The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #2214   Message #8219
Posted By: jjmarq@mozart.si.ualg.pt
08-Jul-97 - 12:44 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Alonzo and Imogine
Subject: Alonzo and Imogine
Does anyone know something about popularized versions of the ballad Alonzo and Imogine (from Lewis' The Monk)?

The plot is like this: a girl and a knight are in love. He goes to fight in Palestine and she swears to be true to him and not to marry anyone else, even if he dies and doesn't return. And, she says, if she breaks this promise, may he return as a ghost in the day of her marriage. After one year, she meets a very rich man and agrees to marry him. During the wedding, the knight (who had died) returns as a ghost and takes her away with him. The richman dies some time later. The castle where the marriage had taken place is now haunted by both the girl's and the knight's ghosts.

I know that in 1945 one version of it was published (collected from oral tradition in Nebraska, U.S.A., with very little change from Lewis' text), and would like to know if there are other oral versions.

Thank you very much for your help.

J. J. Dias Marques