Analysis of Mary - A Ballad
Robert Southey 1774 (Bristol) – 1843 (London)
Author Note: The story of the following ballad was related to me, when a school boy, as a fact which had really happened in the North of England. I have
adopted the metre of Mr. Lewis's Alonzo and Imogene--a poem deservedly
popular.
Who is she, the poor Maniac, whose wildly-fix'd eyes
Seem a heart overcharged to express?
She weeps not, yet often and deeply she sighs,
She never complains, but her silence implies
The composure of settled distress.
No aid, no compassion the Maniac will seek,
Cold and hunger awake not her care:
Thro' her rags do the winds of the winter blow bleak
On her poor withered bosom half bare, and her cheek
Has the deathy pale hue of despair.
Yet chearful and happy, nor distant the day,
Poor Mary the Maniac has been;
The Traveller remembers who journeyed this way
No damsel so lovely, no damsel so gay
As Mary the Maid of the Inn.
Her chearful address fill'd the guests with delight
As she welcomed them in with a smile:
Her heart was a stranger to childish affright,
And Mary would walk by the Abbey at night
When the wind whistled down the dark aisle.
She loved, and young Richard had settled the day,
And she hoped to be happy for life;
But Richard was idle and worthless, and they
Who knew him would pity poor Mary and say
That she was too good for his wife.
'Twas in autumn, and stormy and dark was the night,
And fast were the windows and door;
Two guests sat enjoying the fire that burnt bright,
And smoking in silence with tranquil delight
They listen'd to hear the wind roar.
"Tis pleasant," cried one, "seated by the fire side
"To hear the wind whistle without."
"A fine night for the Abbey!" his comrade replied,
"Methinks a man's courage would now be well tried
"Who should wander the ruins about.
"I myself, like a school-boy, should tremble to hear
"The hoarse ivy shake over my head;
"And could fancy I saw, half persuaded by fear,
"Some ugly old Abbot's white spirit appear,
"For this wind might awaken the dead!"
"I'll wager a dinner," the other one cried,
"That Mary would venture there now."
"Then wager and lose!" with a sneer he replied,
"I'll warrant she'd fancy a ghost by her side,
"And faint if she saw a white cow."
"Will Mary this charge on her courage allow?"
His companion exclaim'd with a smile;
"I shall win, for I know she will venture there now,
"And earn a new bonnet by bringing a bough
"From the elder that grows in the aisle."
With fearless good humour did Mary comply,
And her way to the Abbey she bent;
The night it was dark, and the wind it was high
And as hollowly howling it swept thro' the sky
She shiver'd with cold as she went.
O'er the path so well known still proceeded the Maid
Where the Abbey rose dim on the sight,
Thro' the gate-way she entered, she felt not afraid
Yet the ruins were lonely and wild, and their shade
Seem'd to deepen the gloom of the night.
All around her was silent, save when the rude blast
Howl'd dismally round the old pile;
Over weed-cover'd fragments still fearless she past,
And arrived in the innermost ruin at last
Where the elder tree grew in the aisle.
Well-pleas'd did she reach it, and quickly drew near
And hastily gather'd the bough:
When the sound of a voice seem'd to rise on her ear,
She paus'd, and she listen'd, all eager to hear,
Aud her heart panted fearfully now.
The wind blew, the hoarse ivy shook over her head,
She listen'd,--nought else could she hear.
The wind ceas'd, her heart sunk in her bosom with dread
For she heard in the ruins distinctly the tread
Of footsteps approaching her near.
Behind a wide column half breathless with fear
She crept to conceal herself there:
That instant the moon o'er a dark cloud shone clear,
And she saw in the moon-light two ruffians appear
And between them a corpse did they bear.
Then Mary could feel her heart-blood curdle cold!
Again the rough wind hurried by,--
It blew off the hat of the one, and behold
Even close to the feet of poor Mary it roll'd,
Scheme | XXX ABAAB CDCCD EFEEF GHEGH EIEEI GJGGJ KLKKL MNOON KPKKP PHPPH QRQQR SGSSG THTTH OPMMP NMNNO ODOOD UQUU |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1010101010010101011101110111101000111011 0100101101000100100100100 100 111011011011 101101101 11111001011 11001101001 001011001 11101001011 101001101 101101101011 101101011001 10111101 1101011001 11001011 010001011011 11011011011 11001101 011101101 111010101 0110101101 01011101011 101101011 11011011001 011111011 11011001001 11111011001 11111111 101001001101 01001001 111010010111 01001011001 11011011 110111010101 11011001 01110101101 1011011111 111001001 11101111011 011011011 011011101011 1101111001 111101001 11001001011 11011011 11001101101 11011001101 01111011 11011101001 101001101 111111111011 01011011001 101011001 1101111001 001101011 01111001111 0111011101 11011111 1001111101001 101011101 101111011101 101001001011 111001101 101011011011 11001011 101101011011 00100101011 101011001 11111101011 01001001 101101111101 11011011011 1011011 011011011001 11011111 011011001011 111001001001 1101001 01011011011 11101011 110011001111 01100111101 001101111 1101101111 01011101 11101101001 101101111011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 3,926 |
Words | 752 |
Sentences | 45 |
Stanzas | 18 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4 |
Lines Amount | 87 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 169 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 40 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 26, 2023
- 3:50 min read
- 94 Views
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