THE WIFE OF USHER'S WELL

The object of the present work is to discuss and analyze the ballad “The Wife of Usher’s Well” by an anonymous. Ballads were short narrative poems, mostly anonymous and transmitted orally. Moreover, they were usually sung and accompanied by music. There were mostly about love, deeds of local heroes, supernatural events or religious stories.

Looking at the title, the intelligent reader understands the protagonist of the ballad is a woman of which the narrator conveys her social status: she is married.

Considering the layout, the ballad has got a regular structure: it is organized into twelve stanzas of four lines each.

The function of the first stanza is to introduce the general story: the ballad is about a woman from Usher's Well, who she sends her three strong sons out to sea. There is a tragic story which is told also though a dialogue form. From a metaphoric point of view, in the second line of the first stanza there is a word deviation indeed the personal subject pronoun “she” is put at the end of the line. Moreover, there is an alliteration of sound “w”, which connotes the woman’s social status.

Just a week after the departure, news reaches the mother that the three children had died. Time, that is "a week", seems to be important for the ballad as the same expression is repeated in lines five and six. Thus, here there is an anaphoric structure. In addition, there is also the repetition of sound “w”. It conveys the feeling of suffering of the mother.

In the second and third quatrains, the speaking voice affirms that the woman learns of the death of her children. According to medieval custom, woman is always placed in function of man. Indeed, the woman’s name is not said, but she is presented as someone's wife.

In the fourth stanza, the speaking voice introduces a dialogue. The function of this quatrain is to tell the mother's wish: she would like her sons to go back and she would like to see them again. By the expression "In earthly flesh and blood” the intelligent reader understands the mother wishes to see her sons alive.

In the fifth stanza emerges the theme of supernatural that is the resurrection of her sons. Indeed, on St. Martin's night, the three children return home and stay with her only for that night, because they will have to return to the World of the Dead as soon as dawn breaks. The expression "and their hats were of birk" is a metaphor to say that they are dead.

In the sixth line there is again a direct speech in which the mother talks. In addition, the speaking voice uses a metaphor: he speaks about the birk to refers to the three sons.

In the next line the mother orders to prepare the house because she believes her sons gets home this night. The eighth quatrain also broadens the theme of preparing the house: the woman also makes the beds for the three children. She sits by the side of the bed waiting for them.

In the ninth line there is a reference to time: it is morning as there is the rooster. Here there is an anaphoric structure because there is the repetition of the adjective “red”. In the last line of the ninth line of the three sons says it’s the time to leave. In the next stanza, the younger brother repeats that it is time to go.

Also, in the eleventh verse the theme of the return to the afterlife is reiterated, a repulsive return because it is characterized by the noun “worm”. The twelfth and last stanza has the function of concluding the ballad. At the end, in the form of dialogue, a son greets his mother and their home.