In this folk-like love song, the speaker is captivated by Brigidin Ban, a woman whose pale face, waxen lips, and long flaxen hair seem too strange and beautiful to be entirely human. He repeats her name tenderly, calling her the little white bride of his heart’s desire, but he is not simply praising her. He suspects the Good People—the fairies—stole her away at dawn and returned her changed, giving her those fiery, wandering eyes and that far-away look. The poem creates a mood of longing mixed with unease. The speaker adores her, yet she feels distant, as if she belongs partly to another world. The repeated questions make the poem feel like an incantation or a worried lover’s plea, full of folklore, mystery, and a beauty that is both alluring and unsettling.
A Northern Love-Song — Summary
Brigidin Ban of the lint-white locks, What was it gave you that flaxen hair, Long as the summer heath in the rocks? What was it gave you those eyes of fire, Lip so waxen and cheek so wan? Tell me, tell me, Brigidin Ban, Little white bride of my heart's desire.
Was it the Good People stole you away, Little white changeling, Brigidin Ban? Carried you off in the ring of the dawn, Laid like a queen on her purple car, Carried you back 'twixt the night and the day; Gave you that fortune of flaxen hair, Gave you those eyes of wandering fire, Lit at the wheel of the southern star; Gave you that look so far away, Lip so waxen and cheek so wan? Tell me, tell me, Brigidin Ban, Little white bride of my heart's desire.