The Unquiet Grave

Why must he mourn for twelve months and a day?

I think that this man feels that he has to mourn his love for that amount of time, because it is what was expected. They were living in a time period when love was taken very seriously, and not to be joked about. I do, however, feel that setting a certain amount of mourning time "cheapens" his love for her. When two people are in love, it is supposed to last forever. When a mans true love dies, part of him dies with his true love. Although love was portrayed in this poem, I think that it was very official. It was not the kind of true love that I was expecting. I was expecting tingle in your toes, butterflies in your stomach, sparkle in your eyes, can't catch your breath kind of love, and I did not see it. I feel as if he did love this woman, but when she died, his love for her died as well, and that is not what true love is. A true love would mourn the loss of their partner for life, eventually trying to move on.

I listened to each song on YouTube, and I was surprised. Each story had relatively the same plot. A young man loses his true love and mourns her for twelve months and a day. Then he weeps for her, and gets up and goes on with his life. This is important, because it is the backbone for the entire ballad. If it was different in each song, they would be completely different from each other. (The Unquiet Grave Line Nine)
Cold Blows the Wind ( Line Nine)

 One difference that I did find however was the writing style. Cold Blows the Wind was much easier to understand, and to relate to. The Unquiet Grave felt a little stiff, and cold. When I read Cold Blows the Wind I felt more emotion than when reading The Unquiet Grave. However when I heard The Unquiet Grave put to music it ran chills up my spine and I felt as if I was the one who had lost my true love.

I picked The Unquiet Grave by Luke Kelly for my video. Even though I felt more emotion reading the other poem, hearing this ballad truly made me feel sad. I felt as if I was sitting on that girl's grave, mourning her death. It sent chills up my spine the first time I heard it, and I was thankful that it was able to make me feel like I was actually there.