WALSINGHAMSir Walter Raleigh1552–1618

ANALYSIS 1“As you came from the holy land a Of Walsingham, bMet you not with my true love c By the way as you came?” b

“How shall I know your true love, d That have met many one eAs I went to the holy land, f That have come, that have gone?” e

“She is neither white nor brown, g But as the heavens fair: hThere is none hath a form so divine i In the earth or the air.” h

“Such an one I did meet, sir, j Such an angelic face, kWho like a queen, like a nymph, did appear l By her gait, by her grace.” k

“She hath left me here alone, m All alone, as unknown, nWho sometimes did me lead with herself o And me loved as her own.” n

“What’s the cause that she leaves you alone p And a new way doth take, qThat sometime did you love as her own, p And her joy did you make?” q

“I have loved her all my youth, r But now am old, as you see: s Love likes not the falling fruit, t Nor the withered tree.” s

“Know that love is a careless child, u And forgets promise past: v He is blind, he is deaf when he list, w And in faith never fast. v

“His desire is a dureless content, x And a trustless joy; yHe is won with a world of despair, z And is lost with a toy. y

“Of womenkind such indeed is the love a’ (Or the word love abused) b’Under which many childish desires c’ And conceits are excused. b’

“But true love is a durable fire, d’ In the mind ever burning, e’Never sick, never old, never cold, f’ From itself never turning.” e’

Nymph = legendary semi-divine maidenWhen he list = when it pleases himFast = constantDureless = transientToy = unimportant thing

Walsingham, a village in England, was traditionally

a place of pilgrimage.

“Walsingham” is an example of a ballad (= a

long poem that tells a story and is intended to be

sung), and it is set up as a dialogue between a man searching for his beloved

and a traveller.THEME: Raleigh explores the nature of love, as well as its possible duplicity.

That is to say, he excoriates the love of

women as fickle, pitting it against the constancy of

true love.

The meter of the poem is too varied for classification,

although iambs feature more often than trochees.

The syllable count is inconstant as well,

mirroring the fickleness of the poet’s beloved.

Unlike the meter, the rhyme scheme is constant, featuring the same abcb structure throughout the poem, with one exception: the sixth stanza, which

refers to the past and the still untainted love between the poet and the lady, exhibits interlocking rhymes, which substantiate the perfection Raleigh

assigns to the past. Moreover, the overall constancy of the rhyme scheme echoes the poet’s immutable affection for his beloved. However, it is not allowed

to descend into repetitiveness as a result of the minor break in the pattern occasioned by the

substitution of the a rhyme in the third line with a c rhyme; this indicates that, despite Raleigh’s

unwavering love, the relationship did not work out.The first stanza constitutes the query the poet directs at the pilgrim returning from Walsingham, thus serving an introductory purpose. The enjambment apparent in this

stanza hints at earnestness and perhaps even desperation on the poet’s part. In the second stanza, the traveller seems taken aback, speaking in a tone of surprise. He

states that his travels have led to encounters with many individuals, so remembering the poet’s beloved would be

nigh on impossible. The phrase “That have come, that have gone” (l. 8) seems oddly prescient—for the lady

herself left the poet’s life as quickly as she had entered it—subtly implying that humans crave change and,

therefore, may be prone to fickleness.

ANALYSIS 2“As you came from the holy land a Of Walsingham, bMet you not with my true love c By the way as you came?” b

“How shall I know your true love, d That have met many one eAs I went to the holy land, f That have come, that have gone?” e

“She is neither white nor brown, g But as the heavens fair: hThere is none hath a form so divine i In the earth or the air.” h

“Such an one I did meet, sir, j Such an angelic face, kWho like a queen, like a nymph, did appear l By her gait, by her grace.” k

“She hath left me here alone, m All alone, as unknown, nWho sometimes did me lead with herself o And me loved as her own.” n

“What’s the cause that she leaves you alone p And a new way doth take, qThat sometime did you love as her own, p And her joy did you make?” q

“I have loved her all my youth, r But now am old, as you see: s Love likes not the falling fruit, t Nor the withered tree.” s

“Know that love is a careless child, u And forgets promise past: v He is blind, he is deaf when he list, w And in faith never fast. v

“His desire is a dureless content, x And a trustless joy; yHe is won with a world of despair, z And is lost with a toy. y

“Of womenkind such indeed is the love a’ (Or the word love abused) b’Under which many childish desires c’ And conceits are excused. b’

“But true love is a durable fire, d’ In the mind ever burning, e’Never sick, never old, never cold, f’ From itself never turning.” e’

The third and fourth stanzas present the lady as a being quite dissimilar from a regular mortal. For example, among the poet’s encomiums is a

“divine” (l. 10) form. While a lover’s hyperbolic praises of his beloved may be indulged, the pilgrim seizes upon the lady’s preternatural loveliness,

stating that he remembers her; this is striking because it implies that the

lady’s description is, in fact, objective. Furthermore, the caesurae apparent in

the fourth stanza, as well as the enjambment in lines 15-16, create the

impression that the lady’s beauty is like gossamer, surreal and

untouchable. The fifth stanza reveals more about the poet’s background, namely that he is a stranger in those parts, as evidenced by the word “unknown” (l. 18). The word “sometimes” (l. 19) is likewise important as it implies that the lady deigned to accompany her besotted

admirer only occasionally, whenever it so struck her fancy. In addition, the phrase “as [the lady’s] own” (l. 20)

implies that there was no official bond between the poet and his beloved; there was only a trifling affection.

