The Lady Of The Lake: Canto Ii. - The Island Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCBCCDCEE AF GCGGCHIJJ KLKKLMMJJ AN AOAAOPPJJ EJEEJQQJ ARRSSTTUUVVWWXXYYZZA 2A2 UB2B2C2C2TTD2D2UUE2E 2F2F2AA AG2G2H2H2CCZZJJRRJJI 2I2 I2J2J2A I2I2K2K2W I2I2XX AL2L2I2I2 I2EEI2I2JJI2I2M2M2I2 I2J AI2I2AAN2N2JJVVJJZZB BJJA L2O2O2M2M2DDL2L2FFMP 2I2I2I2I2AAI2I2L2L2U UL2L2ZZ I2I2 L2CCJJI2I2I2I2L2L2L2 L2AAI2 UI2I2UUCULLAACCI2I2C CI2I2I2I2E2E2I2I2I2I 2 CCMMP2BAI2I2I2I2JJMM I2I2E CAAJJJI2I2F2XI2VI2I2 JJCCI2I2AA ACCAAI2I2I2I2JJBBI2I 2I2I2I2I2I2I2K2K2AAJ JQ2Q2ZZWWXMI2I2 JJJR2R2CCTJP2MI2I2CC I2I2WWI2I2CCC2C2I2I2 R2 JI2I2JJJJI2I2LLZZJJC CS2S2T2JUULL JI2I2WWCCP2P2I2I2LLI 2I2LLCCI2I2LLI2I2ZZJ JJJ JJJLLCCR2R2CCJ I2I2 CF CLCLJJJLL LI2LI2U2U2JLL CLI2LI2I2I2JLL CLCLV2V2JLL CI2I2JJWWI2I2I2I2T2 I2I2J2J2I2I2I2 I2I2I2I2CC CLLZMW2W2I2I2I2I2I2I 2J2J2JJWW CJJI2I2CCI2I2AACCI2I 2LLWWWI2I2I2I2CCZMJJ I2 JCCI2I2I2I2I2I2I2I2A AI2I2I2I2JJJJ JWWCCJJAAX2X2I2T2MMC CI2I2WWI2I2X2X2I2I2L LWW JCCC AY2R2I2I2I2I2I2I2I2I 2I2I2C2C2L JWWAI2CCI2I2I2I2I2I2 WWI2I2JJI2I2 JCCWWAAI2I2I2I2I2I2W WI2I2J2J2I2I2I2I2I2I 2LLWWI2I2LLI2 CJALLWWI2I2I2I2R2XXX I2I2I2I2I2I2I2I2JJZ2 CI2I2LLI2I2I2I2JLJJJ JTTCCCCCI2I2I2I2L CXXXR2K2K2JJI2I2JJJJ JTI2I2I2I2I2I2 CAAZMJJI2I2CCI2I2MMX JZMI2I2A3A3CCI2 CI2I2I2I2I2I2C CI2I2J2J2R2XUUI2I2JJ SSWW JS2S2JJZZI2I2I2I2I2I 2 WWI2 I2I2CCJJY2Y2J UUI2I2 JJ2J2K2K2I2 XZJJLLJJW I2CCCCCCB3B3CCLL X JI2I2LLXZ2WWI2I2I2I2 I2I2CC JI2 I2I2I2I2I2I2WWJJZZI2 I2 I2R2R2AAJJC3C3JJJJI | A |
At morn the black cock trims his jetty wing | B |
'T is morning prompts the linnet's blithest lay | C |
All Nature's children feel the matin spring | B |
Of life reviving with reviving day | C |
And while yon little bark glides down the bay | C |
Wafting the stranger on his way again | D |
Morn's genial influence roused a minstrel gray | C |
And sweetly o'er the lake was heard thy strain | E |
Mixed with the sounding harp O white haired Allan bane | E |
- | |
II | A |
Song | F |
- | |
'Not faster yonder rowers' might | G |
Flings from their oars the spray | C |
Not faster yonder rippling bright | G |
That tracks the shallop's course in light | G |
Melts in the lake away | C |
Than men from memory erase | H |
The benefits of former days | I |
Then stranger go good speed the while | J |
Nor think again of the lonely isle | J |
- | |
'High place to thee in royal court | K |
High place in battled line | L |
Good hawk and hound for sylvan sport | K |
Where beauty sees the brave resort | K |
The honored meed be thine | L |
True be thy sword thy friend sincere | M |
Thy lady constant kind and dear | M |
And lost in love's and friendship's smile | J |
Be memory of the lonely isle | J |
- | |
III | A |
Song Continued | N |
- | |
'But if beneath yon southern sky | A |
A plaided stranger roam | O |
Whose drooping crest and stifled sigh | A |
And sunken cheek and heavy eye | A |
Pine for his Highland home | O |
Then warrior then be thine to show | P |
The care that soothes a wanderer's woe | P |
Remember then thy hap erewhile | J |
A stranger in the lonely isle | J |
- | |
'Or if on life's uncertain main | E |
Mishap shall mar thy sail | J |
If faithful wise and brave in vain | E |
Woe want and exile thou sustain | E |
Beneath the fickle gale | J |
Waste not a sigh on fortune changed | Q |
On thankless courts or friends estranged | Q |
But come where kindred worth shall smile | J |
To greet thee in the lonely isle ' | - |
- | |
IV | A |
As died the sounds upon the tide | R |
