Analysis of Agnes And The Hill-Man. Translated From The Danish.

William Morris 1834 (Walthamstow) – 1896 (London)



Agnes went through the meadows a-weeping,
Fowl are a-singing.
There stood the hill-man heed thereof keeping.
Agnes, fair Agnes!
"Come to the hill, fair Agnes, with me,
The reddest of gold will I give unto thee!"

Twice went Agnes the hill round about,
Then wended within, left the fair world without.

In the hillside bode Agnes, three years thrice told o'er,
For the green earth sithence fell she longing full sore.

There she sat, and lullaby sang in her singing,
And she heard how the bells of England were ringing.

Agnes before her true-love did stand:
"May I wend to the church of the English Land?"

"To England's Church well mayst thou be gone,
So that no hand thou lay the red gold upon.

"So that when thou art come the churchyard anear
Thou cast not abroad thy golden hair.

"So that when thou standest the church within
To thy mother on bench thou never win.

"So that when thou hearest the high God's name,
No knee unto earth thou bow to the same."

Hand she laid on all gold that was there,
And cast abroad her golden hair.

And when the church she stood within
To her mother on bench straight did she win.

And when she heard the high God's name,
Knee unto earth she bowed to the same.

When all the mass was sung to its end
Home with her mother dear did she wend.

"Come, Agnes, into the hillside to me,
For thy seven small sons greet sorely for thee!"

"Let them greet, let them greet, as they have will to do;
For never again will I hearken thereto!"

Weird laid he on her, sore sickness he wrought,
Fowl are a-singing.
That self-same hour to death was she brought.
Agnes, fair Agnes!


Scheme aAaBcc dd ex aa ff xx eg hh ii gg hh ii jj cc xd kAkB
Poetic Form
Metre 101101010 11010 110111110 10110 110111011 01011111101 111001101 1101101101 001110111110 10111111011 11101010010 011101110010 100101111 11110110101 110111111 11111101101 111111011 111011101 111110101 1110111101 111110111 1110111101 111111111 01010101 01011101 1010111111 01110111 110111101 110111111 110101111 110010111 11101111011 111111111111 110011111 1111011011 11010 1111011111 10110
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,595
Words 316
Sentences 21
Stanzas 16
Stanza Lengths 6, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 4
Lines Amount 38
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 76
Words per stanza (avg) 19
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:34 min read
2

William Morris

William Morris, Mayor of Galway, 1527-28. more…

All William Morris poems | William Morris Books

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