Selected Masterpieces of British Literature

Author: Wang Zuoliang, Li Funing, Zhou Jueliang, Liu Chengpei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-09-01
Features:
3. THE THREE RAVENS, "《》" is not a long folk song. It depicts a scene through the eyes of three ravens: a fallen knight lying on the ground, with his dog guarding beside him and his eagle soaring above. Finally, a doe (symbolizing his lover) comes with a heavy, slow pace: "As great with young as he might go," comes to his side, lifts his head, kisses his wound, carries him on its back, and buries him in a pit. The song ends with a blessing: "May God grant every knight such a dog, such an eagle, such a lover." The folk song consists of ten stanzas, each with only two lines, but these lines contain only meaningful text. If we compare it with other versions, we will find:
"There were three ravens on a tree, Down adown, hay down, hay down,
There were three ravens on a tree, With a down There were three ravens on a tree,
They were as black as they might be, With a down, derry, derry, derry, down, down"
Here, the original two lines have been expanded into seven, with the original lines repeated three times, interspersed with three lines that contain only syllables and no meaning. This may have been the case when the song was originally sung, which is also a characteristic of folk songs. The two lines we see now are merely a result of rearrangement based on the meaning of the text. P20