A Legend Of The Northland

Poem-5

A Legend Of The Northland

By Phoebe Cary

A Legend Of The Northland Poem Introduction

A ballad is 'A legend of the Northland.' A ballad is a poem in short stanzas that tells a storey. A ballad is a type of poem that tells a storey in short stanzas, with each stanza consisting of four lines. This poem contains a total of 16 stanzas, each of which tells us a storey. Ballads are a type of folk or popular culture that is passed down orally from generation to generation. (A ballad is a folk culture storey from any area.) Folk culture is made up of traditional stories that are passed down from generation to generation.

This is a storey about the Northland region, which is close to the North Pole. The precise location is not specified, but 'Northland' refers to the area in the northernmost part of the earth, near the North Pole. 'Legend' refers to a very old historical storey that has been passed down from generation to generation.

A Legend Of The Northland Poem Summary

The poem is based on a legend about an elderly lady who enraged Saint Peter due to her greed. This is how the storey progresses. Saint Peter was preaching around the world one day when he came to the door of a cottage where this woman lived. She was making cakes and baking them over a fire. St. Peter was passing out from hunger. He requested a piece of cake from the lady. Because the cake she was baking appeared to be too large, she did not give it to him and instead baked another smaller one. That also appeared to be a large amount, so she did not give it to him.

She baked another smaller cake the second time, but it was too big to give away. On the third try, she took a very small scrap of dough and rolled it flat. She had it as thin as a wafer but couldn't part with it either. This enraged St. Peter greatly. He said that she was unfit to live in human form and enjoy food and warmth. He cursed her and turned her into a woodpecker bird, which had to bore into hard, dry wood to get its meagre food. She can be seen all day in the trees, boring and boring for food.

A Legend Of The Northland Poem Explanation

Away, away in the Northland,

Where the hours of the day are few,

And the nights are so long in winter

That they cannot sleep them through;

The duration of the day is very short in the region around the North Pole (Northland) because the Sun's rays reach for a very short time. When the winter season arrives in this area, the nighttime hours are extremely long, and the daytime hours are extremely short. The word 'they' in line 4 refers to the people who live in this area. According to the poet, the night is so long that people are unable to sleep through it. If they go to bed, sleep for a few hours, and then wake up, it is still night time. He wishes to emphasise the fact that the night is extremely long.

Where they harness the swift reindeer

To the sledges, when it snows;

And the children look like bear’s cubs

In their funny, furry clothes:

  • Sledges: a vehicle on runners for conveying loads or passengers over snow or ice, often pulled by draught animals.
  • To harness means to tie the reindeers with a rope to a sledge so that it can be used for transportation.
  • Swift: something which runs very fast

The Northland region is experiencing extreme cold. It's a snowy environment. The reindeer is an animal that lives in the polar regions. Reindeer are tied to sledges, and the reindeer pull the sledges. He adds that the children resemble bear cubs because they wear strange-looking clothes made of fur, which resembles a bear's furry skin.

They tell them a curious story —

I don’t believe ’tis true;

And yet you may learn a lesson

If I tell the tale to you.

  • Curious: strange

Line 1 refers to the parents or elders, while line 2 refers to the children or younger generation. The elders of the Northland region tell the younger generation a strange and interesting storey. The poet says that he does not believe the storey is true, but that if he tells it to the reader, the reader may learn a lesson from it. The storey conveys a significant message.

Once, when the good Saint Peter

Lived in the world below,

And walked about it, preaching,

Just as he did, you know,

  • Saint Peter: an apostle of Christ, a disciple or follower of Jesus Christ
  • Preaching: to give a religious talk

The plot revolves around Saint Peter. When Saint Peter was living in the world and going around giving religious lectures to the people, as all saints do, an incident occurred.

He came to the door of a cottage,

In travelling round the earth,

Where a little woman was making cakes,

And baking them on the hearth;

  • hearth: fire place where you do cooking

Saint Peter was travelling the world, giving religious lectures to the people, when he came to the door of a cottage where a small woman was baking cakes. She was baking the cakes in the fireplace.

And being faint with fasting,

For the day was almost done,

He asked her, from her store of cakes,

To give him a single one.

  • faint: to be weak, famished

Saint Peter was starving and feeling weak because he hadn't eaten anything all day. So he went to this woman who was baking cakes and requested one of the many cakes she had baked.

So she made a very little cake,

But as it baking lay,

She looked at it, and thought it seemed

Too large to give away.

The woman was self-centered. She did not give any cake from her bakery. Instead, she began making a tiny cake for Saint Peter. She was adamant about not sharing her stuff. However, when she placed the cake in the oven to bake, she noticed that it was far too large to be given to someone.

Therefore she kneaded another,

And still a smaller one;

But it looked, when she turned it over,

As large as the first had done.

  • kneaded – to make dough from flour.

The cake, according to the little miser woman, was too large to be given away. As a result, she began making another smaller cake. When she looked at that cake, she realised it was just as big as the previous one. She was once again hesitant to give Saint Peter with this smaller cake.

Then she took a tiny scrap of dough,

And rolled and rolled it flat;

And baked it thin as a wafer —

But she couldn’t part with that.

