The Feud: A Border Ballad Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AB CDCD EFE GHG IJI KLKL GMG NONO AG GGGGPQP GIG RSR GHGH GTGT AN UHUHNSNF PSPSSRSPGGGGVPVP SNSNGSGSGGGGNJNJHWHW M XGPGP RSR YSYSGGGGSJSJHPH AZFZ RN GGGG GVGV GGG DA2DA2 AGA GGSG B2C2B2C2 FSFS FFG SVSVZGZG FGFGGAGARMRMRD2RD2NE 2NE2NFNFSGSGGAGAGSGS GNGNGF2GF2GFGFGAGRPLATE I | A |
Rixa super mero | B |
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They sat by their wine in the tavern that night | C |
But not in good fellowship true | D |
The Rhenish was strong and the Burgundy bright | C |
And hotter the argument grew | D |
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'I asked your consent when I first sought her hand | E |
Nor did you refuse to agree | F |
Tho' her father declared that the half of his land | E |
Her dower at our wedding should be ' | - |
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'No dower shall be given the brother replied | G |
With a maiden of beauty so rare | H |
Nor yet shall my father my birthright divide | G |
Our lands with a foeman to share ' | - |
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The knight stood erect in the midst of the hall | I |
And sterner his visage became | J |
'Now shame and dishonour my 'scutcheon befall | I |
If thus I relinquish my claim ' | - |
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The brother then drained a tall goblet of wine | K |
And fiercely this answer he made | L |
'Before like a coward my rights I resign | K |
I'll claim an appeal to the blade | L |
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'The passes at Yarrow are rugged and wide | G |
There meet me to morrow alone | M |
This quarrel we two with our swords will decide | G |
And one shall this folly atone ' | - |
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They've settled the time and they've settled the place | N |
They've paid for the wine and the ale | O |
They've bitten their gloves and their steps they retrace | N |
To their castles in Ettrick's Vale | O |
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PLATE II | A |
Morituri te salutant | G |
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Now buckle my broadsword at my side | G |
And saddle my trusty steed | G |
And bid me adieu my bonnie bride | G |
To Yarrow I go with speed | G |
'I've passed through many a bloody fray | P |
Unharmed in health or limb | Q |
Then why's your brow so sad this day | P |
And your dark eye so dim ' | - |
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'Oh belt not on your broadsword bright | G |
Oh leave your steed in the stall | I |
For I dreamt last night of a stubborn fight | G |
And I dreamt I saw you fall ' | - |
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'On Yarrow's braes there will be strife | R |
Yet I am safe from ill | S |
And if I thought it would cost my life | R |
I must take this journey still ' | - |
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He turned his charger to depart | G |
In the misty morning air | H |
But he stood and pressed her to his heart | G |
And smoothed her glossy hair | H |
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And her red lips he fondly kissed | G |
Beside the castle door | T |
And he rode away in the morning mist | G |
And he never saw her more | T |
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PLATE III | A |
Heu deserta domus | N |
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She sits by the eastern casement now | U |
And the sunlight enters there | H |
And settles on her ivory brow | U |
And gleams in her golden hair | H |
On the deerskin rug the staghound lies | N |
And dozes dreamily | S |
And the quaint carved oak reflects the dyes | N |
Of the curtain's canopy | F |
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The lark has sprung from the new mown hay | P |
And the plover's note is shrill | S |
And the song of the mavis far away | P |
Comes from the distant hill | S |
And in the wide courtyard below | S |
She heard the horses neigh | R |
The men at arms pass to and fro | S |
The scraps of border lay | P |
She heard each boisterous oath and jest | G |
The rough moss troopers made | G |
Who scoured the rust from spur or crest | G |
Or polished bit or blade | G |
They loved her well those rugged men | V |
How could they be so gay | P |
When he perchance in some lone glen | V |
Lay dying far away | P |
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She was a fearless Border girl | S |
Who from her earliest days | N |
Had seen the banners oft unfurl | S |
And the war beacons blaze | N |
Had seen her father's men march out | G |
Roused by the trumpet's call | S |
And heard the foeman's savage shout | G |
Close to their fortress wall | S |
And when her kin were arming fast | G |
Had belted many a brand | G |
Why was her spirit now o'ercast | G |
Where was her self command | G |
She strove to quell those childish fears | N |
Unworthy of her name | J |
She dashed away the rising tears | N |
And flushed with pride and shame | J |
She rose and hurried down the stair | H |
The castle yard to roam | W |
And she met her elder sister there | H |
Come from their father's home | W |
'Sister I've ridden here alone | M |
Your lord and you to greet ' | - |
'Sister to Yarrow he has gone | X |
Our brother there to meet | G |
I dreamt last night of a stubborn fray | P |
Where I saw him fall and bleed | G |
And he rode away at break of day | P |
With his broadsword and his steed ' | - |
'Oh sister dear there will be strife | R |
Our brother likes him ill | S |
