What is a summary of the ballad The Demon Lover?

Answer 1

The Demon Lover is a love story about a young man who had a lover and after he had been away for seven years, comes back to see his lover but she had got married and having two kids.

The man recalled the memories of their love affair and their affection and pleaded her to come with him, leaving her husband and the two children.

I wad' never hae' trodden on Irish ground

If it had not been for love o' thee

The woman being anxious asked him what he would give her if she was to leave her husband and her two children. He promised to give her seven ships already at sea and the one that brought him to her, where he had twenty-four mariners and music. The turpitude of the man and the woman is clearly depicted in the scene in which she kissed her two children goodbye.

She has taken up her two little babes

Kissed them both cheek and chin

Fair ye weel my ain two babes,

For I'll never see you again.

After she had boarded the ship she noticed the absence of mariners, sails were made of taffeta and the masts were of gold. When the ship had sailed about three leagues the appearance of the man became so ugly and his eyes looked fierce.

The woman noticed that he was cloven-footed, which was the symbol of a demon, and she cried bitterly. The man promised to show her lilies growing on the banks of Italy. When she saw some hills with the sun's rays on them she wanted to know what they were. He told her that they were hills of heaven and that she would never go there. Then, she spotted some mountains covered with frost and snow. He assured her that they were the mountains of hell where both of them would go.

Then he struck the top mast with his hand and the foremast with his knee, Thus he broke the ship into two and sank it to the bottom of the sea.

Answer 2

"The Demon Lover" is a Ballad that tells the story of a woman who is haunted by the return of her former lover, who she believes has died in the war. The lover's ghost appears, and the woman is compelled to follow him to a watery grave. The ballad explores themes of lost love, betrayal, and the supernatural.