Sir Patrick Spens

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Sir Patrick Spens Questions and Answers

What is the theme of the traditional  ballad  "Sir Patrick Spens"?

Describe the reaction of Sir Patrick Spens to the King's letter. 

Sir Patrick Spens Summary

What is the point of view of the ballad "Sir Patrick Spens" ?  

Who is the speaker in "Sir Patrick Spens"?

How is the ballad "Sir Patrick Spens" a ballad? Make sure you explain why this is a ballad.

What is the conflict of this ballad, if you analyse it as a work of fiction/short story? It seems like the conflict is the nobles having to go out to sea (knowing that it would mean that they will die) because they have a duty to their king.  It's hard to tell, because I'm not sure if it is Sir Spence stating "Mak hast, mak haste, my mirry men all, Our guide schip sails the morne,"  or if it's the king saying to both Sir Spens and the men, and if it's the men stating "O say na sae, my master deir, For I feir a deadlie storme" to Sir Spence or the king.

Did the Scottish king deliberately send Sir Patrick to his doom?

What does the tear in Sir Patrick's eye reveal in "Sir Patrick Spens"?

What would the analysis be, focusing on point of view, character, structure, and plot, if it were a short story? I'm a little confused as to how I go about analysing this poem like a short story.  Especially these four areas of focus.

what event is hinted at in line 32 (Their hats they swam aboon) and in the poem's final stanza?

Are there any examples of understatement in "Sir Patrick Spens"?

One version of "Sir Patrick Spens" replaces lines 37-40 with the following stanza:  the ladies crack's their fingers white, the maidens tore their hair, a' for the sake o' their true loves, for them they ne'er saw mair. Which version is more effective? In that same version of the ballad, the stanza that about the king (lines 41-44) precedes the stanzas about the ladies (lines 33-40). Which version makes a better conclusion?  What are some examples of understatement (or, in a slightly different way of putting it, things unsaid) in this ballad?