edward edward the themes and understanding of poem Flashcards
who is the author of the poem ?
no one knows who wrpote the poem hence the poet is anonymous
what is a ballad
a ballad is a form of verse often a narrative set to music
they originate from the frenchy ‘‘balllade ‘’ which were orignially dancing sons
ballads were famous form of poetry and song in the british isles from medevil times until the 19th centuray and used extensively across euorpe and later the americas austrailia and north america
in the 19th centuary thre term tokk on the meaning of slow form of popular love song and now is often used for any love song particullarly the pop and rock sentimental ballad
what is red road steed
reddish brown horse
what is pennance
an act to show remorse for a bad deed
what is ye 27
what is yonder31
what is fare 32
bear 52
counsel 55
27 -you
31-over there
32 -travel
52-carry
55-advice instruction
when was this composed
a scottish ballad in the 16th centuary
what is a ballad
a ballad is a folk song passed oraloly from one singetr to the next it nchanges person 2 prsn
they were tragic events invlvng betrayal passion and death
short ass summaryt
in stanza one edward responds by saying his sowrd drips with hyis hawks blood and his ma rejects that
in stanza two he says he kiiled his horse she rjects this
in stanza 3 he admits the blood is his dads
his mother asks him what bhe will do to atone he says he will leave scotland due to killin his dad
in stanza six she asks what of his wife and childern once he has left he said they will fend for themselves
in the fiunal stanza she asks what he will leave for her and we are shocked by his answer he tells hger she will get the curse of hell from him becuz she is the one who gave him bad ‘'’copunsel’’ or told him to do what he did
why has she been interogating him this way - obviously it gives the prefomer the chance to bild suspense and hold our interest while the story u nflods but whatr motive does the mom have to do this ?
we wonder;; she wants to find out if he had obeyed hern command to kill his father or she is horrified now thta the deed is done and sahe can see blood on hoim and the sowrd
it makes one think of macbeth where macbeth was in a state of shock and could scarecly grasp that it was his work –does edward and his mother or either feel like macbeth or edwards mom is more like lady macbveth seemingly un touchresd by the murder merely making sure the blame couldnt be laid at her door
another takee is that she didnt directly tell him to kill his father but has generaslly given him bad advice that has lead up to the death of his father
why does edward beat about the bush ? why did he start off by confessing that he killed his hhawk first ?
- he is reluctant to admiut why his sowrd is bloody eiter becuz he is in shock or denial and finding it difficult to register or acknowledge that he has actually killed his father
or its becuse he resents his mothers current state of pretence of ignorance- if she simply wants to find out if nhe has done the deed by not asking outright edward may want her to come out and accept responcibility as a accomplice
OF COURSE it does build tension to the pooem the listener ballad slowly builds up the puictuyre of the crime -first being thrown off the scent - which will mnadd to the drama of the poem
STANZAS
EACH STANZA IS 8 LINES LONG consistying of a dialogue between mother and son
sher asks him a quwestion taking the first four lines [first quatrain]and he replies with his responce in thre last 4 lines [second quatrain]
pattern of line length
the odd numbered lines are longer with eight syllables on average
the alternative even lines are short often with only 4 syllables
REPETITION-
IN EACH QUATRAIN OF EACH STAN ZA IS THE REPEATED REFRAIN ‘‘EDWARD EDWARD’’ OR ‘‘MOTHER MOTHER”” THE TWOI REPTED REFRAIN HELP US DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE 2 SPEAKERS IN THE ODD NUMBERED LINES OF EAHC HALF OF EACH QUATRAIN AREWREPEATED
RHYME SCHEME
in each quatrain lines 1 and 3 rhyme and within each stanzaq there is half rhymwe between the first rhyming pair and the sercond
eg in stanza one “blood blood “in lines 1 and 3 togethr with ““good good”” lines 5 to 7 not full rhyme but half rhyme because the final constanat is the same and the vowel;s are similarbut the “oo” in blood is not the same as the “oo” in good
similary in stanza 2
“red…..red…….”lines 1 and 3 and “……steed…..stedd”lines 5 and 7
RHYTHM{metre}
as can be expected in the musical form ,the rhythm is also fairly regular following an imbic pattern{weak STRONG indicated by ‘/ above the syllable
” / “ / “ / “ /
eg in line 5 “o i have killed my hawk so good””
