Poems
Kate O’Belashanny
Seek up and down, both fair and brown,
We’ve purty lasses many, O;
But brown or fair, one girl most rare,
The Flow’r o’ Belashanny, O.
As straight is she as poplar-tree
(Tho’ not as aisy shaken, O,)
And walks so proud among the crowd,
For queen she might be taken, O.
From top to toe, where’er you go,
The loveliest girl of any, O,—
Ochone! your mind I find unkind,
Sweet Kate o’ Belashanny, O!
One summer day the banks were gay,
The Erne in sunshine glancin’ there,
The big cascade its music play’d
And set the salmon dancin’ there.
Along the green my Joy was seen;
Some goddess bright I thought her there;
The fishes, too, swam close, to view
Her image in the water there.
From top to toe, where’er you go,
The loveliest girl of any, O,—
Ochone! your mind I find unkind,
Sweet Kate o’ Belashanny, O!
My dear, give ear!—the river’s near,
And if you think I’m shammin’ now,
To end my grief I’ll seek relief
Among the trout and salmon, now;
For shrimps and sharks to make their marks,
And other watery vermin there;
Unless a mermaid saves my life,—
My wife, and me her merman there.
From top to toe, where’er you go,
The loveliest girl of any, O,—
Mavrone! your mind I find unkind,
Sweet Kate o’ Belashanny, O!
‘Tis all in vain that I complain;
No use to coax or chide her there;
As far away from me as Spain,
Although I stand beside her there.
O cruel Kate! since that’s my fate,
I’ll look for love no more in you;
The seagull’s screech as soon would reach
Your heart, as me implorin’ you.
Tho’ fair you are, and rare you are,
The loveliest flow’r of any, O,—
Too proud and high,—good-bye, say I,
To Kate o’ Belashanny, O!
We’ve purty lasses many, O;
But brown or fair, one girl most rare,
The Flow’r o’ Belashanny, O.
As straight is she as poplar-tree
(Tho’ not as aisy shaken, O,)
And walks so proud among the crowd,
For queen she might be taken, O.
From top to toe, where’er you go,
The loveliest girl of any, O,—
Ochone! your mind I find unkind,
Sweet Kate o’ Belashanny, O!
One summer day the banks were gay,
The Erne in sunshine glancin’ there,
The big cascade its music play’d
And set the salmon dancin’ there.
Along the green my Joy was seen;
Some goddess bright I thought her there;
The fishes, too, swam close, to view
Her image in the water there.
From top to toe, where’er you go,
The loveliest girl of any, O,—
Ochone! your mind I find unkind,
Sweet Kate o’ Belashanny, O!
My dear, give ear!—the river’s near,
And if you think I’m shammin’ now,
To end my grief I’ll seek relief
Among the trout and salmon, now;
For shrimps and sharks to make their marks,
And other watery vermin there;
Unless a mermaid saves my life,—
My wife, and me her merman there.
From top to toe, where’er you go,
The loveliest girl of any, O,—
Mavrone! your mind I find unkind,
Sweet Kate o’ Belashanny, O!
‘Tis all in vain that I complain;
No use to coax or chide her there;
As far away from me as Spain,
Although I stand beside her there.
O cruel Kate! since that’s my fate,
I’ll look for love no more in you;
The seagull’s screech as soon would reach
Your heart, as me implorin’ you.
Tho’ fair you are, and rare you are,
The loveliest flow’r of any, O,—
Too proud and high,—good-bye, say I,
To Kate o’ Belashanny, O!
Analysis (ai): The speaker admires a woman’s beauty while reproaching her emotional distance, blending admiration with frustration. The tone shifts gradually from celebratory to despondent, culminating in resignation. Unlike the idealized longing in Allingham’s earlier ballads, this poem emphasizes the futility of pursuit, reflecting a more skeptical view of romantic aspiration.
Characterization: Kate is portrayed as physically flawless and regal, yet emotionally inaccessible. Her aloofness transforms her beauty into a barrier rather than an invitation. The speaker’s hyperbolic threats of drowning and transformation into a merman are not literal but emphasize his sense of rejection and helplessness.
Structure and Language: The poem uses a recurring refrain to reinforce obsession and entrapment in unrequited affection. The rhyme scheme and meter follow traditional Irish ballad forms, consistent with Allingham’s frequent use of folk-like patterns. Unlike his more ethereal works, this one grounds imagery in specific natural settings, anchoring mythic themes in observable scenes.
Cultural Context: Written during the Victorian fascination with regional identities, the poem appropriates Irish diction and landscape without overt political engagement. It aligns with contemporaneous Anglo-Irish literary trends that romanticize rural Irish life while maintaining colonial distance. The use of Irish phrases like “Ochone!” and “Mavrone!” adds local color but risks reducing cultural markers to ornamentation.
Stylistic Position in Oeuvre: Among Allingham’s lesser-known lyrics, this poem stands out for its sharper emotional directness and narrative arc. While many of his works dwell in dreamlike transitions between reality and fantasy, here the fantasy serves a concrete psychological function—expressing desperation rather than escape. The final rejection is atypical; most of his love poems end with melancholy continuity, not decisive closure.
Interpretive Angle: Rather than merely lamenting unreturned love, the speaker may be critiquing the commodification of female beauty in folk tradition, where women become symbols rather than persons. His theatrical despair could be a performance meant to expose the limitations of such idealization—a meta-commentary on ballad conventions themselves.
Characterization: Kate is portrayed as physically flawless and regal, yet emotionally inaccessible. Her aloofness transforms her beauty into a barrier rather than an invitation. The speaker’s hyperbolic threats of drowning and transformation into a merman are not literal but emphasize his sense of rejection and helplessness.
Structure and Language: The poem uses a recurring refrain to reinforce obsession and entrapment in unrequited affection. The rhyme scheme and meter follow traditional Irish ballad forms, consistent with Allingham’s frequent use of folk-like patterns. Unlike his more ethereal works, this one grounds imagery in specific natural settings, anchoring mythic themes in observable scenes.
Cultural Context: Written during the Victorian fascination with regional identities, the poem appropriates Irish diction and landscape without overt political engagement. It aligns with contemporaneous Anglo-Irish literary trends that romanticize rural Irish life while maintaining colonial distance. The use of Irish phrases like “Ochone!” and “Mavrone!” adds local color but risks reducing cultural markers to ornamentation.
Stylistic Position in Oeuvre: Among Allingham’s lesser-known lyrics, this poem stands out for its sharper emotional directness and narrative arc. While many of his works dwell in dreamlike transitions between reality and fantasy, here the fantasy serves a concrete psychological function—expressing desperation rather than escape. The final rejection is atypical; most of his love poems end with melancholy continuity, not decisive closure.
Interpretive Angle: Rather than merely lamenting unreturned love, the speaker may be critiquing the commodification of female beauty in folk tradition, where women become symbols rather than persons. His theatrical despair could be a performance meant to expose the limitations of such idealization—a meta-commentary on ballad conventions themselves.
William Allingham (19 March 1824 – 18 November 1889) was an Irish poet, diarist and editor. He wrote several volumes of lyric verse, and his poem “The Faeries” was much anthologised. But he is better known for his posthumously published Diary, in which he records his lively encounters with Tennyson, Carlyle and other writers and artists. His wife, Helen Allingham, was a well-known artist, watercolourist and illustrator.
