Lesson 1.

Introduction to English-American Literature

English-American Literature attempts to explore and appreciate the beauty and continuing relevance of some of the
finest English and American literary works and writings with respect to both form and content. It also focuses on how
some selected writers and their work can help us understand contemporary English and American societies.

At the same time, it will include the development of the country (USA and England) in terms of culture, politics,
economy and society to the literary genius of British and American writers as evidenced by the representative literary
pieces of writings that the students or the reading public will read and encounter.

 Objectives of the Course

1. develop an understanding of the aesthetic and an appreciation of British and American tradition and can (from within
such context), assess the significance of works' historical placement, cultural affiliation, individual literary genius, etc.;

 2. identify prominent characteristics in form, content and themes of English and _American literary texts. Literary form
will deal with prose and poetry; content will deal with history, significant experience and the society;

3. Exhibit a critical understanding of literature, and to communicate their awareness of literary elements, techniques,
approaches, and to find delight in the intricacies of creative aesthetic expression in literature;

4. develop an appreciation for British and American literature as an articulation of the struggles and triumphs of the
human spirits in the attainment of justice, peace, joy and love;

 5. develop the readers' personhood, their self-realization as "transcendent beings" as they interact with the literary
texts, as they engage in reflective and critical thinking and learning; and

 6. develop a healthy perspective of the various truths, ideals and aspirations presented in or advocated by different
literary pieces in the light of our contemporary values and life.

English and American Literature

 Present not merely the literary works/writings of different writers but also those, which highlight beauty and
relevance in form and context focusing on literary texts of different literary periods and perspectives.
 explores or enhances reading and comprehension skills to promote and attain the following:

(1) an understanding of human expression;

(2) an appreciation for the role of literature in history and in one's life; and
(3) a wider perspective about being human, about life, love and other universal emotion.

 appreciation of literary texts for writing and creative skills to assess or express the following:

a) text’s critical or theoretical knowledge;

b) humanist values and good attitude;
c) skills in textual reading and writing; and
d) high level skill in literary critic or analysis, evaluation and good judgment. 

This course serves to provide both the literature teacher and the student a representative body of reading for
undergraduate course in English and American literature.

Representative writings not only reflect the writer's life and thought, but also the ideals of British and American history,
culture, tradition and society.

q  English and American literature is an articulation of the struggles and triumphs of British and American human spirit in
the attainment of justice, peace, joy and love.
q  It is the manifestation or expression of their particular representative writers' endeavor and the way that paved for
fighting against the odds. These pieces of writing also express the victories of their people to uplift their spirit in the
search for equality and justice, peace and harmony, as well as happiness and love.

Much of the writings of English and American authors, even from the beginning of their history — when the American
pioneers (in particular) landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts, talked of the difficulties they encountered to start their life
in the New World.

It is the same way with the long recorded British history, which presented fiction or writings that reflected the turmoil
that lay beneath the surface of the Victorian era — some of their novels, which beckon toward the twentieth-century
sense of the modern time.

The bottom line is that through their literary writings, and since America and Great Britain have been products of a long
and difficult fight against internal and external forces, both countries are bullwark of democracy evident in much of their
writings.

In attaining justice, peace is a consequence, which is followed by happiness, contentment in living, and finally, the love
for one's self and others, in that order. The result is prosperity and financial freedom to a majority of its populace. All of
these are expressed in their respective literary writing.

ENGLISH AND AMERICAN LITERATURE

English literature - Literary works written and published in Great Britain and British colonies; written in British English.

 English writers mostly emphasize their culture and manners.

 William Shakespeare, who wrote historical plays (Julius Caesar, Richard II, Antony & Cleopatra),
tragedies (Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello), and comedies (A Midsummer Night’s Dream). The
Romanticism Period gave the world Robert Burns (Halloween, The Jolly Beggars) and George Byron
(Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Manfred).
 Later, the historical novel emerged as a genre, with Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe. English writers’
contribution to literature for children is prominent: “Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland” by Lewis
Carroll and the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling are known in each and every corner of the world.

American literature refers to literary works written and published in America; written in American English.

 American writers discuss American history and social issues.

