Tarrant Moss
Tarrant Moss - meaning Summary
Regret for a Misguided Act
The narrator recounts killing a reiver to win a woman’s favor, freeing someone named Dumeny but condemning twenty knights who lie preserved in the peat. Those dead are presented as fortunate because their souls departed in youth, while the speaker, praised and rewarded, feels profound regret. He recognizes he acted for a false love rather than for justice or comrades, mourning the moral cost of his impulsive deed.
Read Complete AnalysesI closed and drew for my love's sake That now is false to me, And I slew the Reiver of Tarrant Moss And set Dumeny free. They have gone down, they have gone down, They are standing all arow-- Twenty knights in the peat-water, That never struck a blow! Their armour shall not dull nor rust, Their flesh shall not decay, For Tarrant Moss holds them in trust, Until the Judgment Day. Their soul went from them in their youth, Ah God, that mine had gone, Whenas I leaned on my love's truth And not on my sword alone! Whenas I leaned on lad's belief And not on my naked blade-- And I slew a thief, and an honest thief, For the sake of a worthless maid. They have laid the Reiver low in his place, They have set me up on high, But the twenty knights in the peat-water Are luckier than I! And ever they give me gold and praise And ever I mourn my loss-- For I struck the blow for my false love's sake And not for the Men of the: Moss!
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