Laurel · Arthur Quiller-Couch · The Oxford Book of Ballads

The Simple Ploughboy

Arthur Quiller-Couch (1863–1944) · before 1800

iambic tetrameter · 42 lines · from The Oxford Book of Ballads

O the Ploughboy was a-ploughingWith his horses on the plain,And was singing of a song as on went he:‘Since that I have fall’n in love,If the parents disapprove,’Tis the first thing that will send me to the sea.’

When the parents came to knowThat their daughter loved him so,Then they sent a gang, and press’d him for the sea.And they made of him a tar,To be slain in cruel war;Of the simple Ploughboy singing on the lea.

The maiden sore did grieve,And without a word of leave,From her father’s house she fled secretlie,In male attire dress’d,With a star upon her breast,All to seek her simple Ploughboy on the sea.

Then she went o’er hill and plain,And she walked in wind and rain,Till she came to the brink of the blue sea,Saying, ‘I am forced to rove,For the loss of my true love,Who is but a simple Ploughboy from the lea.’

Now the first she did behold,O it was a sailor bold,‘Have you seen my simple Ploughboy?’ then said she.‘They have press’d him to the fleet,Sent him tossing on the deep,Who is but a simple Ploughboy from the lea.’

Then she went to the Captaìn,And to him she made complain,‘O a silly Ploughboy’s run away from me!’Then the Captain smiled and said,‘Why Sir! surely you’re a maid!So the Ploughboy I will render up to thee.’

Then she pullèd out a store,Of five hundred crowns and more,And she strew’d them on the deck, did she.Then she took him by the hand,And she row’d him to the land,Where she wed the simple Ploughboy back from sea.

Words in this poem

ploughboy n.: A boy that drives or guides a team in plowing; a young rustic.
went n.: Course; way; path; journey; direction.
brink n.: The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge, as of a river or pit; a verge; a border; as, the brink of a chasm. Also Fig. [Dan. brink edge, verge; akin to Sw. brink declivity, hill, Icel. brekka; cf. LG. brink a grassy hill, W. bryn hill, bryncyn hillock.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Simple Ploughboy is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Oxford Book of Ballads, Project Gutenberg ebook #44593; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Arthur Quiller-Couch, The Simple Ploughboy, in The Oxford Book of Ballads (before 1800), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #44593, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/oxford-ballads/the-simple-ploughboy.html, id L08515.

Form and metre

The Simple Ploughboy is 42 lines in 7 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.3 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.

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 --ABBA ploughing · plain · he^A · love^B · disapprove^B · sea^A
2 AAB--B know^A · so^A · sea^B · tar · war · lea^B
3 AA-BB- grieve^A · leave^A · secretlie · dress'd^B · breast^B · sea
4 AAB--B plain^A · rain^A · sea^B · rove · love · lea^B
5 AAB--B behold^A · bold^A · she^B · fleet · deep · lea^B
6 --A--A captaìn · complain · me^A · said · maid · thee^A
7 AABCCB store^A · more^A · she^B · hand^C · land^C · sea^B

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
O the Ploughboy was a-ploughing	8	······/˘
With his horses on the plain,	7	··/˘···
And was singing of a song as on went he:	11	··/˘·······
‘Since that I have fall’n in love,	7	·······
If the parents disapprove,	7	··/˘·˘/
’Tis the first thing that will send me to the sea.’	11	···········
When the parents came to know	7	··/˘···
That their daughter loved him so,	7	··/˘···
Then they sent a gang, and press’d him for the sea.	11	···········
And they made of him a tar,	7	·······
To be slain in cruel war;	7	····/˘·
Of the simple Ploughboy singing on the lea.	11	··/˘··/˘···
The maiden sore did grieve,	6	·/˘···
And without a word of leave,	7	·······
From her father’s house she fled secretlie,	10	··/˘······
In male attire dress’d,	6	··˘/˘·
With a star upon her breast,	7	·······
All to seek her simple Ploughboy on the sea.	11	····/˘·····
Then she went o’er hill and plain,	7	·······
And she walked in wind and rain,	7	·······
Till she came to the brink of the blue sea,	10	··········
Saying, ‘I am forced to rove,	7	/˘·····
For the loss of my true love,	7	·······
Who is but a simple Ploughboy from the lea.’	11	····/˘·····
Now the first she did behold,	7	·····˘/
O it was a sailor bold,	7	····/˘·
‘Have you seen my simple Ploughboy?’ then said she.	11	····/˘·····
‘They have press’d him to the fleet,	7	·······
Sent him tossing on the deep,	7	··/˘···
Who is but a simple Ploughboy from the lea.’	11	····/˘·····
Then she went to the Captaìn,	7	·······
And to him she made complain,	7	·····˘/
‘O a silly Ploughboy’s run away from me!’	11	··/˘···˘/··
Then the Captain smiled and said,	7	··/˘···
‘Why Sir! surely you’re a maid!	7	··/˘···
So the Ploughboy I will render up to thee.’	11	······/˘···
Then she pullèd out a store,	6	······
Of five hundred crowns and more,	7	··/˘···
And she strew’d them on the deck, did she.	9	·········
Then she took him by the hand,	7	·······
And she row’d him to the land,	7	·······
Where she wed the simple Ploughboy back from sea.	11	····/˘·····

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.

More by Arthur Quiller-Couch

The Oxford Book of Ballads