 As well as early writings in the UK, early American works involve topics related to religion and
politics.
 often described events that took place during the development of the country.
o the American Civil War is described in “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell.
o theme of Slavery in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain.
 American writers of the 17th century invoked Puritanical morals.
o Puritanical - morally rigorous and strict; It stems from the word "Puritan," a believer in the
branch of Protestantism that objected to some practices of the Church of England. Its root, in
turn, is thought to be purity, which is what puritanical people seek when they stick to the rules;
Puritans believed that it was necessary to be in a covenant relationship with God in order to be
redeemed from one's sinful condition, that God had chosen to reveal salvation through
preaching, and that the Holy Spirit was the energizing instrument of salvation.
 In the 18th century, revolutionary topics prevailed (prove more powerful than opposing forces; be
victorious) in American style.
           Selections are from a variety of genres: essays, articles, interview, stories and poems by British and American
writers of diverse backgrounds. It is hoped that this capsulized (put (information) in compact form; summarize)
anthology (a published collection of poems or other pieces of writing), through implications and activity enhancers, will
strengthen our literature student’s critical thinking and writing skills by helping them move from personal forms of
writing to more academic forms.

CHARACTERISTICS OF ENGLISH LITERATURE

 English literature revolves around just a handful of common themes, many of which are shared with Western
literature ("Western literature" is a broad term that refers to a vast body of literature from ancient times to
present day in the Indo-European family of languages — including English, Spanish, French, Italian and Russian
— whose common literary heritage originates in ancient Greece and Rome.), that describe nearly all its stories.

 The five most commonly identified and most commonly used are overcoming the monster, rags to riches, the
quest, voyage and return, and boy meets girl.

 English literature, like the literature of most of Europe and a large part of the Middle East, has been heavily
influenced by its Christian and Greco-Roman heritage.

CHARACTERISTICS OF AMERICAN LITERATURE

 Early American Literature writing that emerged from the original U.S colonies during the period from 1607 to
the late 1700. It was largely influenced by British writers and was created to inform people about colonial life,
religious disputes and settlement issues.

 Many of characteristics of early American literature can be found in the poems, journals, letters, narratives,
histories and teaching material written by settlers, religious figures and historical icons of the period.

 American Literature had been affected from many ways; each way makes a different in America’s literature. The
three characteristics of American Literature include – plot of decline (Plot that depicts progression toward
degeneration or death) , indifferent of nature, 3rd person omniscient (the narrator knows all the thoughts and
feelings of all the characters in the story; Multiple characters' emotions and inner thoughts are available to the
reader. ) reaction to romanticism (a movement in the arts and literature that originated in the late 18th
century, emphasizing inspiration, subjectivity, and the primacy of the individual; focal points are Imagination,
emotion, and freedom; subjectivity and an emphasis on individualism; spontaneity; freedom from rules; solitary
life rather than life in society; the beliefs that imagination is superior to reason and devotion to beauty; love of
and worship of nature; and fascination with the past, especially the myths and mysticism of the middle ages)
and surrealism (aims to revolutionize human experience. It balances a rational vision of life with one that asserts
the power of the unconscious and dreams; example A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L'Engle); Surrealism is a
movement that focuses on telling a story or conveying meaning via language and/or imagery that really isn’t
connected in a logical sequence. It is often confusing, yet conveys meaning even if readers aren’t sure they
understand the point or, if there even is a point)

 reflects beliefs and traditions that come from the nation’s frontier (the extreme limit of understanding or
achievement in a particular area; in the past in the US) a border between developed land where white people
live and land where Indians live or land that is wild) days. The pioneer ideals of self-reliance (reliance on one's
own efforts and abilities) and independence appear again and again in American writings. American authors
have great respect for the value and importance of the individual. They tend to reject authority and to
emphasize democracy and the equality of people. They often celebrate nature and a sense of boundless space.

 American writers have always had a strong tendency to break with literary tradition and to strike out their own
directions. Writers of other countries seem to absorb their national literary traditions. But many American
authors have rejected the old in order to create something new.
  lively streak of humor runs thorough American literature from earliest times to present. In many cases a dash of
salty humor saves serious theme from becoming too sentimental. American humor tends to be exaggerated
rather than subtle (not immediately obvious or comprehensible). It reflects the people’s ability to laugh at
themselves even during the most difficult times.

