Part II
Lowe lay'd by my sorrow, begot by disdaine;O willow, willow, willow!Against her too cruell, still still I complaine,O willow, willow, willow!O willow, willow, willow!Sing, O the greene willow shall be my garlànd!
O love too injurious, to wound my poore heart!O willow, &c.To suffer the triumph, and joy in my smart:O willow, &c.Sing, O the greene willow, &c.
O willow, willow, willow! the willow garlànd,O willow, &c.A sign of her falsenesse before me doth stand:O willow, &c.Sing, O the greene willow, &c.
As here it doth bid to despair and to dye,O willow, &c.So hang it, friends, ore me in grave where I lye:O willow, &c.Sing, O the greene willow shall be my garlànd.
In grave where I rest mee, hang this to the viewO willow, &c.Of all that doe knowe her, to blaze her untrue.O willow, &c.Sing, O the greene willow, &c.
With these words engraven, as epitaph meet,O willow, &c."Here lyes one, drank poyson for potion most sweet."O willow, &c.Sing, O the greene willow, &c.
Though she thus unkindly hath scorned my love,O willow, &c.And carelesly smiles at the sorrowes I prove;O willow, &c.Sing, O the greene willow, &c.
I cannot against her unkindly exclaim,O willow, &c.Cause once well I loved her, and honoured her name:O willow, &c.Sing, O the greene willow, &c.
The name of her sounded so sweete in mine eare,O willow, &c.It rays'd my heart lightly, the name of my deare;O willow, &c.Sing, O the greene willow shall be my garlànd.
As then 'twas my comfort, it now is my griefe;O willow, &c.It now brings me anguish, then brought me reliefe.O willow, &c.Sing, O the greene willow, &c.
Farewell, faire false hearted: plaints end with my breath!O willow, willow, willow!Thou dost loath me, I love thee, though cause of my death.O willow, willow, willow!O willow, willow, willow!Sing, O the greene willow shall be my garlànd.
Words in this poem
- cruell a.
- Disposed to give pain to others; willing or pleased to hurt, torment, or afflict; destitute of sympathetic kindness and pity; savage; inhuman; hard-hearted; merciless. [F. cruel, fr. L. crudelis, fr. crudus. See Crude.]
- 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,]
- drank n.
- Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [Cf. 3d Drake.]
- unkindly a.
- Not kindly; unkind; ungracious.
- deare
- variant of Dere, v. t. & n.
- loath a.
- Hateful; odious; disliked. [OE. looth, loth, AS. la hostile, odious; akin to OS. l, G. leid, Icel. lei, Sw. led, G. leiden to suffer, OHG. lidan to suffer, go, cf. AS. li to go, Goth. leip]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Part II is in the public domain. This text is taken from Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, Volume 1 (of 3) Consisting of Old Heroic Ballads, Songs and Other Pieces of Our Earlier Poets Together With Some Few of Later Date, Project Gutenberg ebook #45939; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Percy, Part II, in Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, Volume I (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #45939, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/percy-reliques/part-ii.html, id L08533.
Form and metre
Part II is 57 lines in 11 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABB, complete in 6 of its 11 stanzas. 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 syllables.
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 ABABB- disdaineA · willowB · complaineA · willowB · willowB · garlànd
- 2 ABABB heartA · — · smartA · — · —
- 3 -A-AA garlànd · — · stand · — · —
- 4 ABAB- dyeA · — · lyeA · — · garlànd
- 5 ABABB viewA · — · untrueA · — · —
- 6 ABABB meetA · — · sweetA · — · —
- 7 ABABB loveA · — · proveA · — · —
- 8 ABABB exclaimA · — · nameA · — · —
- 9 ABAB- eareA · — · deareA · — · garlànd
- 10 ABABB griefeA · — · reliefeA · — · —
- 11 ABABB- breathA · willowB · deathA · willowB · willowB · garlànd
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lowe lay'd by my sorrow, begot by disdaine; | 11 | ····/˘˘/··· |
| O willow, willow, willow! | 7 | ·/·/·/· |
| Against her too cruell, still still I complaine, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| O willow, willow, willow! | 7 | ·/·/·/· |
| O willow, willow, willow! | 7 | ·/·/·/· |
| Sing, O the greene willow shall be my garlànd! | 11 | ····/······ |
| O love too injurious, to wound my poore heart! | 11 | ···˘/˘····· |
| O willow, &c. | 4 | ·/·· |
| To suffer the triumph, and joy in my smart: | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| O willow, &c. | 4 | ·/·· |
| Sing, O the greene willow, &c. | 7 | ····/·· |
| O willow, willow, willow! the willow garlànd, | 12 | ·/·/·/··/··· |
| O willow, &c. | 4 | ·/·· |
| A sign of her falsenesse before me doth stand: | 12 | ············ |
| O willow, &c. | 4 | ·/·· |
| Sing, O the greene willow, &c. | 7 | ····/·· |
| As here it doth bid to despair and to dye, | 11 | ······˘/··· |
| O willow, &c. | 4 | ·/·· |
| So hang it, friends, ore me in grave where I lye: | 11 | ··········· |
| O willow, &c. | 4 | ·/·· |
| Sing, O the greene willow shall be my garlànd. | 11 | ····/······ |
| In grave where I rest mee, hang this to the view | 11 | ··········· |
| O willow, &c. | 4 | ·/·· |
| Of all that doe knowe her, to blaze her untrue. | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| O willow, &c. | 4 | ·/·· |
| Sing, O the greene willow, &c. | 7 | ····/·· |
| With these words engraven, as epitaph meet, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| O willow, &c. | 4 | ·/·· |
| "Here lyes one, drank poyson for potion most sweet." | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| O willow, &c. | 4 | ·/·· |
| Sing, O the greene willow, &c. | 7 | ····/·· |
| Though she thus unkindly hath scorned my love, | 10 | ···˘/˘···· |
| O willow, &c. | 4 | ·/·· |
| And carelesly smiles at the sorrowes I prove; | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| O willow, &c. | 4 | ·/·· |
| Sing, O the greene willow, &c. | 7 | ····/·· |
| I cannot against her unkindly exclaim, | 11 | ·/˘···˘/˘˘/ |
| O willow, &c. | 4 | ·/·· |
| Cause once well I loved her, and honoured her name: | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| O willow, &c. | 4 | ·/·· |
| Sing, O the greene willow, &c. | 7 | ····/·· |
| The name of her sounded so sweete in mine eare, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| O willow, &c. | 4 | ·/·· |
| It rays'd my heart lightly, the name of my deare; | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| O willow, &c. | 4 | ·/·· |
| Sing, O the greene willow shall be my garlànd. | 11 | ····/······ |
| As then 'twas my comfort, it now is my griefe; | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| O willow, &c. | 4 | ·/·· |
| It now brings me anguish, then brought me reliefe. | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| O willow, &c. | 4 | ·/·· |
| Sing, O the greene willow, &c. | 7 | ····/·· |
| Farewell, faire false hearted: plaints end with my breath! | 11 | ·/··/˘····· |
| O willow, willow, willow! | 7 | ·/·/·/· |
| Thou dost loath me, I love thee, though cause of my death. | 12 | ············ |
| O willow, willow, willow! | 7 | ·/·/·/· |
| O willow, willow, willow! | 7 | ·/·/·/· |
| Sing, O the greene willow shall be my garlànd. | 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.