Home › Glossary › Letter S

Swains

Noun
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Swains are young men, especially rustic lovers or shepherds. The word is old-fashioned and literary.

Detailed Definition
A swain is a poetic term for a young man, often a rural suitor or shepherd. Marlowe uses the plural form to evoke a pastoral world of dancing and singing country folk.
Example
Example in poetry:
“The Shepherds’ Swains shall dance and sing” uses swains for rustic young men, especially lovers or shepherds; Marlowe’s pastoral speakers address “shepherd swains” in an idealized countryside; “The swains and maidens circled the Maypole” shows its conventional pastoral pairing; In contemporary poetry, the word may sound playful, theatrical, or knowingly old-fashioned
Additional Notes
"Swains" is an old literary word in the quoted line, and most modern readers would not use it in everyday English.; Found in the poem, The Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Christopher Marlowe
Also Known As
lovers shepherds suitors gallants
Skip to main content