The Tyneside Widow
There's mony a man loves land and life,Loves life and land and fee;And mony a man loves fair women,But never a man loves me, my love,But never a man loves me.
O weel and weel for a' lovers,I wot weel may they be;And weel and weel for a' fair maidens,But aye mair woe for me, my love,But aye mair woe for me.
O weel be wi' you, ye sma' flowers,Ye flowers and every tree;And weel be wi' you, a' birdies,But teen and tears wi' me, my love,But teen and tears wi' me.
O weel be yours, my three brethren,And ever weel be ye;Wi' deeds for doing and loves for wooing,But never a love for me, my love,But never a love for me.
And weel be yours, my seven sisters,And good love-days to see,And long life-days and true lovers,But never a day for me, my love,But never a day for me.
Good times wi' you, ye bauld riders,By the hieland and the lee;And by the leeland and by the hielandIt's weary times wi' me, my love,It's weary times wi' me.
Good days wi' you, ye good sailors,Sail in and out the sea;And by the beaches and by the reachesIt's heavy days wi' me, my love,It's heavy days wi' me.
I had his kiss upon my mouth,His bairn upon my knee;I would my soul and body were twain,And the bairn and the kiss wi' me, my love,And the bairn and the kiss wi' me.
The bairn down in the mools, my dear,O saft and saft lies she;I would the mools were ower my head,And the young bairn fast wi' me, my love,And the young bairn fast wi' me.
The father under the faem, my dear,O sound and sound sleeps he;I would the faem were ower my face,And the father lay by me, my love,And the father lay by me.
I would the faem were ower my face,Or the mools on my ee-bree;And waking-time with a' lovers,But sleeping-time wi' me, my love,But sleeping-time wi' me.
I would the mools were meat in my mouth,The saut faem in my ee;And the land-worm and the water-wormTo feed fu' sweet on me, my love,To feed fu' sweet on me.
My life is sealed with a seal of love,And locked with love for a key;And I lie wrang and I wake lang,But ye tak' nae thought for me, my love,But ye tak' nae thought for me.
We were weel fain of love, my dear,O fain and fain were we;It was weel with a' the weary world,But O, sae weel wi' me, my love,But O, sae weel wi' me.
We were nane ower mony to sleep, my dear,I wot we were but three;And never a bed in the weary worldFor my bairn and my dear and me, my love,For my bairn and my dear and me.
Words in this poem
- weel
- A kind of trap or snare for fish, made of twigs. Carew. [Prov. E. weel, weal, a wicker basket to catch eels; prob. akin to willow, and so called as made of willow twigs.]
- teen n.
- Grief; sorrow; affiction; pain. Chaucer. [OE. tene, AS. teóna reproach, wrong, fr. teón to accuse; akin to G. zeihen, Goth. gateihan to tell, announce, L. dicere to say. See Token.]
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Tyneside Widow is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems and Ballads (Third Series) Taken from The Collected Poetical Works of Algernon Charles Swinburne—Vol. III, Project Gutenberg ebook #18726; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Algernon Charles Swinburne, The Tyneside Widow, in Poems and Ballads (1866), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18726, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swinburne-poems-ballads/the-tyneside-widow.html, id L07110.
