"Sir Patrick Spens" by Anonymous

"Sir Patrick Spens" is a poem of Scottish origin, and has largely been passed down by tradition. No original author is known of and this poem is the only mention of Sir Patrick Spens in history.

     The king sits in Dumferling town
         Drinking the bluid-red wine:
     'O whar will I get a guid sailor
         To sail this ship of mine?'

     Up and spak an eldern knicht,
         Sat at the king's richt knee:
     'Sir Patrick Spens is the best sailor
         That sails upon the sea.'

     The king has written a braid letter
         And signed it wi' his hand,
     And sent it to Sir Patrick Spens,
         Was walking on the sand.

     The first line that Sir Patrick read
         A loud lauch lauched he;
     The next line that Sir Patrick read,
         The tear blinded his ee.

     'O wha is this has done this deed,
         This ill deed done to me,
     To send me out this time o'the year,
         To sail upon the sea?

     'Mak haste, mak haste, my mirry men all,
         Our guid ship sails the morn.'
     'O say na sae, my master dear,
         For I fear a deadly storm.'

     'Late, late yestre'en I saw the new moon
         Wi'the old moon in his arm,
     And I fear, I fear, my dear master,
         That we will come to harm.'

     O our Scots nobles were richt laith
         To weet their cork-heeled shoon,
     But lang or a' the play were played
         Their hats they swam aboon.

     O lang, lang may their ladies sit,
         Wi'their fans into their hand,
     Or ere they see Sir Patrick Spens
         Come sailing to the land.

     O lang, lang may the ladies stand
         Wi'their gold kems in their hair,
     Waiting for their ain dear lords,
         For they'll never see them mair.

     Half o'er, half o'er to Aberdour
         It's fifty fathoms deep,
     And there lies guid Sir Patrick Spens
    Wi'the Scots lords at his feet.

       “Sir Patrick Spens” is an epic story of a sailor who is ordered by his king to sail across the sea during a storm. This poem is a ballad, and is divided into a series of quatrains. Within the quatrains there is a line of iambic tetrameter, followed by a line of iambic trimeter, another line of iambic tetrameter, and completed with a line of iambic trimeter. This is the standard format for a ballad. In general there is no dramatic shift in the format of the poem, although there is a dramatic turning point near the end of the poem, when the speaker tells the audience that the sailors’ hats “swam aboon,” meaning that they were floating above the sunken ship. The rest of the poem seems like a lamentation, fitting in with the mournful tone of the rest of the poem.

       The reason that this poem is formatted as a ballad is because of its heroic nature. There is something about a crew loyally following their captain into certain death that evokes a sense of pride, one that can be admired by those who fulfil their duty without question. The meter of this poem moves it along at an almost upbeat pace. It is clear that this was meant to be sung, and indeed ballads were often sung by bards with musical accompaniment. Overall, the poem leaves you with a feeling of wistful sadness which contradicts the upbeat flow of the poem.