The Ballad of Moll Magee
Come round me, little childer;There, don't fling stones at meBecause I mutter as I go;But pity Moll Magee.
My man was a poor fisherWith shore lines in the say;My work was saltin' herringsThe whole of the long day.
And sometimes from the saltin' shed,I scarce could drag my feetUnder the blessed moonlight,Along the pebbly street.
I'd always been but weakly,And my baby was just born;A neighbour minded her by dayI minded her till morn.
I lay upon my baby;Ye little childer dear,I looked on my cold babyWhen the morn grew frosty and clear.
A weary woman sleeps so hard!My man grew red and pale,And gave me money, and bade me goTo my own place, Kinsale.
He drove me out and shut the door,And gave his curse to me;I went away in silence,No neighbour could I see.
The windows and the doors were shut,One star shone faint and greenThe little straws were turnin' roundAcross the bare boreen.
I went away in silence:Beyond old Martin's byreI saw a kindly neighbourBlowin' her mornin' fire.
She drew from me my story--My money's all used up,And still, with pityin', scornin' eye,She gives me bite and sup.
She says my man will surely come,And fetch me home agin;But always, as I'm movin' round,Without doors or within,
Pilin' the wood or pilin' the turf,Or goin' to the well,I'm thinkin' of my babyAnd keenin' to mysel'.
And sometimes I am sure she knowsWhen, openin' wide His door,God lights the stars, His candles,And looks upon the poor.
So now, ye little childer,Ye won't fling stones at me;But gather with your shinin' looksAnd pity Moll Magee.
Words in this poem
- moll a.
- Minor; in the minor mode; as, A moll, that is, A minor. [G., fr. L. mollis soft, tender, elegiac. Cf. Molle.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- pebbly a.
- Full of pebbles; pebbled.
- neighbour v. i.
- To dwell in the vicinity; to be a neighbor, or in the neighborhood; to be near.
- 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.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- drove n.
- A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- byre n.
- A cow house. [N. of Eng.& Scot.] [Cf, Icel. bür pantry, Sw. bur cage,Dan. buur, E.bower.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Ballad of Moll Magee is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #38877; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: W. B. Yeats, The Ballad of Moll Magee, in Poems (1895), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #38877, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/yeats-poems/the-ballad-of-moll-magee.html, id L16695.
Form and metre
The Ballad of Moll Magee is 56 lines in 14 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.9 syllables. 13 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% 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 childer · meA · go · mageeA
- 2 -A-A fisher · sayA · herrings · dayA
- 3 -A-A shed · feetA · moonlight · streetA
- 4 -A-A weakly · bornA · day · mornA
- 5 ABAB babyA · dearB · babyA · clearB
- 6 -A-A hard · paleA · go · kinsaleA
- 7 -A-A door · meA · silence · seeA
- 8 -A-A shut · greenA · round · boreenA
- 9 -A-A silence · byreA · neighbour · fireA
- 10 -A-A story · upA · eye · supA
- 14 -A-A childer · meA · looks · mageeA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Come round me, little childer; | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| There, don't fling stones at me | 6 | ······ |
| Because I mutter as I go; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But pity Moll Magee. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| My man was a poor fisher | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| With shore lines in the say; | 6 | ······ |
| My work was saltin' herrings | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The whole of the long day. | 6 | ······ |
| And sometimes from the saltin' shed, | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| I scarce could drag my feet | 6 | ······ |
| Under the blessed moonlight, | 6 | ····/· |
| Along the pebbly street. | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| I'd always been but weakly, | 7 | ·/···/˘ |
| And my baby was just born; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| A neighbour minded her by day | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| I minded her till morn. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I lay upon my baby; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Ye little childer dear, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I looked on my cold baby | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| When the morn grew frosty and clear. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| A weary woman sleeps so hard! | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| My man grew red and pale, | 6 | ······ |
| And gave me money, and bade me go | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| To my own place, Kinsale. | 7 | ······· |
| He drove me out and shut the door, | 8 | ········ |
| And gave his curse to me; | 6 | ······ |
| I went away in silence, | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| No neighbour could I see. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The windows and the doors were shut, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| One star shone faint and green | 6 | ······ |
| The little straws were turnin' round | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Across the bare boreen. | 6 | ˘/···· |
| I went away in silence: | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| Beyond old Martin's byre | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| I saw a kindly neighbour | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Blowin' her mornin' fire. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| She drew from me my story-- | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| My money's all used up, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And still, with pityin', scornin' eye, | 8 | ········ |
| She gives me bite and sup. | 6 | ······ |
| She says my man will surely come, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And fetch me home agin; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| But always, as I'm movin' round, | 8 | ·/······ |
| Without doors or within, | 6 | ······ |
| Pilin' the wood or pilin' the turf, | 9 | ········· |
| Or goin' to the well, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I'm thinkin' of my baby | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| And keenin' to mysel'. | 6 | ······ |
| And sometimes I am sure she knows | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| When, openin' wide His door, | 7 | ······· |
| God lights the stars, His candles, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And looks upon the poor. | 6 | ······ |
| So now, ye little childer, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Ye won't fling stones at me; | 6 | ······ |
| But gather with your shinin' looks | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And pity Moll Magee. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
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