The shallop reached the mainland side | R |
And ere his onward way he took | S |
The stranger cast a lingering look | S |
Where easily his eye might reach | T |
The Harper on the islet beach | T |
Reclined against a blighted tree | U |
As wasted gray and worn as he | U |
To minstrel meditation given | V |
His reverend brow was raised to heaven | V |
As from the rising sun to claim | W |
A sparkle of inspiring flame | W |
His hand reclined upon the wire | X |
Seemed watching the awakening fire | X |
So still he sat as those who wait | Y |
Till judgment speak the doom of fate | Y |
So still as if no breeze might dare | Z |
To lift one lock of hoary hair | Z |
So still as life itself were fled | A2 |
In the last sound his harp had sped | A2 |
- | |
V | U |
Upon a rock with lichens wild | B2 |
Beside him Ellen sat and smiled | B2 |
Smiled she to see the stately drake | C2 |
Lead forth his fleet upon the lake | C2 |
While her vexed spaniel from the beach | T |
Bayed at the prize beyond his reach | T |
Yet tell me then the maid who knows | D2 |
Why deepened on her cheek the rose | D2 |
Forgive forgive Fidelity | U |
Perchance the maiden smiled to see | U |
Yon parting lingerer wave adieu | E2 |
And stop and turn to wave anew | E2 |
And lovely ladies ere your ire | F2 |
Condemn the heroine of my lyre | F2 |
Show me the fair would scorn to spy | A |
And prize such conquest of her eve | A |
- | |
VI | A |
While yet he loitered on the spot | G2 |
It seemed as Ellen marked him not | G2 |
But when he turned him to the glade | H2 |
One courteous parting sign she made | H2 |
And after oft the knight would say | C |
That not when prize of festal day | C |
Was dealt him by the brightest fair | Z |
Who e'er wore jewel in her hair | Z |
So highly did his bosom swell | J |
As at that simple mute farewell | J |
Now with a trusty mountain guide | R |
And his dark stag hounds by his side | R |
He parts the maid unconscious still | J |
Watched him wind slowly round the hill | J |
But when his stately form was hid | I2 |
The guardian in her bosom chid | I2 |
'Thy Malcolm vain and selfish maid ' | - |
'T was thus upbraiding conscience said | I2 |
'Not so had Malcolm idly hung | J2 |
On the smooth phrase of Southern tongue | J2 |
Not so had Malcolm strained his eye | A |
Another step than thine to spy ' | - |
'Wake Allan bane ' aloud she cried | I2 |
To the old minstrel by her side | I2 |
'Arouse thee from thy moody dream | K2 |
I 'll give thy harp heroic theme | K2 |
And warm thee with a noble name | W |
Pour forth the glory of the Graeme ' | - |
Scarce from her lip the word had rushed | I2 |
When deep the conscious maiden blushed | I2 |
For of his clan in hall and bower | X |
Young Malcolm Graeme was held the flower | X |
- | |
VII | A |
The minstrel waked his harp three times | L2 |
Arose the well known martial chimes | L2 |
And thrice their high heroic pride | I2 |
In melancholy murmurs died | I2 |
'Vainly thou bidst O noble maid ' | - |
Clasping his withered hands he said | I2 |
'Vainly thou bidst me wake the strain | E |
Though all unwont to bid in vain | E |
Alas than mine a mightier hand | I2 |
Has tuned my harp my strings has spanned | I2 |
I touch the chords of joy but low | J |
And mournful answer notes of woe | J |
And the proud march which victors tread | I2 |
Sinks in the wailing for the dead | I2 |
O well for me if mine alone | M2 |
That dirge's deep prophetic tone | M2 |
If as my tuneful fathers said | I2 |
