Where Be Ye Going, You Devon Maid?
Where Be Ye Going, You Devon Maid? - context Summary
Composed During Devon Walk
Written during John Keats's 1818 walking tour of Devon, this short lyric records a playful rural encounter between the speaker and a local milkmaid. It foregrounds pastoral details—meads, flocks, heather—while chiefly serving as a light, flirtatious courtship scene promising shared privacy and simple pleasures. The poem was not published until 1848, appearing posthumously and reflecting Keats's direct response to the landscape and people he met on his travels.
Read Complete AnalysesWHERE be ye going, you Devon maid? And what have ye there i' the basket? Ye tight little fairy, just fresh from the dairy, Will ye give me some cream if I ask it? I love your meads, and I love your flowers, And I love your junkets mainly, But 'hind the door, I love kissing more, O look not so disdainly! I love your hills, and I love your dales, And I love your flocks a-bleating; But O, on the heather to lie together, With both our hearts a-beating! I'll put your basket all safe in a nook, Your shawl I'll hang up on this willow, And we will sigh in the daisy's eye, And kiss on a grass-green pillow.
Feel free to be first to leave comment.