  • scrap: small amount

She rolled a very small amount of dough the third time. The poet says she rolled and rolled to emphasise that she rolled the dough and made it very thin like a wafer before baking it. But she was so greedy that she couldn't give the saint that thin piece of bread.

For she said, “My cakes that seem too small

When I eat of them myself

Are yet too large to give away.”

So she put them on the shelf.

The woman reasoned that while eating the cakes, she thought they were very small, but if she had to give them to someone, she thought they were too big. She placed all of the cakes on her kitchen shelf and did not give any to Saint Peter.

Then good Saint Peter grew angry,

For he was hungry and faint;

And surely such a woman

Was enough to provoke a saint.

  • provoke: cause to get angry

Saint Peter became enraged. He was starving and exhausted, and the selfish woman refused to give him even a small piece of cake. The saint was enraged by the greedy woman's actions.

And he said, “You are far too selfish

To dwell in a human form,

To have both food and shelter,

And fire to keep you warm.

  • dwell: to live

Saint Peter cursed the woman and called her selfish. She did not deserve to be treated as a human being. He went on to say that God had provided her with food, shelter, and a fire to keep her warm, but she had become selfish with all of her resources. She didn't want to share them to anyone.

Now, you shall build as the birds do,

And shall get your scanty food

By boring, and boring, and boring,

All day in the hard, dry wood.”

  • scanty: very little
  • boring:  make a hole in something with a tool or by digging.

Saint Peter cursed the woman, saying she deserved to be a bird but did not deserve to be human. She will become a bird, and just as birds build their houses by boring into the wood and collecting very little food by working hard all day, she will work hard in the dry wood all day and collect very little food while making a small place for herself to live in.

Then up she went through the chimney,

Never speaking a word,

And out of the top flew a woodpecker,

For she was changed to a bird.

As soon as Saint Peter cursed the woman, she flew up to the roof through the chimney and flew out in the form of a bird, denying her the opportunity to speak for herself. The curse of Saint Peter had turned the woman into a bird.

She had a scarlet cap on her head,

And that was left the same;

But all the rest of her clothes were burned

Black as a coal in the flame.

  • scarlet: brilliant red colour

When the woman transformed into a bird, she was wearing a red – coloured cap on her head. This cap was also on the bird's head, but the woman's remaining clothes had burned and turned a dark black colour, similar to coal.

And every country schoolboy

Has seen her in the wood,

Where she lives in the trees till this very day,

Boring and boring for food.

  • country: belonging to the countryside i.e. rural areas

People who live in the countryside, including school-age children, have seen this type of bird in the woods. They notice that she stays there all day and digs in the wood with her beak to collect food. When a child sees this type of bird, his elders will tell him this storey. According to legend, the bird was once a woman. She was very greedy, so Saint Peter cursed her and turned her into a bird. They are taught that they should not be greedy.

A Legend Of The Northland Poem Literary Devices

1. Rhyme Scheme: abcb

2. Alliteration: is the repetition of a consonant sound in two or more close words.

Stanza 1 – that, they, them through – ‘th’ sound is repeating

Stanza 2 – they, the – ‘th’ sound is repeating

look, like – ‘l’ sound is repeating

funny, furry – ‘f’ sound is repeating

Stanza 3 – they, them- ‘th’ sound is repeating

yet, you – ‘‘y sound is repeating’

learn, lesson – ‘l’ sound is repeating

tell, tale, to – ‘t’ sound is repeating

Stanza 5 – woman, was – ‘w’ sound is repeating

Them, the, hearth – ‘th’ sound is repeating

Stanza 6 – faint, fasting – ‘f’ sound is repeating

Stanza 8 – still, smaller – ‘s’ sound is repeating

Stanza 9 – took, tiny -‘t’ sound is repeating

Stanza 10 – seem, small – ‘s’ sound is repeating

Stanza 13 – build, birds – ‘b’ sound is repeating

by, boring, boring – ‘b’ sound is repeating

 3. Repetition: any word or sentence is repeated to lay emphasis on it.

Stanza 1 – ‘away’ word is repeated

Stanza 9 – ‘rolled’ word is repeated

Stanza 13, 16 – ‘boring’ word is repeated

 4. Enjambment: running lines of poetry from one to the next without using any kind of punctuation to indicate a stop 

Stanza 1 – line 3 and 4

Stanza 2 – Line 1 and 2; line 3 and 4

Stanza 3 – Line 3 and 4

Stanza 4 – Line 1 and 2; 3 and 4

Stanza 10 – Line 1, 2 and 3

Stanza 11 – Line 1 and 2

 5. Simile: Comparison using ‘as’ or ‘like’

Stanza 2 – ‘the children look like bear’s cubs’. Children compared to bear’s cubs

Stanza 9 – ‘baked it thin as a wafer’. Cake is compared to a wafer.

Stanza 15 – ‘clothes were burned black as a coal’. The colour of the burned clothes is compared to that of coal.

About the Poet

Phoebe Cary's poem "A Legend of the Northland" (1822-1871). This is a ballad poem. The poet tells a ballad about the lady and the Saint in this poem. Saint Peter was hungry as a result of his worldwide journey.