This harp which erst Saint Modan swayed | I2 |
Can thus its master's fate foretell | J |
Then welcome be the minstrel's knell ' | - |
- | |
VIII | A |
'But ah dear lady thus it sighed | I2 |
The eve thy sainted mother died | I2 |
And such the sounds which while I strove | A |
To wake a lay of war or love | A |
Came marring all the festal mirth | N2 |
Appalling me who gave them birth | N2 |
And disobedient to my call | J |
Wailed loud through Bothwell's bannered hall | J |
Ere Douglases to ruin driven | V |
Were exiled from their native heaven | V |
O if yet worse mishap and woe | J |
My master's house must undergo | J |
Or aught but weal to Ellen fair | Z |
Brood in these accents of despair | Z |
No future bard sad Harp shall fling | B |
Triumph or rapture from thy string | B |
One short one final strain shall flow | J |
Fraught with unutterable woe | J |
Then shivered shall thy fragments lie | A |
Thy master cast him down and die ' | - |
- | |
IX | L2 |
Soothing she answered him 'Assuage | O2 |
Mine honored friend the fears of age | O2 |
All melodies to thee are known | M2 |
That harp has rung or pipe has blown | M2 |
In Lowland vale or Highland glen | D |
From Tweed to Spey what marvel then | D |
At times unbidden notes should rise | L2 |
Confusedly bound in memory's ties | L2 |
Entangling as they rush along | F |
The war march with the funeral song | F |
Small ground is now for boding fear | M |
Obscure but safe we rest us here | P2 |
My sire in native virtue great | I2 |
Resigning lordship lands and state | I2 |
Not then to fortune more resigned | I2 |
Than yonder oak might give the wind | I2 |
The graceful foliage storms may reeve | A |
'Fine noble stem they cannot grieve | A |
For me' she stooped and looking round | I2 |
Plucked a blue harebell from the ground | I2 |
'For me whose memory scarce conveys | L2 |
An image of more splendid days | L2 |
This little flower that loves the lea | U |
May well my simple emblem be | U |
It drinks heaven's dew as blithe as rose | L2 |
That in the King's own garden grows | L2 |
And when I place it in my hair | Z |
Allan a bard is bound to swear | Z |
He ne'er saw coronet so fair ' | - |
Then playfully the chaplet wild | I2 |
She wreathed in her dark locks and smiled | I2 |
- | |
X | L2 |
Her smile her speech with winning sway | C |
Wiled the old Harper's mood away | C |
With such a look as hermits throw | J |
When angels stoop to soothe their woe | J |
He gazed till fond regret and pride | I2 |
Thrilled to a tear then thus replied | I2 |
'Loveliest and best thou little know'st | I2 |
The rank the honors thou hast lost | I2 |
O might I live to see thee grace | L2 |
In Scotland's court thy birthright place | L2 |
To see my favorite's step advance | L2 |
The lightest in the courtly dance | L2 |
The cause of every gallant's sigh | A |
And leading star of every eye | A |
And theme of every minstrel's art | I2 |
The Lady of the Bleeding Heart ' | - |
- | |
XI | U |
'Fair dreams are these ' the maiden cried | I2 |
Light was her accent yet she sighed | I2 |
'Yet is this mossy rock to me | U |
Worth splendid chair and canopy | U |
Nor would my footstep spring more gay | C |
In courtly dance than blithe strathspey | U |
Nor half so pleased mine ear incline | L |
To royal minstrel's lay as thine | L |
And then for suitors proud and high | A |
To bend before my conquering eye | A |
Thou flattering bard thyself wilt say | C |
That grim Sir Roderick owns its sway | C |
The Saxon scourge Clan Alpine's pride | I2 |
