The Analysis of Fairy’s Song by William Shakespeare (POEM)

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Fairy’s Song by William Shakespeare

Over hill, over dale,

Thorough bush, thorough brier,

Over park, over pale,

Thorough flood, thorough fire!

I do wander everywhere,

Swifter than the moon's sphere;

And I serve the Fairy Queen,

To dew her orbs upon the green;

The cowslips tall her pensioners be;

In their gold coats spots you see;

Those be rubies, fairy favours;

In those freckles live their savours;

I must go seek some dewdrops here,

And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.

Introduction

The Poem     

In this poem there is a fairy that keeps going around & spreading dew drop on every flower he comes. The flowers are known as cowslips and she is spreading dew drops on them. He refers those flowers as her Fairy queen. Cowslips are the queen pensioners which mean that the queen is giving away something in return just like an employee gets a pension in return of his services to his employer at work. The poem is all about a fairy serving the fairy queen.

He said that he does everything what faeries do. She explained that she wanders various places like briers, fires, dales, parks and floods quickly to serve Titania (the queen of fairy) by dropping dew drops over the bushes and grass. He does because they are fairy favors and she tries making them smell good.

Analysis

Poem (title)

The poem “a fairy song, refers to a fairy that serves his fairy queen.  He spreads the dew on the flower everywhere he crosses. He wanders many places to do this work like hills, pales and so on.

Sound Devices

Fairy’s Song by William Shakespeare

O ver/ hill, o/ver dale,

Iambic Trimeter

Tho rough/ bush, tho/rough brier,

Trochaic Trimeter

O ver/ park, o/ver pale,

Iambic Trimeter

Tho rough/ flood, tho/rough fire!

Trochaic Trimeter

I do/ wander /everywhere,

Iambic Trimeter

Swifter/ than the/ moon's sphere;

Iambic Trimeter

And I/ serve the/ Fairy Queen,

Iambic Trimeter

To dew /her orbs/ upon/ the green;

Iambic Tetrameter

The cow/slips tall/ her pen/sion/ers be;

Iambic Pentameter

In their/ gold coats/ spots you see;

Iambic Dimeter

Those be/ rubies,/ fairy /favours;

Iambic Tetrameter

In those/ freckles/ live their/ savours;

Iambic Tetrameter

I must/ go seek/ some dew/drops here,

Iambic Tetrameter

And hang/ a pearl /in e/very cow/slip's ear.

Iambic Pentameter

The Stanza Pattern

Sonnet because consist of fourteen lines

Language Devices

Hyperbole

Line 4 & Line 6

• Thorough flood , thorough fire!
• Swifter than the moon’s sphere

Personification

Line 14

• And hang a pearl in every cowslip’s ear

Simile

 Line 6

• The writer uses a connective words than in this line.  The poet is comparing swifter to the moon’s sphere.
• Swifter than the moon’s sphere

Rhyme

Over hill, over dale,  (Feminime) 

Over park, over pale,

And I serve the Fairy Queen, (Feminime)

To dew her orbs upon the green;

Thorough bush, thorough brier, (Half rhyme)

Thorough flood, thorough fire!

Those be rubies, fairy favours; (Feminime)

In those freckles live their savours

I do wander everywhere, (Half rhyme)

Swifter than the moon's sphere;

The cowslips tall her pensioners be; (Perfect )

In their gold coats spots you see

I must go seek some dewdrops here, (Half rhyme)

And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.

Internal Rhyme

Alliteration

Lines 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14

General Meaning

Paraphrasing

I cross the hill and the dale, I pass bush and the brier. I over park then over pale. Through flood and the fire. I do walk everywhere, faster than the moon’s sphere.  I serve the fairy queen to spread the dewdrop her balls upon the trees. The cowslips tall be her pensioners, you see the spots in their petals. Those be rubies, the gifts of fairy queen. In those freckles live their savours. I must go to looking for the dewdrops here, and put out a pearl in every cowslip’s stem.

Interpretation

• The writer explained that he wandered many places such as hills, dales, bushes, fires and floods to serve or help the fairy queen by spreading dew drops cross the bushes and grass. He tries to make the cowslips smell nice. He walks faster than the rotation of the moon.

Conclusion

In our best understanding, the Fairy Song is a poem about a fairy going around and spreading dew drops on the flowers. He is spreading the dew drops for the fairy queen.  A cowslip is the type of the flowers that he is spreading the dew on. To help the fairy queen spreading dewdrops on the flowers, the writer must go everywhere like hills, dales, fires and floods. He spread the dew on every place that he passed.