BONNY BARBARA ALLEN

 

It was in and about the Martinmas time,  When the green leaves were a-falling,  That Sir John Graeme, in the West country,  Fell in love with Barbara Allen.

He sent his men down through the town  To the place where she was dwelling:  "O haste and come to my master dear,  Gin ye be Barbara Allen."

O hooly, hooly rose she up,  To the place where he was lying,  And when she drew the curtain by'  "Young man, I think you're dying."

"O it's I'm sick, and very, very sick,  And it's a' for Barbara Allen;"  "O the better for me you shall never be,  Though your heart's blood were a spilling."

"O dinna ye mind, young man," she said,  "When the red wine ye were filling,  That ye made the healths gae round and round,  And slighted Barbara Allen?"

He turned his face unto the wall,  And death was with him dealing;  "Adieu, adieu, my dear friends all,  And be kind to Barbara Allen."

And slowly, slowly raise she up, And slowly, slowly left him, And sighing said, she could not stay, Since death of life had reft him.

She had not gane a mile but twa, When she heard the dead-bell ringing, And every jow that the dead-bell geid, It cry’d, Woe to Barbara Allen.

 

The title doesn't give me any information. I can understand the protagonist of this text is Barbara Allen and her characteristic is probably to be bonny.

 

This text is a poem. The writer use a difficult language and the text is made of eight stanzas of four lines.

 

The poem tells of a tragic love between John and Barbara. It is about unrequited love. Barbara and John are the protagonists of this poem. John fell in love with Barbara and he sent his men down to Barbara's home. They said her to come to them master man. Jonh are dying, he is lovesick. He wanted call Barbara because it's all for her. Barbara  Barbara remember to him when he had drink a lot of red wine and he slighted Barbara. John said god-bye to all dear friends because he was died. Barbara left him and when she had gone two miles she heard the dead -bell ringing and Barbara starts to cry.

 

This poem is a ballad. I can find a lot of features of the ballad:

–                   short stanzas of four lines

–                   repetition of words: vv 9 O holly, holly rose she up; vv 13 O it's I'm sick, and very, very sick; vv 19 that ye made the healths gae round and round; vv 23 Adieu, adieu, my dear friends all, vv 25-26 And slowly, slowly raise she up, and slowly, slowly left him

–                   mixture of dialogue (vv7-8, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 17, 18-19-20, 23-24) and narration

–                   narrative as a series of rapid flashes: Barbara remember to John when had drink a lot of red wine.

–                   both real and supernatural characters

–                   themes love and domestic tragedy

 

The rhyme scheme is not regular, but there are a lot of word that with the suffix –ing and some rhyme:

–                   vv 10-12 lying-dying

–                   vv 21-23 wall-all

–                   vv 26-28 him-him, for me these lines highlight his solitudebecause Barbara and his life had left him.

 

There are three personification:

–                   vv 22-28 death; as one that deprives John of life and health.

–                   vv 32 Woe

–                   vv31 dead-bell; The dead bell itself is also personified as crying out its woe to Barbara Allan.

The personication is a trope or figure of speech in which an inamate object or abstraction is given human qualities or abilities.

 

In the lines 25-26-27 there are alliterations. The alliteration is the repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables.

 

And slowly, slowly raise she up,

And slowly, slowly left him,

And sighing said, she could not stay,

 

This text relates to modern times when many relationships involve one person who loves the

other and is not appreciated as well.

The two most important semantic levels are love and death. There are a lot of words that refer to these groups. For example the verbs “fell” (vv 4) or the noun “love”(vv 4) and the word “death/dead” (vv 28-30-31) or “sick” (vv13). These semantic fields distinguish themself but they rappresent the message of this poem. The reader with this ballad would explain that the people don't take love for granted and they mustn't leave a person who love as Barbara has done. When you miss a person you understand the real importance of this person. So we can understand the theme of this poem is the tragic love. Barbara didn’t love John but after his death she regrets him.