May Asda (from The Danish Of Oehlenslaeger) Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABB CCDE FFGG HHII JJKK LLMM NNOP QQRR SSTT UUNN CCVV| May Asda is gone to the merry green wood | A |
| Like flax was each tress on her temples that stood | A |
| Her cheek like the rose leaf that perfumes the air | B |
| Her form like the lily stalk graceful and fair | B |
| - | |
| She mourn'd for her lover Sir Frovin the brave | C |
| For he had embark'd on the boisterous wave | C |
| And burning to gather the laurels of war | D |
| Had sail'd with King Humble to Orkney afar | E |
| - | |
| At feast and at revel wherever she went | F |
| Her thoughts on his perils and dangers were bent | F |
| No joy has the heart that loves fondly and dear | G |
| No pleasure save when the lov'd object is near | G |
| - | |
| May Asda walk'd out in the bonny noon tide | H |
| And roam'd where the beeches grew up in their pride | H |
| She sat herself down on the green sloping hill | I |
| Where liv'd the Erl people and where they live still | I |
| - | |
| Then trembled the turf as she sat in repose | J |
| And straight from the mountain three maidens arose | J |
| And with them a loom and upon it a woof | K |
| As white as the snow when it falls on the roof | K |
| - | |
| Of red shining gold was the fairy loom made | L |
| They sang and they danc'd and their swift shuttles play'd | L |
| Their song was of death and their song was of life | M |
| It sounded like billows in tumult and strife | M |
| - | |
| They gave her the woof with a sorrowful look | N |
| And vanish'd like bubbles that burst on the brook | N |
| But deep in the mountain was heard a sweet strain | O |
| As the lady went home to her bower again | P |
| - | |
| The web was unfinish'd she wove and she spun | Q |
| Nor rested a moment until it was done | Q |
| And there was enough when the work was complete | R |
| To form for a dead man a shirt or a sheet | R |
| - | |
| The heroes return'd from the well foughten field | S |
| And bore home Sir Frovin's corse laid on a shield | S |
| Sad sight for the maid but she still was alert | T |
| And sew'd round the body the funeral shirt | T |
| - | |
| And when she had come to the very last stitch | U |
| Her feelings so long suppress'd rose to a pitch | U |
| The cold clammy sweat from her features outbroke | N |
| Death struck her and meekly she bow'd to the stroke | N |
| - | |
| She rests with her lover now deep in the grave | C |
| And o'er them the beeches their mossy boughs wave | C |
| There sing the Erl maidens their ditties aloud | V |
| And dance while the merry moon peeps from the cloud | V |
George Borrow
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
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