Another poem I remember from schooldays and which moved me to tears ended with the lines "Are you hurt, my child, are you hurt at all?" The gist of it is that it is the mother's heart speaking after the son/daughter falls and drops it after cutting it out to feed his/her lover's dog. Any ideas, anyone? Thanks.

as strange as it seems, I remember it - but as a story ...
- I first heard it in Portugal ... as a story . . .
turned into a song in Brasil ( go figure! )



A young man fell in love with a woman from a neighboring village. His love for her was genuine and he sought her hand in marriage. She, however, felt no such affection for him and exploited his feelings to her own advantage. She made it a game, ever demanding more and more proof of his love.

At last, she demanded the unthinkable. "If you really love me," she said, "I need to know there is no rival. Prove it to me. Take your mother's life and bring her heart to me as a trophy of my victory over your love for her." The young man was thoroughly confounded and grief-stricken. Unable to withstand his "loss" any longer, in a frenzied fit he killed his mother and took the heart out of her body. He ran as fast as he could to present this trophy to the girl he loved. But in the woods he stumbled and fell, and the heart tumbled out of his hand. As he feebly rose to his feet he frantically searched the undergrowth for her heart. Finally, he spotted it and picked it up and as he dusted off his knees he heard a voice coming from the heart saying, "Son, are you hurt? ...Son, are you hurt?"

Many thanks for that, ilza. It makes me wonder which came first, the story or the poem. I'm pretty sure the poem is English in origin. The Portuguese story would seem to be a folk-tale. Perhaps it is one of these universal folk-tales that crops up all over the world in slightly different guises. I would be fascinated to hear from anyone else who's come across this story, and, of course, if anyone knows the title, author and date of the poem. What a wonderful site this is!

do you know something ?
I bet it is french ...

I had just remembered a few min ago I once heard it in French !!!
so, here it is :

Jean Richepin (1849-1926)
"La Chanson de Marie-des-Anges"

Y avait un'fois un pauv'gas
Et lon la laire,
Et lon lan la,
Y avait un'fois un pauv'gas
Qu'aimait celle qui n' l'aimait pas.

Ell' lui dit: Apport'-moi d'main
Et lon la laire,
Et lon lan la,
Ell' lui dit: Apport'-moi d'main
L'coeur de ta mèr' pour mon chien.

Va chez sa mère et la tue,
Et lon la laire,
Et lon lan la,
Va chez sa mère et la tue,
Lui prit le coeur et s'en courut.

Comme il courait, il tomba,
Et lon la laire,
Et lon lan la,
Comme il courait, il tomba,
Et par terre l'coeur roula.

Et pendant que l'coeur roulait,
Et lon la laire,
Et lon lan la,
Et pendant que l'coeur roulait,
Entendit l'coeur qui parlait.

Et l'coeur lui dit en pleurant,
Et lon la laire,
Et lon lan la,
Et l'coeur lui dit en pleurant:
T'es-tu fait mal, mon enfant?

.................................................
and if you can play a guitar, then you can play it and read it ...
in portuguese ...

Coração Materno

Int.: Dm Em5-/7 A4/7 A7
Dm A7 Dm
Disse um campônio à sua amada: "Minha idolatrada, diga-me o que quer
Am5-/7 D7 Gm Gm/F E A7
Por ti vou matar, vou roubar, embora tristezas me causes mulher
Dm A7 Dm
Provar quero eu que te quero, venero teus olhos, teu porte, teu ser
Am5-/7 D7 Gm A7 D A7
Mas diga, tua ordem espero, por ti não me importa matar ou morrer"


D Bm Em A7 D A7
E ela disse ao campônio, a brincar: "Se é verdade tua louca paixão
D D7 G E A7
Parte já e pra mim vá buscar de tua mãe inteiro o coração"
F#7 Bm Em A7 D A7
E a correr o campônio partiu, como um raio na estrada sumiu
D D7 G A7 Dm
Sua amada qual louca ficou, a chorar na estrada tombou


Dm A7
Chega à choupana o campônio
Dm
E encontra a mãezinha ajoelhada a rezar
Am5-/7 D7 Gm Gm/F
Rasga-lhe o peito o demônio
E A7
Tombando a velhinha aos pés do altar
Dm A7 Dm
Tira do peito sangrando da velha mãezinha o pobre coração
Am5-/7 D7 Gm A7 D A7
E volta à correr proclamando: "Vitória, vitória, tens minha paixão"


D Bm Em A7 D A7
Mas em meio da estrada caiu, e na queda uma perna partiu
D D7 G E A7
E à distância saltou-lhe da mão sobre a terra o pobre coração
F#7 Bm Em A7 D
Nesse instante uma voz ecoou: "Magoou-se, pobre filho meu?
D D7 G A7 D
Vem buscar-me filho, aqui estou, vem buscar-me que ainda sou teu!"

There's a Scottish version but I don't have the text: 'Hamish Henderson's "The Ballad of the Speaking Heart", his own free translation - and sung to his own cheerful tune - of a French poem by Jean Richepin (1849-1926), called "La Chanson de Marie-des-Anges", in the Oxford Book of French Verse, 1926.'
[www.folkmusic.net] />

Stephen

Read a feminist short story once, an allegory with a similar gist . Mother kept giving her children her organs to eat, one by one, as a treat - kidneys, then liver, stomach, brain etc. Eventually she gave them her heart , but died while cooking it so they had to get their own tea. I didn't like it at all, but have never forgotten it.