Anglo Saxon / The Old English Period

OLD ENGLISH OR ANGLO-SAXON, (5th century AD - 1066 AD) (A.D. is an abbreviation for the Latin phrase anno Domini,
which means "in the year of our Lord." AD) (B.C. stands for “Before Christ,” as in Jesus Christ. It indicates the number of
years before the birth of Jesus (although Jesus himself was born in 4 B.C.). A.D. stands for the Latin phrase Anno Domini.
That translates to “In the year of our Lord.” It's used to mark years after the birth of Jesus) is the earliest recorded form
of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages.

Anglo Saxon - term used historically to describe any member of the Germanic peoples who, from the 5th century CE to
the time of the Norman Conquest (1066), inhabited and ruled territories that are today part of England and Wales.

“Anglo-Saxon” continues to be used to refer to a period in the history of Britain, generally defined as the years between
the end of Roman occupation and the Norman Conquest.

 Anglo-Saxon kingdoms spoke distinctive dialects, which evolved over time and together became known as Old English.

TWO KNOWN POETS FROM THIS PERIOD

CAEDMON - (flourished 658–680), first Old English Christian poet; His story is known from Bede’s Ecclesiastical History
of the English People. Then in a dream a stranger appeared commanding him to sing of “the beginning of things,” and
the herdsman found himself uttering “verses which he had never heard.” When Caedmon awoke he related his dream to
the farm bailiff under whom he worked and was conducted by him to the monastery at Streaneshalch (now called
Whitby). The abbess St. Hilda believed that Caedmon was divinely inspired and, to test his powers, proposed that he
should render into verse a portion of sacred history, which the monks explained. By the following morning he had
fulfilled the task. At the request of the abbess (mother superior, is a nun who is the head of a convent) he became an
inmate of the monastery. Throughout the remainder of his life his more learned brethren expounded Scripture to him,
and all that he heard he reproduced in vernacular poetry. All of his poetry was on sacred themes, and its unvarying aim
was to turn men from sin to righteousness. In spite of all the poetic renderings that Caedmon supposedly made,
however, it is only the original dream hymn of nine historically precious, but poetically uninspired, lines that can be
attributed to him with confidence. The hymn—extant in 17 manuscripts, some in the poet’s Northumbrian dialect, some
in other Old English dialects—set the pattern for almost the whole art of Anglo-Saxon verse.

CYNEWULF - also spelled Cynwulf or Kynewulf, (flourished 9th century AD, Northumbria or Mercia [now in England]),
author of four Old English poems preserved in late 10th-century manuscripts.

 Elene and The Fates of the Apostles are in the Vercelli Book, and The Ascension (which forms the
second part of a trilogy, Christ, and is also called Christ II) and Juliana are in the Exeter Book.
 An epilogue to each poem, asking for prayers for the author, contains runic characters representing
the letters c, y, n, (e), w, u, l, f, which are thought to spell his name.
 Elene, a poem of 1,321 lines, is an account of the finding of the True Cross by St. Helena.
 The Fates of the Apostles, 122 lines, is a versified martyrology describing the mission and death of
each of the Twelve Apostles.
 Christ II (The Ascension) is a lyrical version of a homily on the Ascension written by Pope Gregory I
the Great. It is part of a trilogy on Christ by different authors.
 Juliana, a poem of 731 lines, is a retelling of a Latin prose life of St. Juliana, a maiden who rejected
the suit of a Roman prefect, Eleusius, because of her faith and consequently was made to suffer
numerous torments.
Four major Anglo-Saxon poetic manuscripts

1. the Exeter Book - a medieval manuscript, considered the beginning of English literature.
 contains religious and secular poems, placed side by side with riddles written in double entendres
(French origin, “a twofold meaning” or “double meaning.”) that will make you blush.
 is the largest still-existing collection of Old English poetry and riddles.
 dated to c. 975, but several of the poems included in the book are much older and dated as far back
as the 7th century.
 believed to have originally consisted of 131 pages; original first eight pages of the book have gone
missing and were replaced by other pages at a later date.
 is the oldest, the most varied, and the best preserved out of the four poetic manuscript written in
old English that is existing today.
 gets its name from the Exeter Cathedral; donated to the cathedral’s library in 1072 by the first
bishop of Exeter, Leofric.
 contains poems that deal with purely religious themes, as well as religious allegories and topics of
everyday life in Anglo-Saxon England.
 contains ninety-five riddles.
 W.H. Auden’s poem “The Wanderer” is inspired by the poem “The Wanderer” found in the Exeter
Book.
 Ezra Pound’s poem “The Seafarer” is an interpretation of the first ninety-nine lines of the Exeter
Book’s poem by the same name.
 the inspiration that J.R.R. Tolkien drew from the Exeter Book’s poem “Christ I” where the following
lines can be found: “Hail Earandel brightest of angels/ over Middle Earth sent to men.” These lines
are considered to be the origins of Tolkien’s creation of Middle Earth and his character Eärendil,
father of Elrond.
 “The Rhyming Poem” in the Exeter Book is arguably the most fascinating from the point of view of
literary history. “The Rhyming Poem” has been dated to the 10th century. It is written in Old English
using rhyming couplets. Anglo-Saxon poetry is not otherwise known to have used rhyming couplets.
Instead alliterative verse was preferred.

