still the maid went slow and sad,And still the mother sung.
‘What ails you, daughter Margaret?Why go you pale and wan?Is it for a cast of bitter love,Or for a false leman?’
‘It is not for a false loverThat I go sad to see;But it is for a weary lifeBeneath the greenwood tree.
‘For ever in the good daylightA maiden may I go,But always on the ninth midnightI change to a milk white doe.
‘They hunt me through the green forestWith hounds and hunting men;And ever it is my fair brotherThat is so fierce and keen.’
‘Good-morrow, mother.’ ‘Good-morrow, son;Where are your hounds so good?’Oh, they are hunting a white doeWithin the glad greenwood.
‘And three times have they hunted her,And thrice she’s won away;The fourth time that they follow herThat white doe they shall slay.’
Then out and spoke the forester,As he came from the wood,‘Now never saw I maid’s gold hairAmong the wild deer’s blood.
‘And I have hunted the wild deerIn east lands and in west;And never saw I white doe yetThat had a maiden’s breast.’
Then up and spake her fair brother,Between the wine and bread,‘Behold, I had but one sister,And I have been her dead.’
‘But ye must bury my sweet sisterWith a stone at her foot and her head,And ye must cover her fair bodyWith the white roses and red.’
And I must out to the greenwood,The roof shall never shelter me;And I shall lie for seven long yearsOn the grass below the hawthorn tree.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- leman n.
- A sweetheart, of either sex; a gallant, or a mistress; -- usually in a bad sense. Chaucer. Spenser. [OE. lemman, legman; AS.leóf dear + mann man. See Lief, and Man.]
- greenwood n.
- A forest as it appears is spring and summer.
- daylight n.
- The light of day as opposed to the darkness of night; the light of the sun, as opposed to that of the moon or to artificial light.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- forester n.
- One who has charge of the growing timber on an estate; an officer appointed to watch a forest and preserve the game. [F. forestier, LL. forestarius.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Anonymous: The Milk White Doe is in the public domain. This text is taken from Ballads and Lyrics of Old France, with Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #795, the Andrew Lang translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Various, Anonymous: The Milk White Doe, in Ballads and Lyrics of Old France (1872), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #795, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lang-old-france/the-milk-white-doe.html, id L26918.
Form and metre
Anonymous: The Milk White Doe is 48 lines in 12 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%).
See other poems in common measure.
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 maid · amongA · sad · sungA
- 2 -A-A margaret · wanA · love · lemanA
- 3 -A-A lover · seeA · life · treeA
- 4 ABAB daylightA · goB · midnightA · doeB
- 6 -A-A son · goodA · doe · greenwoodA
- 7 ABAB herA · awayB · herA · slayB
- 8 -A-A forester · woodA · hair · bloodA
- 9 -A-A deer · westA · yet · breastA
- 10 -A-A brother · breadA · sister · deadA
- 11 -A-A sister · headA · body · redA
- 12 -A-A greenwood · meA · years · treeA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| IT was a mother and a maid | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That walked the woods among, | 6 | ······ |
| And still the maid went slow and sad, | 8 | ········ |
| And still the mother sung. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| ‘What ails you, daughter Margaret? | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Why go you pale and wan? | 6 | ······ |
| Is it for a cast of bitter love, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Or for a false leman?’ | 6 | ····/˘ |
| ‘It is not for a false lover | 8 | ······/˘ |
| That I go sad to see; | 6 | ······ |
| But it is for a weary life | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Beneath the greenwood tree. | 6 | ···/·· |
| ‘For ever in the good daylight | 8 | ·/˘···/· |
| A maiden may I go, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But always on the ninth midnight | 8 | ·/˘···/· |
| I change to a milk white doe. | 7 | ······· |
| ‘They hunt me through the green forest | 8 | ······/˘ |
| With hounds and hunting men; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And ever it is my fair brother | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| That is so fierce and keen.’ | 6 | ······ |
| ‘Good-morrow, mother.’ ‘Good-morrow, son; | 9 | ·/˘/˘·/˘· |
| Where are your hounds so good?’ | 6 | ······ |
| Oh, they are hunting a white doe | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Within the glad greenwood. | 6 | ····/· |
| ‘And three times have they hunted her, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And thrice she’s won away; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The fourth time that they follow her | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That white doe they shall slay.’ | 6 | ······ |
| Then out and spoke the forester, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| As he came from the wood, | 6 | ······ |
| ‘Now never saw I maid’s gold hair | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Among the wild deer’s blood. | 6 | ······ |
| ‘And I have hunted the wild deer | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In east lands and in west; | 6 | ······ |
| And never saw I white doe yet | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That had a maiden’s breast.’ | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Then up and spake her fair brother, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Between the wine and bread, | 6 | ······ |
| ‘Behold, I had but one sister, | 8 | ˘/····/˘ |
| And I have been her dead.’ | 6 | ······ |
| ‘But ye must bury my sweet sister | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| With a stone at her foot and her head, | 9 | ········· |
| And ye must cover her fair body | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| With the white roses and red.’ | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| And I must out to the greenwood, | 8 | ······/· |
| The roof shall never shelter me; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And I shall lie for seven long years | 8 | ·····/·· |
| On the grass below the hawthorn tree. | 9 | ······/·· |
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