The terror of Loch Lomond's side | I2 |
Would at my suit thou know'st delay | C |
A Lennox foray for a day ' | - |
- | |
XII | C |
The ancient bard her glee repressed | I2 |
'Ill hast thou chosen theme for jest | I2 |
For who through all this western wild | I2 |
Named Black Sir Roderick e'er and smiled | I2 |
In Holy Rood a knight he slew | E2 |
I saw when back the dirk he drew | E2 |
Courtiers give place before the stride | I2 |
Of the undaunted homicide | I2 |
And since though outlawed hath his hand | I2 |
Full sternly kept his mountain land | I2 |
- | |
Who else dared give ah woe the day | C |
That I such hated truth should say | C |
The Douglas like a stricken deer | M |
Disowned by every noble peer | M |
Even the rude refuge we have here | P2 |
Alas this wild marauding | B |
Chief Alone might hazard our relief | A |
And now thy maiden charms expand | I2 |
Looks for his guerdon in thy hand | I2 |
Full soon may dispensation sought | I2 |
To back his suit from Rome be brought | I2 |
Then though an exile on the hill | J |
Thy father as the Douglas still | J |
Be held in reverence and fear | M |
And though to Roderick thou'rt so dear | M |
That thou mightst guide with silken thread | I2 |
Slave of thy will this chieftain dread | I2 |
Yet O loved maid thy mirth refrain | E |
Thy hand is on a lion's mane ' | - |
- | |
XIII | C |
Minstrel ' the maid replied and high | A |
Her father's soul glanced from her eye | A |
'My debts to Roderick's house I know | J |
All that a mother could bestow | J |
To Lady Margaret's care I owe | J |
Since first an orphan in the wild | I2 |
She sorrowed o'er her sister's child | I2 |
To her brave chieftain son from ire | F2 |
Of Scotland's king who shrouds my sire | X |
A deeper holier debt is owed | I2 |
And could I pay it with my blood Allan | V |
Sir Roderick should command | I2 |
My blood my life but not my hand | I2 |
Rather will Ellen Douglas dwell | J |
A votaress in Maronnan's cell | J |
Rather through realms beyond the sea | C |
Seeking the world's cold charity | C |
Where ne'er was spoke a Scottish word | I2 |
And ne'er the name of Douglas heard | I2 |
An outcast pilgrim will she rove | A |
Than wed the man she cannot love | A |
- | |
XIV | A |
'Thou shak'st good friend thy tresses gray | C |
That pleading look what can it say | C |
But what I own I grant him brave | A |
But wild as Bracklinn's thundering wave | A |
And generous save vindictive mood | I2 |
Or jealous transport chafe his blood | I2 |
I grant him true to friendly band | I2 |
As his claymore is to his hand | I2 |
But O that very blade of steel | J |
More mercy for a foe would feel | J |
I grant him liberal to fling | B |
Among his clan the wealth they bring | B |
When back by lake and glen they wind | I2 |
And in the Lowland leave behind | I2 |
Where once some pleasant hamlet stood | I2 |
A mass of ashes slaked with blood | I2 |
The hand that for my father fought | I2 |
I honor as his daughter ought | I2 |
But can I clasp it reeking red | I2 |
From peasants slaughtered in their shed | I2 |
No wildly while his virtues gleam | K2 |
They make his passions darker seem | K2 |
And flash along his spirit high | A |
Like lightning o'er the midnight sky | A |
While yet a child and children know | J |
Instinctive taught the friend and foe | J |
I shuddered at his brow of gloom | Q2 |
His shadowy plaid and sable plume | Q2 |
A maiden grown I ill could bear | Z |
His haughty mien and lordly air | Z |
