Andersen. — The Verse-unit. 633 



" Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne," a ballad of fifty-nine stanzas as given 

 by Percy, there are five : — 



(25.) a. " Woo worth, woo worth thoo, wicked wooil, 

 That ere thou grew on a tree ; 



(Verse 35.) 



6. Saies, " Lye there, lye there, now sir Guye, 

 And with mc bo not wrothe ; 



(Verse 87.) 



c. " Hearken, hearken," sayd the sheriffe, 

 " I heare now tydings good, 



(Verse 95.) 



They are also of frequent occurrence in modern ballads, as in Coleridge's 

 " Rime of the Ancient Marmer " : — 



(26.) a. Water, water, everywhere, 



And all the boards did shrink ; 

 Water, water, everywhere 

 Nor any drop to drink. 



h. " Fear not, fear not, thou wedding-guest ! 

 This body dropt not down. 



And many others. In many instances the repetition adds force,* but in 

 as many it appears to be mere filling-out to obtain conformity to type. 



7. An amplification of a somewhat different kind appears in Burns's 

 poem : — 



(27.) 0, wert thou in the cauld blast 

 On yonder lea, on yonder lea. 

 My plaidie to the angiy airt, 



I'd shelter thee, I'd shelter thee. 

 Or did Misfortune's bitter storms 



Around thee blaw, around thee blaw, 

 Thy bield should be my bosom, 

 To share it a', to share it a'. 



Every verse of both stanzas of the poem echoes in the same way. An 

 abruptness, otherwise too apparent, is rounded o£E by the echo. There is 

 no echo in Walsh's " Mo Craoibhin Cno," and the result is almost disagree- 

 able : — 



(28.) The high-bred dames of Dublin town 

 Are rich and fair. 

 With wavy plumes and silken gown. 



And stately air ; 

 Can plumes compare thy dark-brown hair ? 



Can silks thy neck of snow ? 

 Or measured pace thine artless grace. 



Mo craoibhin cno, 

 When harebells scarcely shoAV thy trace, 

 Mo craoibhin cno? 



(Stanza 2.) 



Again, one is inclined to draw out the " rich and fair " like " love's young 

 dream " in the example with No. (286) of Section I, or to echo as in Burns's 

 stanza, the reason being that the verse as it stands — 



(28a.) The high-bred dames of Dublin town 

 Are rich and fair, 



* As in Coleridge's 



Alone, alone, all, all alone, 

 Alone on a wide, wide sea ! 