And one or both must forfeit life | R |
On Yarrow's lonely hill ' | - |
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A stout moss trooper standing near | Y |
Spoke with a careless smile | S |
'Now have no fear for my master dear | Y |
He may travel many a mile | S |
And those who ride on the Border side | G |
Albeit they like him not | G |
They know his mettle has oft been tried | G |
Where blows were thick and hot | G |
He left command that none should go | S |
From hence till home he came | J |
But lady the truth you soon shall know | S |
If you will bear the blame | J |
Your palfrey fair I'll saddle with care | H |
Your sister shall ride the grey | P |
And I'll mount myself on the sorrel mare | H |
And to Yarrow we'll haste away ' | - |
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The sun was low in the western sky | A |
And steep was the mountain track | Z |
But they rode from the castle rapidly | F |
Oh how will they travel back | Z |
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PLATE IV | R |
Gaudia certaminis | N |
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He came to the spot where his foe had agreed | G |
To meet him in Yarrow's dark glade | G |
And there he drew rein amd dismounted his steed | G |
And fastened him under the shade | G |
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Close by in the greenwood the ambush was set | G |
And scarce had he entered the glen | V |
When armed for the combat the brother he met | G |
And with him were eight of his men | V |
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'Now swear to relinquish all claim to our land | G |
Or to give as a hostage your bride | G |
Or fly if you're able or yield where you stand | G |
Or die as your betters have died ' | - |
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His doublet and hat on the greensward he threw | D |
He wrapt round the left arm his cloak | A2 |
And out of its scabbard his broadsword he drew | D |
And stood with his back to an oak | A2 |
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'My claim to your land I refuse to deny | A |
Nor will I restore you my bride | G |
Now will I surrender nor yet will I fly | A |
Come on and the steel shall decide ' | - |
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Oh sudden and sure were the blows that he dealt | G |
Like lightning the sweep of his blade | G |
Cut and thrust point and edge all around him they fell | S |
They fell one by one in the glade | G |
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And pierced in the gullet their leader goes down | B2 |
And sinks with a curse on the plain | C2 |
And his squire falls dead cut through headpiece and crown | B2 |
And his groom by a back stroke is slain | C2 |
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Now five are stretched lifeless disabled are three | F |
Hard pressed see the last caitiff reel | S |
The brother behind struggles up on one knee | F |
And drives through his body the steel | S |
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PLATE V | F |
Non habeo mihi facta adhuc cur Herculis uxor | F |
Credar coniugii mors mihi pignus erit | G |
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The traitor's father heard the tale | S |
In haste he mounted then | V |
And spurred his horse from Ettrick Vale | S |
To Yarrow's lonely glen | V |
Some troopers followed in his track | Z |
For them he tarried not | G |
He neither halted nor looked back | Z |
Until he found the spot | G |
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The earth was trod and trampled bare | F |
And stained with dark red dew | G |
A broken blade lay here and there | F |
A bonnet cut in two | G |
And stretched in ghastly shapes around | G |
The lifeless corpses lie | A |
Some with their faces to the ground | G |
And some towards the sky | A |
And there the ancient Border chief | R |
Stood silent and alone | M |
Too stubborn to give way to grief | R |
Too stern remorse to own | M |
A soldier in the midst of strife | R |
Since he had first drawn breath | D2 |
He'd grown to undervalue life | R |
And feel at home with death | D2 |
And yet he shuddered when he saw | N |
The work that had been done | E2 |
He knew his fearless son in law | N |
He knew his dastard son | E2 |
Despite the failings of his race | N |
A brave old man was he | F |
Who would not stoop to actions base | N |
And hated treachery | F |
He loved his younger daughter well | S |
And though severe and rude | G |
For her sake he had tried to quell | S |
That foolish Border feud | G |
Her brother all his schemes had marred | G |
And given his pledge the lie | A |
And sense of justice struggled hard | G |
With nature's stronger tie | A |
He knew his son had richly earned | G |
The stroke that laid him low | S |
Yet had not quite forgiveness learned | G |
For him that dealt the blow | S |
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There came a tramp of horses' feet | G |
He raised his startled eyes | N |
And felt his pulses throb and beat | G |
With sorrow and surprise | N |
He saw his daughter riding fast | G |
And from her steed she sprung | F2 |
And on her lover's corpse she cast | G |
Herself and round him clung | F2 |
Her head she pillowed on his waist | G |
And all her clustering hair | F |
Hung down disordered by her haste | G |
In silken masses there | F |
Her sister and their sturdy guide | G |
Dismounted and drew nigh | A |
The elder daughter stood aside | G |
Her tears fe | R |
Adam Lindsay Gordon
(1)
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