s she could be;
Her sails from heaven received no motion,
Her keel was steady in the ocean.

Without either sign or sound of their shock,
The waves flow-d over the Inchcape Rock;
So little they rose, so little they fell,
They did not move the Inchcape Bell.

The Abbot of Aberbrothok
Had placed that bell on the Inchcape Rock;
On a buoy in the storm it floated and swung,
And over the waves its warning rung.

When the Rock was hid by the surge-s swell,
The Mariners heard the warning Bell;
And then they knew the perilous Rock,
And blest the Abbot of Aberbrothok

The Sun in the heaven was shining gay,
All things were joyful on that day;
The sea-birds scream-d as they wheel-d round,
And there was joyaunce in their sound.

The buoy of the Inchcpe Bell was seen
A darker speck on the ocean green;
Sir Ralph the Rover walk-d his deck,
And fix-d his eye on the darker speck.

He felt the cheering power of spring,
It made him whistle, it made him sing;
His heart was mirthful to excess,
But the Rover-s mirth was wickedness.

His eye was on the Inchcape Float;
Quoth he, -My men, put out the boat,
And row me to the Inchcape Rock,
And I-ll plague the Abbot of Aberbrothok.�

The boat is lower-d, the boatmen row,
And to the Inchcape Rock they go;
Sir Ralph bent over from the boat,
And he cut the bell from the Inchcape Float.

Down sank the Bell with a gurgling sound,
The bubbles rose and burst around;
Quoth Sir Ralph, -The next who comes to the Rock,
Won-t bless the Abbot of Aberbrothok.�

Sir ralph the Rover sail-d away,
He scour-d the seas for many a day;
And now grown rich with plunder-d store,
He steers his course for Scotland-s shore.

So thick a haze o-erspreads the sky,
They cannot see the sun on high;
The wind hath blown a gale all day,
At evening it hath died away.

On the deck the Rover takes his stand,
So dark it is they see no land.
Quoth Sir Ralph, -It will be lighter soon,
For there is the dawn of the rising Moon.�

-Canst hear,� said one, -the breakers roar?
For methinks we should be near the shore.�
-Now, where we are I cannot tell,
But I wish we could hear the Inchcape Bell.�

They hear no sound, the swell is strong,
Though the wind hath fallen they drift along;
Till the vessel strikes with a shivering shock,
-Oh Christ! It is the Inchcape Rock!�

Sir Ralph the Rover tore his hair,
He curst himself in his despair;
The waves rush in on every side,
The ship is sinking beneath the tide.

But even is his dying fear,
One dreadful sound could the Rover hear;
A sound as if with the Inchcape Bell,
The Devil below was ringing his knell.