The Winds by Algernon Charles Swinburne

It's a Scots expression that translates to "a curse upon" or "woe to." You can interpret it as the speaker saying "damn the east wind" or "may the east wind be cursed." This phrase is often used in Scottish ballads to invoke bad luck on something.

The speaker is a woman mourning the loss of her lover or husband to the sea. Swinburne intentionally leaves her unnamed, which is a hallmark of the ballad tradition—this anonymity allows her to represent every woman who has faced the heartbreak of losing someone to the water.

A score equals twenty, which means sevenscore amounts to 140. The speaker suggests that the rocks could have sunk 140 ships, and she wouldn't have minded, as long as her love's ship was safe. This large, somewhat old-fashioned number is a typical ballad device used to convey something immense — it's an exaggeration aimed at illustrating the depth of her love, rather than a precise figure.

She says she would "rest" there, suggesting that she yearns to be with her drowned lover. It's a desire for death disguised as a desire for peace. Grief has made the world of the living unbearable, and the sea that took him now feels like the only place where she could find solace.

"Ae" is the Scots term for "one" or "only." Therefore, "my ae love" translates to "my one love" or "my only love." It's a little word with a big impact — it conveys that for her, there was no one else and there never will be.

It was written by Swinburne, yet he crafted it to mimic an old anonymous Scottish ballad. His ability to imitate the form — the dialect, the repetition, the vivid imagery — is so impressive that it could easily be mistaken for a real folk song. Consider it a highly skilled cover of a style rather than the original piece.

The poem consists of four ballad stanzas, each adhering to the traditional ABCB rhyme scheme, where the second and fourth lines rhyme. Every stanza begins with a curse, followed by a piece of the narrative. The repeated phrase "weary fa'" at the beginning of nearly every couplet establishes a rhythmic pulse of sorrow — the recurring words echo the way loss washes over you in relentless waves.

Yes, and that’s precisely the point. The speaker understands it’s irrational, but grief doesn’t adhere to logic. She would have sacrificed a hundred sailors' lives for just his one. Swinburne captures the raw truth of grief — it’s selfish and all-consuming. The poem doesn’t pass judgment; it simply allows her to express this reality.