Rhyming Couplet - made up of two lines of verse which rhyme with one another. The two lines of a
rhyming couplet usually come together to form one complete thought or idea. Example; Double,
double, toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Alliterative Verse - is a stylistic form of writing used in Old Norse and Anglo-Saxon poetry; use of the
poetic device known as alliteration. When a poem has alliterative verse, each line in the poem has at
least four stressed syllables of alliterative words. Alliterative words are words that repeat the same
sound in a line or sentence. Example;
o alliterative verse also includes the use of caesura, a pause in a line of poetry. For example:
'the water was raging way down by the shore'. In this line, the caesura is between 'raging'
and 'way' to create two distinct clauses.

 June 21, 2016, UNESCO added the Exeter Book to its Memory of the World register.
2. the Junius Manuscript - contains the sole surviving copies of four long poems on biblical themes, which are
called Genesis, Exodus, Daniel and Christ and Satan by modern editors; the poems are untitled in the
Manuscript.
 one part was made c.1000 and the other in the first half of the 11th century.
 Genesis – the first poem in the Junius Manuscript – is actually two distinct poems, one embedded within
the other, editorially titled Genesis A and Genesis B. Genesis A is essentially a verse paraphrase of
chapters 1–22 of the first book of the Bible, the Book of Genesis, which tells of the Creation of the
 world, Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden and Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac. The
shorter poem, Genesis B, which nestles within the longer poem, is an altogether more exciting retelling
of the Fall.
 Exodus is the shortest of the poems in the manuscript and tells the story of the Exodus of the Jews from
Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea.
 Daniel is the story of the first six chapters of the biblical Book of Daniel, including the description of
Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams (Nebuchadnezzar - the second king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling
from the death of his father Nabopolassar in 605 BC to his own death in 562 BC. Historically known as
Nebuchadnezzar the Great, he is typically regarded as the empire's greatest king)
 Christ and Satan, the final poem in the manuscript, is unusual in that it is the only text which deals with
New Testament material. This poem was copied by three scribes using a later style of handwriting.
3. the Vercelli Book - Latin Codex Vercellensis, Old English manuscript written in the late 10th century. It contains
texts of the poem Andreas, two poems by Cynewulf, The Dream of the Rood, an “Address of the Saved Soul to
the Body,” and a fragment of a homiletic poem, as well as 23 prose homilies and a prose life of St. Guthlac,
the Vercelli Guthlac. The book is so named because it was found in the cathedral library at Vercelli,
northwestern Italy, in 1822. Marginalia in the manuscript indicate that the manuscript was in English use in the
11th century. It was probably taken to Italy by one of the numerous Anglo-Saxon pilgrims on the way to Rome.
4. the Beowulf manuscript / Nowell Codex - gaining its name from the 16th-century owner and scholar Laurence
Nowell.
 it contains first a fragment of “The Life of Saint Christopher,” followed by the “Wonders of the East”
and “Letters of Alexander to Aristotle,” and, after Beowulf, a poetic translation of “Judith.”
 In the 1920s, J.R.R Tolkien undertook a translation of Beowulf, which he finished, but did not publish. It
was finally edited by his son and published in 2014, more than 40 years after Tolkien’s death.

Beowulf - is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It
is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature.  Scholars call the anonymous
author the "Beowulf poet"

Beowulf is an anonymous Old English poem about a hero from Geatland (in modern Sweden) who travels to Denmark
where he kills man-eating monsters, and who, in later life, back home in Sweden, confronts and kills a fire-breathing
dragon, but dies in the effort.

