Geordie by Anonymous

Title
Just considering the title the poem may be about a man named Geordie.

Layout
Looking to the layout you can understand the text is a poem because it is written in verse and not in prose. It is arranged into seven stanzas of four lines each. They are separated by full stops and spaces between them.

Structure
Taking structure into consideration the reader has to read the text to find out content and later become aware of the function of every stanza in the economy of the poem. The reader may notice the alternation between dialogues and narrative parts.

Denotative analysis
The speaking voice tells about the time he or she was walking on the London Bridge when he heard a pretty lady lamenting for the man she loved. The maid started saying her Geordie would be hanged in a golden chain because he was born from King's royal breed. Afterwards she started praying for help in favor of the man. In the fourth and fifth stanzas she's talking to the judge and she's begging him to let her Geordie go. The judge responds by telling her he cannot pardon Geordie. In the last stanza you understand that the young lady couldn't do anything for Geordie who will be hanged in a golden chain.

Connotative analysis
Relevant is the use of verb tenses that show the maid's feellings. The first two lines of the third quatrain start both by the imperative (anaphora) with whom you can understand she is giving orders but also praying for the life of her beloved man. In the last two lines she uses the infinitive tens to express her will and her goal which is trying to convince the judge to let Geordie live. In the last two lines of the following stanza she talks by using the present conditional: it makes the reader understand that she would do anything in exchange of Geordie's life. The sixth stanza is distinguished by the presence of the judge who speaks by using the Simple Present: there is no doubt the situation won't change. There are also many repetitive expressions that can address to the semantic field of life such as “life” and “born”. From the last stanza you can understand the situation did not change and Geordie will be hanged in a golden chain.