The Witch-Mother
"O where will ye gang to and where will ye sleep,Against the night begins?""My bed is made wi' cauld sorrows,My sheets are lined wi' sins.
"And a sair grief sitting at my foot,And a sair grief at my head;And dule to lay me my laigh pillows,And teen till I be dead.
"And the rain is sair upon my face,And sair upon my hair;And the wind upon my weary mouth,That never may man kiss mair.
"And the snow upon my heavy lips,That never shall drink nor eat;And shame to cledding, and woe to wedding,And pain to drink and meat.
"But woe be to my bairns' father,And ever ill fare he:He has tane a braw bride hame to him,Cast out my bairns and me."
"And what shall they have to their marriage meatThis day they twain are wed?""Meat of strong crying, salt of sad sighing,And God restore the dead."
"And what shall they have to their wedding wineThis day they twain are wed?""Wine of weeping, and draughts of sleeping,And God raise up the dead."
She's tane her to the wild woodside,Between the flood and fell:She's sought a rede against her needOf the fiend that bides in hell.
She's tane her to the wan burnside,She's wrought wi' sang and spell:She's plighted her soul for doom and doleTo the fiend that bides in hell.
She's set her young son to her breast,Her auld son to her knee:Says, "Weel for you the night, bairnies,And weel the morn for me."
She looked fu' lang in their een, sighing,And sair and sair grat she:She has slain her young son at her breast,Her auld son at her knee.
She's sodden their flesh wi' saft water,She's mixed their blood with wine:She's tane her to the braw bride-house,Where a' were boun' to dine.
She poured the red wine in his cup,And his een grew fain to greet:She set the baked meats at his hand,And bade him drink and eat.
Says, "Eat your fill of your flesh, my lord,And drink your fill of your wine;For a' thing's yours and only yoursThat has been yours and mine."
Says, "Drink your fill of your wine, my lord,And eat your fill of your bread:I would they were quick in my body again,Or I that bare them dead."
He struck her head frae her fair body,And dead for grief he fell:And there were twae mair sangs in heaven,And twae mair sauls in hell.
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- 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,]
- braw a.
- Well-dressed; handsome; smart; brave; -- used of persons or their clothing, etc.; as, a braw lad.
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- rede v. t.
- To advise or counsel. [See Read, v. t.]
- auld a.
- Old; as, Auld Reekie (old smoky), i. e., Edinburgh. [See Old.]
- 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.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- dine v. i.
- To eat the principal regular meal of the day; to take dinner. [F. dîner, OF. disner, LL. disnare, contr. fr. an assumed disjunare; dis- + an assumed junare (OF. juner) to fast, for L. jejunare, fr. jejunus fasting. See Jeju]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Witch-Mother 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 Witch-Mother, in Poems and Ballads (1866), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18726, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swinburne-poems-ballads/the-witch-mother.html, id L07106.
Form and metre
The Witch-Mother is 64 lines in 16 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 10 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 8% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 -A-A sleep · beginsA · sorrows · sinsA
- 2 -A-A foot · headA · pillows · deadA
- 3 -A-A face · hairA · mouth · mairA
- 4 -A-A lips · eatA · wedding · meatA
- 5 -A-A father · heA · him · meA
- 6 -A-A meat · wedA · sighing · deadA
- 7 -A-A wine · wedA · sleeping · deadA
- 8 -A-A woodside · fellA · need · hellA
- 9 -A-A burnside · spellA · dole · hellA
- 10 -A-A breast · kneeA · bairnies · meA
- 11 -A-A sighing · sheA · breast · kneeA
- 12 -A-A water · wineA · house · dineA
- 13 -A-A cup · greetA · hand · eatA
- 14 -A-A lord · wineA · yours · mineA
- 15 -A-A lord · breadA · again · deadA
- 16 -A-A body · fellA · heaven · hellA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| "O where will ye gang to and where will ye sleep, | 11 | ··········· |
| Against the night begins?" | 6 | ····˘/ |
| "My bed is made wi' cauld sorrows, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| My sheets are lined wi' sins. | 7 | ····˘·· |
| "And a sair grief sitting at my foot, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| And a sair grief at my head; | 7 | ······· |
| And dule to lay me my laigh pillows, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And teen till I be dead. | 6 | ······ |
| "And the rain is sair upon my face, | 9 | ········· |
| And sair upon my hair; | 6 | ······ |
| And the wind upon my weary mouth, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| That never may man kiss mair. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| "And the snow upon my heavy lips, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| That never shall drink nor eat; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And shame to cledding, and woe to wedding, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| And pain to drink and meat. | 6 | ······ |
| "But woe be to my bairns' father, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And ever ill fare he: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| He has tane a braw bride hame to him, | 9 | ········· |
| Cast out my bairns and me." | 6 | ······ |
| "And what shall they have to their marriage meat | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| This day they twain are wed?" | 6 | ······ |
| "Meat of strong crying, salt of sad sighing, | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| And God restore the dead." | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| "And what shall they have to their wedding wine | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| This day they twain are wed?" | 6 | ······ |
| "Wine of weeping, and draughts of sleeping, | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| And God raise up the dead." | 6 | ······ |
| She's tane her to the wild woodside, | 8 | ······/· |
| Between the flood and fell: | 6 | ······ |
| She's sought a rede against her need | 8 | ········ |
| Of the fiend that bides in hell. | 7 | ······· |
| She's tane her to the wan burnside, | 8 | ······/· |
| She's wrought wi' sang and spell: | 6 | ······ |
| She's plighted her soul for doom and dole | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| To the fiend that bides in hell. | 7 | ······· |
| She's set her young son to her breast, | 8 | ········ |
| Her auld son to her knee: | 6 | ······ |
| Says, "Weel for you the night, bairnies, | 7 | ······· |
| And weel the morn for me." | 6 | ······ |
| She looked fu' lang in their een, sighing, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And sair and sair grat she: | 6 | ······ |
| She has slain her young son at her breast, | 9 | ········· |
| Her auld son at her knee. | 6 | ······ |
| She's sodden their flesh wi' saft water, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| She's mixed their blood with wine: | 7 | ··˘···· |
| She's tane her to the braw bride-house, | 8 | ········ |
| Where a' were boun' to dine. | 6 | ······ |
| She poured the red wine in his cup, | 8 | ········ |
| And his een grew fain to greet: | 7 | ······· |
| She set the baked meats at his hand, | 8 | ········ |
| And bade him drink and eat. | 6 | ······ |
| Says, "Eat your fill of your flesh, my lord, | 9 | ········· |
| And drink your fill of your wine; | 7 | ······· |
| For a' thing's yours and only yours | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That has been yours and mine." | 6 | ······ |
| Says, "Drink your fill of your wine, my lord, | 9 | ········· |
| And eat your fill of your bread: | 7 | ······· |
| I would they were quick in my body again, | 11 | ·······/˘˘/ |
| Or I that bare them dead." | 6 | ······ |
| He struck her head frae her fair body, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And dead for grief he fell: | 6 | ······ |
| And there were twae mair sangs in heaven, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And twae mair sauls in hell. | 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.