 The poem survives in a single copy in the manuscript known as the Nowell Codex (the second of two
manuscripts comprising the bound volume Cotton MS Vitellius A XV, one of the four major Anglo-
Saxon poetic manuscripts; sometimes known simply as the Beowulf manuscript)
 heroic poem, the highest achievement of Old English literature and the earliest European vernacular
(using a language or dialect native to a region or country rather than a literary, cultured, or foreign
language) epic.
 is the oldest surviving Germanic epic and the longest Old English poem; it was likely composed
between 700 and 750.
 originally untitled, it was later named after the Scandinavian (historically Scandia, part of northern
Europe, generally held to consist of the two countries of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Norway and
Sweden, with the addition of Denmark) hero Beowulf, whose exploits and character provide its
connecting theme.

CHARACTERS IN BEOWULF

Beowulf: the young warrior and protagonist in Beowulf who leads the action; defeats Grendel and his mother and he
became king. Then he also defeated the dragon but he meets his demise.
Hrothgar: King of the Danes; Danis (people od Demark) king, needs help with Grendel, who keeps killing his people; the
king is kind, generous, and he’s grateful for Beowulf’s help. The king gives him advice about his future like a father would
give a son. He helped Beowulf’s father and uncle in the past, and so Beowulf feels bound to help

Grendel: the first monster Beowulf comes across, the one who’s plagued the Danes for years, full of revenge

Grendel’s mother: this nameless monster comes for revenge after her son’s death

The dragon: again this nameless monster comes against Beowulf but only after he’s been king for years. It gets into a
rage when someone steals something from its treasure lair, and Beowulf must battle it to save his people

Unferth: a young warrior who’s jealous of Beowulf and shows his vindictiveness

Halfdane: the father of King Hrothgar

Wealhtheow: the queen of the Danes, King Hrothgar’s wife

Hygelac: Beowulf’s uncle

Wiglaf: Beowulf’s kinsman after Beowulf becomes king; Wiglaf is the only one who helps him. He watches Beowulf die
and becomes the successor of the throne after

Ecgtheow: Beowulf’s father

Breca: Beowulf’s childhood friend

Hrethric: King Hrothgar’s eldest son

King Hrethel: King of the Geats, Beowulf’s people

SUMMARY

The story was set in Scandinavia in the 6th century. Beowulf, the hero leaves his home and comes to the aid of
the king of the Danes, whose mead hall has been under attack by a monster known as Grendel.

After Beowulf slays Grendel, Grendel’s mother attacks the hall, and she is also defeated. Victorious, Beowulf
then returns to his home and becomes king.

Fifty years later, Beowulf defeats a dragon but is mortally wounded in the battle. After his death, his followers
cremate his body and erect a tower on a headland in his memory.

OTHER VOCABULARY

The Geats were Beowulf's clan - a seafaring tribe residing in the south of Sweden. As the poem suggests, the Geats
appear to have been conquered and disappeared into history.

Heorot, also Herot, is a mead-hall described in the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf as "the foremost of halls under heaven." It
served as a palace for King Hroðgar, a legendary Danish king of the sixth century. Heorot means "Hall of the Hart".

SETTING

Beowulf is set in Scandinavia, sometime around the year 500 A.D, in the territories of two tribal groups, the Geats and
the Scyldings,

Anglo-French/ Medieval English Literature/ Middle Period

Anglo-French is a term used in contexts involving France and the United Kingdom (UK). Strictly, the designation "Anglo-"
refers specifically to England, not the UK as a whole, but it is understood to refer to the UK and not only England. The
term "Franco-British" is sometimes used instead.
Ballad - A popular narrative song passed down orally. In the English tradition, it usually follows a form of rhymed (abcb)
quatrains alternating four-stress and three-stress lines.

- Folk (or traditional) ballads are anonymous and recount tragic, comic, or heroic stories with emphasis
on a central dramatic event; examples include “Barbara Allen” and “John Henry.”
- is a form of narrative verse that is considered either poetic or musical.
- As a literary device, a ballad is a narrative poem, typically consisting of a series of four-line stanzas.
- originally sung or recited as an oral tradition among rural societies and were often anonymous retellings
of local legends and stories by wandering minstrels in the Middle Ages.
- These traditional or “folk” ballads are sometimes referred to as “popular” ballads.
- Literary ballads are deliberate creations by poets in imitation of the form and spirit of a traditional
ballad.
- Ballads tell their stories directly, with an emphasis on climactic incidents, by stripping away those details
that are not essential to the plot. In this case, the ballad tells of a woman who rejects her lover because
he has “slighted” her and hurt her feelings.