The seventh stanza introduces the idea that there is a considerable age difference between the poet and the lady. The caesura in line 26 emphasizes the

phrase “as you see,” lending it a bitter tone, as though Raleigh were railing against his fading looks for driving away his beloved. The alliteration of the letter “l” in line 27—”Love likes not the falling fruit”—slows down the pace of the poem,

implying that old age stretches into loneliness. The “falling fruit” (l. 27) mentioned by the poet may represent youth and its concomitant good looks,

while the alliteration of the letter “f” in the aforementioned phrase indicates that one cannot hold on to either of them. The fact that all lines are end-stopped

creates the impression that the speaker is trapped in his current predicament.

The latter part of the poem is written as a monologue delivered by the

pilgrim. To begin with, he personifies love as a male child, which implies

that love is inadvertently destructive, and in so doing the personification

destroys all notions of a fairytale-like romance. The aforementioned monologue takes on a neutral,

instructive tone, possibly with a hint of solicitude. The alliteration apparent

in the phrase “promise past” (l. 30) highlights the fact that the promise was made in the past, and, being a child, love is concerned solely with

the present.

ANALYSIS 3“As you came from the holy land a Of Walsingham, bMet you not with my true love c By the way as you came?” b

“How shall I know your true love, d That have met many one eAs I went to the holy land, f That have come, that have gone?” e

“She is neither white nor brown, g But as the heavens fair: hThere is none hath a form so divine i In the earth or the air.” h

“Such an one I did meet, sir, j Such an angelic face, kWho like a queen, like a nymph, did appear l By her gait, by her grace.” k

“She hath left me here alone, m All alone, as unknown, nWho sometimes did me lead with herself o And me loved as her own.” n

“What’s the cause that she leaves you alone p And a new way doth take, qThat sometime did you love as her own, p And her joy did you make?” q

“I have loved her all my youth, r But now am old, as you see: s Love likes not the falling fruit, t Nor the withered tree.” s

“Know that love is a careless child, u And forgets promise past: v He is blind, he is deaf when he list, w And in faith never fast. v

“His desire is a dureless content, x And a trustless joy; yHe is won with a world of despair, z And is lost with a toy. y

“Of womenkind such indeed is the love a’ (Or the word love abused) b’Under which many childish desires c’ And conceits are excused. b’

“But true love is a durable fire, d’ In the mind ever burning, e’Never sick, never old, never cold, f’ From itself never turning.” e’

The end-stopped lines in the ninth stanza assert the unchangeable truth of the traveller’s painful message. Line 33—”[love’s] desire is a dureless content”—conveys the fact that those in love always seek something new; that is to say, while falling in love does initially provide a thrill, subsequent stages oftentimes become increasingly dull. As for the phrase “trustless joy” (l. 34), it implies that the happiness one feels when in love is liable to vanish at any one time. The statement that love “is won with a world of despair” (l. 35) might refer to the anguish one experiences until an attachment is secured, and the fact that it is “lost with a toy” (l. 36) means that said attachment was devoid of meaning from the very beginning; it was all just for show, being lost with alarming ease for a groundless reason, possibly material gain or a more appealing prospect. In the tenth stanza, the speaker goes on to accuse all women of fickleness, which is illustrated by means of the

enjambment apparent in lines 37-40. Additionally, the parenthetical

statement in line 38 seems to take on the quality of a confession, a secret

whispered to the forlorn lover to encourage a more guarded approach to

love; the word “abused” in said statement makes the act of

dissembling one’s feelings and swearing love where there is none seem as bad as a criminal offense.

The last stanza is presented in juxtaposition with the previous one, contrasting the love professed by women with “true love” (l. 41). In fact, the pilgrim seems to

assure the poet that his beloved will return to him if the love she bore for him was real. He then goes on to state that true love never allows one to forget its recipient.

Line 44—”From itself never turning”—implies that unfeigned affection does not leave room for denial. As for the end-stopped lines present in this stanza, they

create the impression that real love is self-contained and constant. The frequent caesurae, coupled with the negations littered throughout the stanza, are meant to

drive home the speaker’s point, ending the monologue in an assertive manner.

As the poem is built around a place of pilgrimage, it is possible that the poet is referring to God, rather than a woman. For example, the fifth stanza may be

interpreted as the speaker’s belief that God has deserted him, leaving him lost

and confused.