Morning Dew and Roses: Nuance, Metaphor, and Meaning in Folksongs (Folklore and Society)

Barre Toelken

ISBN 10: 0252021347 / ISBN 13: 9780252021343

Published by University of Illinois Press, 1995

About this Item

pp. 208.

Seller Inventory # 263843456

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Morning Dew and Roses: Nuance, Metaphor, and Meaning in Folksongs (Folklore and Society)
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Publication Date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0252021347
• ISBN 13: 9780252021343
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

"A major academic work that is also brilliantly, clearly, humanely, and poetically written. It can be enjoyed not only by ballad and bawdry scholars but by everyone who picks it up." -- Kenneth S. Goldstein, University of Pennsylvania, former president of the American Folklore Society
"Toelken's insights . . . are unique. His study broadens and deepens scholarly appreciation of how folksong metaphors carry their own semantic weight. . . . One of the best expressions of the power of music in folksong that I have seen in recent years." -- James Porter, author of The Traditional Music of Britain and Ireland

In this lively exploration of folksongs and their meanings, Barre Toelken looks closely at riddle songs and other ambiguous folksongs, as well as the various "ballad commonplaces." Ranging through metaphors such as weaving, plowing, plucking flowers, and walking in the dew, Toelken shows how each contributes to meaning in vernacular song. He includes comparisons to German folksongs, medieval poetry, Italian folk lyrics, and a wide range of Euro-American vernacular expression.

About the Author

Barre Toelken is a professor of English and of history and director of the Folklore Program and the American Studies Graduate Program at Utah State University.