A snatch for Verse Thursday

[primsong]

Still now is the stithy this morning unclouded,
Naught stirs in the thorp save the yellow-haired maid
A-peeling the withy last Candlemas shrouded
From the mere where the moorhen now swims unafraid.

For over the ford now the grass and the clover
Fly off from the tines as the wind driveth on;
And soon round the Sword-howe the swathe shall lie over,
And to-morrow at even the mead shall be won.

- Excerpt from a verse the hero sings to his captor in the Well at the World's End by William Morris

Comments

[samarra.livejournal.com]

That's beautiful, Prim!

[primsong.livejournal.com]

I am still slowly savoring these works - Morris is amazingly rich and beautiful to read. Only half way into the Well at the World's End and am torn between wanting to finish it and wanting it to just keep flowing along the pages forever. It's no wonder he was such an inspiration to Tolkien!

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

And to-morrow at even the mead shall be won.

What a wonderful way to start the day! Morris! Beautiful!

[primsong.livejournal.com]

Isn't he a treat to read? Of all the folks here, you are one that I would think may have done so - do I guess correctly?

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

You do! I first "met" him through his "Defence of Guenevere," and we look at some of his other work in my Tolkien class. He is indeed a treat to read. He moves so effortlessly between archaic and contemporary language, he's a delight!

[my-cocoon.livejournal.com]

Tharp = One who lives in, or by, the Thorp.

a name of old I bear.

please post more of this as time permits dearest Prim.

FYI

[my-cocoon.livejournal.com]

Pronunciation: 'thorp
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English, perhaps from Old Norse; akin to Old High German dorf village, Latin trabs beam, roof
Date: before 12th century
archaic : VILLAGE, HAMLET

Re: FYI

[primsong.livejournal.com]

Cool!
One of the things I love about reading Morris is his fluency and fluidity with the archaic language. It's so lovely to read it, rather than feeling clunky or overly thick like Chaucer often does for me.