The Herd and the Mavis
"What gars ye sing," said the herd-laddie,"What gars ye sing sae lood?""To tice them oot o' the yerd, laddie,The worms for my daily food."
An' aye he sang, an' better he sang,An' the worms creepit in an' oot;An' ane he tuik, an' twa he loot gang,An' still he carolled stoot.
"It's no for the worms, sir," said the herd;"They comena for your sang!""Think ye sae, sir?" answered the bird,"Maybe ye're no i' the wrang!"
"Sing ye young Sorrow to beguile,Or to gie auld Fear the flegs?""Na," quo' the mavis, "I sing to wileMy wee things oot o' her eggs."
"The mistress is plenty for that same gearThough ye sangna air nor late!""I wud draw the deid frae the moul sae drear.An' open the kirkyard-gate."
"Better ye sing nor a burn i' the mune,Nor a wave ower san' that flows,Nor a win' wi' the glintin stars abune,An' aneth the roses in rows;
But a better sang it wud tak nor yer ain,Though ye hae o' notes a feck,To mak the auld Barebanes there sae fainAs to lift the muckle sneck!
An' ye wudna draw ae bairnie backFrae the arms o' the bonny manThough its minnie was greitin alas an' alack,An' her cries to the bairnie wan!
An' I'll speir ye nae mair, sir," said the herd,"I fear what ye micht say neist!""I doobt ye wud won'er, sir," said the bird,"To see the thouchts i' my breist!"
An' aye he sang, an' better he sang,An' the worms creepit in an' oot;An' ane he tuik, an' twa he loot gang,An' still he carolled stoot.
Words in this poem
- laddie n.
- A lad; a male sweetheart.
- tice v. t.
- To entice. The Coronation. [Aphetic form of entice.]
- loot n.
- The act of plundering. [Hind. l, Skr. l, l, booty, lup to break, spoil; prob. akin to E. rob.]
- maybe adv.
- Perhaps; possibly; peradventure. [For it may be.]
- auld a.
- Old; as, Auld Reekie (old smoky), i. e., Edinburgh. [See Old.]
- mavis n.
- The European throstle or song thrush (Turdus musicus). [F. mauvis, Arm. milvid, milfid, milc'hhouid, Corn. melhuez.]
- wile n.
- A trick or stratagem practiced for insnaring or deception; a sly, insidious; artifice; a beguilement; an allurement. [OE. wile, AS. wil; cf. Icel. v, væl. Cf. Guile.]
- drear n.
- Sadness; dismalness.
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- sneck v. t.
- To fasten by a hatch; to latch, as a door. [See Snatch.]
- 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.]
- alack interj.
- An exclamation expressive of sorrow. [Prob. from ah! lack! OE. lak loss, failure, misfortune. See Lack.]
- speir v. i.
- To ask. See Spere.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Herd and the Mavis is in the public domain. This text is taken from The poetical works of George MacDonald in two volumes — Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #9984; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: George MacDonald, The Herd and the Mavis, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/the-herd-and-the-mavis.html, id L22553.
Form and metre
The Herd and the Mavis is 40 lines in 10 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 9 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABAB laddieA · loodB · laddieA · foodB
- 2 ABAB sangA · ootB · gangA · stootB
- 3 ABAB herdA · sangB · birdA · wrangB
- 4 ABAB beguileA · flegsB · wileA · eggsB
- 5 ABAB gearA · lateB · drearA · gateB
- 6 ABAB muneA · flowsB · abuneA · rowsB
- 7 ABAB ainA · feckB · fainA · sneckB
- 8 A-A- backA · man · alackA · wan
- 9 ABAB herdA · neistB · birdA · breistB
- 10 ABAB sangA · ootB · gangA · stootB
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 iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| "What gars ye sing," said the herd-laddie, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| "What gars ye sing sae lood?" | 6 | ······ |
| "To tice them oot o' the yerd, laddie, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| The worms for my daily food." | 7 | ····/˘· |
| An' aye he sang, an' better he sang, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| An' the worms creepit in an' oot; | 8 | ········ |
| An' ane he tuik, an' twa he loot gang, | 9 | ········· |
| An' still he carolled stoot. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| "It's no for the worms, sir," said the herd; | 9 | ········· |
| "They comena for your sang!" | 7 | ······· |
| "Think ye sae, sir?" answered the bird, | 9 | ····/˘˘·· |
| "Maybe ye're no i' the wrang!" | 7 | /˘····· |
| "Sing ye young Sorrow to beguile, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Or to gie auld Fear the flegs?" | 7 | ······· |
| "Na," quo' the mavis, "I sing to wile | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| My wee things oot o' her eggs." | 7 | ······· |
| "The mistress is plenty for that same gear | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| Though ye sangna air nor late!" | 7 | ······· |
| "I wud draw the deid frae the moul sae drear. | 10 | ·········· |
| An' open the kirkyard-gate." | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| "Better ye sing nor a burn i' the mune, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Nor a wave ower san' that flows, | 8 | ········ |
| Nor a win' wi' the glintin stars abune, | 10 | ·········· |
| An' aneth the roses in rows; | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| But a better sang it wud tak nor yer ain, | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| Though ye hae o' notes a feck, | 7 | ······· |
| To mak the auld Barebanes there sae fain | 10 | ·········· |
| As to lift the muckle sneck! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| An' ye wudna draw ae bairnie back | 9 | ········· |
| Frae the arms o' the bonny man | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Though its minnie was greitin alas an' alack, | 12 | ··/˘···˘/·˘/ |
| An' her cries to the bairnie wan! | 8 | ········ |
| An' I'll speir ye nae mair, sir," said the herd, | 10 | ·········· |
| "I fear what ye micht say neist!" | 7 | ······· |
| "I doobt ye wud won'er, sir," said the bird, | 10 | ·········· |
| "To see the thouchts i' my breist!" | 7 | ······· |
| An' aye he sang, an' better he sang, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| An' the worms creepit in an' oot; | 8 | ········ |
| An' ane he tuik, an' twa he loot gang, | 9 | ········· |
| An' still he carolled stoot. | 6 | ···/˘· |
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.