MB UNIUD

The 6^th stanza starts witht the personal pronoun "it" which refers to "birk" (the word in the previous stanza). The birk is a kind of tree which produces a strong wood that is used to produce graves. It grew at the gates of Paradise. The composer always underlines the death of the three sons. In the 6^th stanza there is the dialogue form: the mother speaks.   

Talking about the birk the mother wants to talk about her sons. She loves them and she considers her sons very precious. The composer uses a metaphor: he speaks about the birk to refers to the three sons.

While we reading the ballad we can understand that there is a supernatural theme.

In the 7^th stanza the mother speaks and orders to blow up the fire and to bring water from the well. She believes that her sons will come back home that night. So she is preparing the house. But this is only a spell.

In the 8^th stanza the mother prepares a bed for her sons, she brings her mantel on the bed and waits for them. The wife seems to see her sons. From this quatrain the reader can understand the space: the mother is inside the house. The mother is under a supernatural spell.

The function of the 9^th stanza is to make the reader understand the time: cocks are crewing so it means that it is morning. There is the repetition of the word "red" in the first line of the quatrain.

In the last line of the stanza the oldest son speaks: he says that it is time to go away.

In the 10^th stanza the composer underlines the time: "the cock he hadna crawed but once and clapp'd his wings at a'". In the last two lines of the quatrain the youngest son speaks: he repeats that they have to go away.

In the 11^th stanza a son speaks. From the first line you can understand that it is morning. In the 2^nd line there is a relevant word "worm" which means "verme". It creates a ghastly scene: you can imagine that the three sons had resurrected from the world of the dead. But they have to come back to that world. It is a typical medieval conception: the resurrection and the salvation.

The function of the 12^th stanza is to conclude the ballad. It is in the dialogue form: a son speaks.

He greets his mother and his house (especially the places, for example the barn and the byre, where the three sons had grown).