Anonymous: The Three Captains
ALL beneath the white-rose treeWalks a lady fair to see,She is as white as the snows,She is as fair as the day:From her father’s garden closeThree knights have ta’en her away.
He has ta’en her by the hand,The youngest of the three—‘Mount and ride, my bonnie bride,On my white horse with me.’
And ever they rode, and better rode,Till they came to Senlis town,The hostess she looked hard at themAs they were lighting down.
‘And are ye here by force,’ she said,‘Or are ye here for play?From out my father’s garden closeThree knights me stole away.
‘And fain would I win back,’ she said,‘The weary way I come;And fain would see my father dear,And fain go maiden home.’
‘Oh, weep not, lady fair,’ said she,‘You shall win back,’ she said,‘For you shall take this draught from meWill make you lie for dead.’
‘Come in and sup, fair lady,’ they said,‘Come busk ye and be bright;It is with three bold captainsThat ye must be this night.’
When they had eaten well and drunk,She fell down like one slain:‘Now, out and alas! for my bonny mayShall live no more again.’
‘Within her father’s garden steadThere are three white lilies;With her body to the lily bed,With her soul to Paradise.’
They bore her to her father’s house,They bore her all the three,They laid her in her father’s close,Beneath the white-rose tree.
She had not lain a day, a day,A day but barely three,When the may awakes, ‘Oh, open, father,Oh, open the door for me.
‘’Tis I have lain for dead, father,Have lain the long days three,That I might maiden come againTo my mother and to thee.’
Words in this poem
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- hostess n.
- A female host; a woman who hospitably entertains guests at her house. [OE. hostesse, ostesse. See Host a landlord.]
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- 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,]
- busk n.
- A thin, elastic strip of metal, whalebone, wood, or other material, worn in the front of a corset. [F. busc, perh. fr. the hypothetical older form of E. bois wood, because the first busks were made of wood. See Bush, and cf. OF. busche, F. bûche, a piece or lo]
- bonny a.
- Handsome; beautiful; pretty; attractively lively and graceful. [OE. boni, prob. fr. F. bon, fem. bonne, good, fr. L. bonus good. See Bounty, and cf. Bonus, Boon.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Anonymous: The Three Captains 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 Three Captains, in Ballads and Lyrics of Old France (1872), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #795, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lang-old-france/the-three-captains.html, id L26915.
Form and metre
Anonymous: The Three Captains is 50 lines in 12 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 AABCBC treeA · seeA · snowsB · dayC · closeB · awayC
- 2 -A-A hand · threeA · bride · meA
- 3 -A-A rode · townA · them · downA
- 4 -A-A said · playA · close · awayA
- 5 -A-A said · comeA · dear · homeA
- 6 ABAB sheA · saidB · meA · deadB
- 7 -A-A said · brightA · captains · nightA
- 8 -A-A drunk · slainA · may · againA
- 9 A-A- steadA · lilies · bedA · paradise
- 10 -A-A house · threeA · close · treeA
- 11 -A-A day · threeA · father · meA
- 12 -A-A father · threeA · again · theeA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ALL beneath the white-rose tree | 7 | ······· |
| Walks a lady fair to see, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| She is as white as the snows, | 7 | ······· |
| She is as fair as the day: | 7 | ······· |
| From her father’s garden close | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Three knights have ta’en her away. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| He has ta’en her by the hand, | 7 | ······· |
| The youngest of the three— | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| ‘Mount and ride, my bonnie bride, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| On my white horse with me.’ | 6 | ······ |
| And ever they rode, and better rode, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Till they came to Senlis town, | 7 | ······· |
| The hostess she looked hard at them | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| As they were lighting down. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| ‘And are ye here by force,’ she said, | 8 | ········ |
| ‘Or are ye here for play? | 6 | ······ |
| From out my father’s garden close | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Three knights me stole away. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| ‘And fain would I win back,’ she said, | 8 | ········ |
| ‘The weary way I come; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And fain would see my father dear, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And fain go maiden home.’ | 6 | ···/˘· |
| ‘Oh, weep not, lady fair,’ said she, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| ‘You shall win back,’ she said, | 6 | ······ |
| ‘For you shall take this draught from me | 8 | ········ |
| Will make you lie for dead.’ | 6 | ······ |
| ‘Come in and sup, fair lady,’ they said, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| ‘Come busk ye and be bright; | 6 | ······ |
| It is with three bold captains | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| That ye must be this night.’ | 6 | ······ |
| When they had eaten well and drunk, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| She fell down like one slain: | 6 | ······ |
| ‘Now, out and alas! for my bonny may | 10 | ···˘/··/˘· |
| Shall live no more again.’ | 6 | ····˘/ |
| ‘Within her father’s garden stead | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| There are three white lilies; | 6 | ····/˘ |
| With her body to the lily bed, | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| With her soul to Paradise.’ | 7 | ····/˘· |
| They bore her to her father’s house, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| They bore her all the three, | 6 | ······ |
| They laid her in her father’s close, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Beneath the white-rose tree. | 6 | ······ |
| She had not lain a day, a day, | 8 | ········ |
| A day but barely three, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| When the may awakes, ‘Oh, open, father, | 10 | ···˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Oh, open the door for me. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| ‘’Tis I have lain for dead, father, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Have lain the long days three, | 6 | ······ |
| That I might maiden come again | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| To my mother and to thee.’ | 7 | ··/˘··· |
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