Lord Randal What got ye for your dinner, my handsome young man?"
An Adaptation "l got eels boiled in broth; Mother, make my bed soon,
'O where have ye been, Lord Randal, my son? For I'm weary with hunting, and fain would lie        down."
O where have ye been, my handsome young man? " "What became of your bloodhounds, Lord Randal, my son?
l have been to the wild wood; Mother, make my bed soon, What became of your bloodhounds, my handsome young
man?"
For I'm weary with hunting, and fain would lie down."
"O they swelled and they died; Mother, make my bed soon,
"Where got ye your dinner, Lord Randal, my son?
For I'm weary with hunting, and fain would lie me down."
Where got ye your dinner, my man?"
"O I fear ye are poisoned, Lord Randal, my son! O I fear ye
"l din'd with my true-love; Mother, make my bed are poisoned, my handsome young man!"
For I'm weary with hunting, and fain would lie down." "O yes! I am poisoned; Mother, make my bed soon.
"What got ye for your dinner, Lord Randal, my For l'm sick at the heart, and I fain would lie own.'
SUMMARY: Lord Randall returns home to his mother after visiting his lover. Randall explains that his lover gave him a
dinner of eels and that his hunting dogs died after eating the scraps of the meal, leading his mother to realize that he has
been poisoned. In some variants, Randall dictates his last will and testament in readiness for his impending death,
dividing his possessions among family members and wishing damnation on his lover. Her motive for poisoning him is
never discussed.

LORD RANDAL - is a narrative song—a song that tells a story. Ballads tell their stories directly, with an emphasis on
climactic incidents, by stripping away those details that are not essential to the plot.

- “Lord Randal” is a traditional Scottish ballad.

- Scholars believe its original source to be an Italian ballad, “L’Avvelenato.”
- The earliest printing of this Italian version exists in a 1629 advertisement for a performance by a singer
in Verona, in which excerpts of the ballad appear.
- The Scottish version is found in Francis James Child’s famous collection of English and Scottish ballads,
which was published in five volumes from 1882 to 1898. Along with the Italian source, Child recognizes
versions of the “Lord Randal” story from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Sweden, and Calabria.
 Bonny Barbara Allan
It was in and about the Martinmasl time
When the green leaves were a-falling,
That Sir John Greame, in the West Country,
Fell in love with Barbara Allan.
He sent his man down through the town,
To the place where she was dwelling;
“O haste and come to my master dear,
Gin ye be Barbara Allan."
O quickly, quickly 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 is all for Barbara Allan."
O the better for me-ye’s never be
Tho your heart's blood were a-spilling.
"O do you remember, young man," said she,
"When ye was in the tavern a-drinking,
That ye made the healths go round and round,
And slighted Barbara Allan?"
He turned his face unto the wall,
And death was with him dealing;
"Adieu, adieu, my dear friends all,
And be kind to Barbara Allan."
And slowly, slowly rose she up,
And slowly, slowly left him,
And sighing said she could not stay,
Since death of life had bereft him
She had not gone a mile but two,
When she heard the death-bell ringing
And every note that the death-bell gave,
It cried woe to Barbara Allan!
“O Mother, Mother, make my bed!
O make it soft and narrow!
Since my love died for me today,
I'll die for him tomorrow."

Barbara Allan - is a traditional ballad that originated in Scotland.

- The first written reference to it occurred in 1666 in The Diary of Samuel Pepys, where Pepys praises it
after watching a stage performance sung by an actress. It appeared in a collection of popular songs
compiled in 1740 by Allan Ramsay, the Tea-Table Miscellany, and then it was included in Thomas Percy’s
Reliques of Ancient Poetry in 1765. But like most ballads, it probably existed in oral tradition long before
Pepys’s reference or these eighteenth-century publications.
- is a narrative song, or a song that tells a story.
- As is typical, “Barbara Allan” does not give many details about the background incident, but merely
refers to it as the event that triggers the action.
- Barbara’s lover dies of a broken heart from her rejection of him, and after his death, she realizes her
mistake. That realization results in her own death, also of a broken heart. Their tragic love seems to live
on, though, in the symbolic intertwining of the rose and brier that grow from their graves.