Form and metre
The Tyneside Widow is 75 lines in 15 stanzas of 5 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 13 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 5% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 -A--A life · feeA · women · love · meA
- 2 -A--A lovers · beA · maidens · love · meA
- 3 -A--A flowers · treeA · birdies · love · meA
- 4 -A--A brethren · yeA · wooing · love · meA
- 5 -A--A sisters · seeA · lovers · love · meA
- 6 -A--A riders · leeA · hieland · love · meA
- 7 -A--A sailors · seaA · reaches · love · meA
- 8 -A--A mouth · kneeA · twain · love · meA
- 9 -A--A dear · sheA · head · love · meA
- 10 -A--A dear · heA · face · love · meA
- 11 -A--A face · breeA · lovers · love · meA
- 12 -A--A mouth · eeA · worm · love · meA
- 13 AB-AB loveA · keyB · lang · loveA · meB
- 14 -A--A dear · weA · world · love · meA
- 15 -A--A dear · threeA · world · love · meA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| There's mony a man loves land and life, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Loves life and land and fee; | 6 | ······ |
| And mony a man loves fair women, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| But never a man loves me, my love, | 8 | ·/······ |
| But never a man loves me. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| O weel and weel for a' lovers, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| I wot weel may they be; | 6 | ······ |
| And weel and weel for a' fair maidens, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| But aye mair woe for me, my love, | 8 | ········ |
| But aye mair woe for me. | 6 | ······ |
| O weel be wi' you, ye sma' flowers, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Ye flowers and every tree; | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘· |
| And weel be wi' you, a' birdies, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| But teen and tears wi' me, my love, | 8 | ········ |
| But teen and tears wi' me. | 6 | ······ |
| O weel be yours, my three brethren, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And ever weel be ye; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Wi' deeds for doing and loves for wooing, | 9 | ···/···/˘ |
| But never a love for me, my love, | 8 | ·/······ |
| But never a love for me. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And weel be yours, my seven sisters, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| And good love-days to see, | 6 | ······ |
| And long life-days and true lovers, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| But never a day for me, my love, | 8 | ·/······ |
| But never a day for me. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Good times wi' you, ye bauld riders, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| By the hieland and the lee; | 7 | ······· |
| And by the leeland and by the hieland | 10 | ·········· |
| It's weary times wi' me, my love, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| It's weary times wi' me. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Good days wi' you, ye good sailors, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Sail in and out the sea; | 6 | ······ |
| And by the beaches and by the reaches | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| It's heavy days wi' me, my love, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| It's heavy days wi' me. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I had his kiss upon my mouth, | 8 | ········ |
| His bairn upon my knee; | 6 | ······ |
| I would my soul and body were twain, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| And the bairn and the kiss wi' me, my love, | 10 | ·········· |
| And the bairn and the kiss wi' me. | 8 | ········ |
| The bairn down in the mools, my dear, | 8 | ········ |
| O saft and saft lies she; | 6 | ······ |
| I would the mools were ower my head, | 9 | ········· |
| And the young bairn fast wi' me, my love, | 9 | ········· |
| And the young bairn fast wi' me. | 7 | ······· |
| The father under the faem, my dear, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| O sound and sound sleeps he; | 6 | ······ |
| I would the faem were ower my face, | 9 | ········· |
| And the father lay by me, my love, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| And the father lay by me. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| I would the faem were ower my face, | 9 | ········· |
| Or the mools on my ee-bree; | 7 | ······· |
| And waking-time with a' lovers, | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| But sleeping-time wi' me, my love, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But sleeping-time wi' me. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I would the mools were meat in my mouth, | 9 | ········· |
| The saut faem in my ee; | 6 | ······ |
| And the land-worm and the water-worm | 9 | ······/˘· |
| To feed fu' sweet on me, my love, | 8 | ········ |
| To feed fu' sweet on me. | 6 | ······ |
| My life is sealed with a seal of love, | 9 | ········· |
| And locked with love for a key; | 8 | ··˘····· |
| And I lie wrang and I wake lang, | 8 | ········ |
| But ye tak' nae thought for me, my love, | 9 | ········· |
| But ye tak' nae thought for me. | 7 | ······· |
| We were weel fain of love, my dear, | 8 | ········ |
| O fain and fain were we; | 6 | ······ |
| It was weel with a' the weary world, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| But O, sae weel wi' me, my love, | 8 | ········ |
| But O, sae weel wi' me. | 6 | ······ |
| We were nane ower mony to sleep, my dear, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| I wot we were but three; | 6 | ······ |
| And never a bed in the weary world | 9 | ·/····/˘· |
| For my bairn and my dear and me, my love, | 10 | ·········· |
| For my bairn and my dear and me. | 8 | ········ |
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.