But if thou join'st a suitor's claim | W |
In serious mood to Roderick's name | W |
I thrill with anguish or if e'er | X |
A Douglas knew the word with fear | M |
To change such odious theme were best | I2 |
What think'st thou of our stranger guest | I2 |
- | |
XV | J |
'What think I of him woe the while | J |
That brought such wanderer to our isle | J |
Thy father's battle brand of yore | R2 |
For Tine man forged by fairy lore | R2 |
What time he leagued no longer foes | C |
His Border spears with Hotspur's bows | C |
Did self unscabbarded foreshow | T |
The footstep of a secret foe | J |
If courtly spy hath harbored here | P2 |
What may we for the Douglas fear | M |
What for this island deemed of old | I2 |
Clan Alpine's last and surest hold | I2 |
If neither spy nor foe I pray | C |
What yet may jealous Roderick say | C |
Nay wave not thy disdainful head | I2 |
Bethink thee of the discord dread | I2 |
That kindled when at Beltane game | W |
Thou least the dance with Malcolm Graeme | W |
Still though thy sire the peace renewed | I2 |
Smoulders in Roderick's breast the feud | I2 |
Beware But hark what sounds are these | C |
My dull ears catch no faltering breeze | C |
No weeping birch nor aspens wake | C2 |
Nor breath is dimpling in the lake | C2 |
Still is the canna's hoary beard | I2 |
Yet by my minstrel faith I heard | I2 |
And hark again some pipe of war | R2 |
Sends the hold pibroch from afar ' | - |
- | |
XVI | J |
Far up the lengthened lake were spied | I2 |
Four darkening specks upon the tide | I2 |
That slow enlarging on the view | J |
Four manned and massed barges grew | J |
And bearing downwards from Glengyle | J |
Steered full upon the lonely isle | J |
The point of Brianchoil they passed | I2 |
And to the windward as they cast | I2 |
Against the sun they gave to shine | L |
The bold Sir Roderick's bannered Pine | L |
Nearer and nearer as they bear | Z |
Spears pikes and axes flash in air | Z |
Now might you see the tartars brave | J |
And plaids and plumage dance and wave | J |
Now see the bonnets sink and rise | C |
As his tough oar the rower plies | C |
See flashing at each sturdy stroke | S2 |
The wave ascending into smoke | S2 |
See the proud pipers on the bow | T2 |
And mark the gaudy streamers flow | J |
From their loud chanters down and sweep | U |
The furrowed bosom of the deep | U |
As rushing through the lake amain | L |
They plied the ancient Highland strain | L |
- | |
XVII | J |
Ever as on they bore more loud | I2 |
And louder rung the pibroch proud | I2 |
At first the sounds by distance tame | W |
Mellowed along the waters came | W |
And lingering long by cape and bay | C |
Wailed every harsher note away | C |
Then bursting bolder on the ear | P2 |
The clan's shrill Gathering they could hear | P2 |
Those thrilling sounds that call the might | I2 |
Of old Clan Alpine to the fight | I2 |
Thick beat the rapid notes as when | L |
The mustering hundreds shake the glen | L |
And hurrying at the signal dread | I2 |
'Fine battered earth returns their tread | I2 |
Then prelude light of livelier tone | L |
Expressed their merry marching on | L |
Ere peal of closing battle rose | C |
With mingled outcry shrieks and blows | C |
And mimic din of stroke and ward | I2 |
As broadsword upon target jarred | I2 |
And groaning pause ere yet again | L |
Condensed the battle yelled amain | L |
The rapid charge the rallying shout | I2 |
Retreat borne headlong into rout | I2 |
And bursts of triumph to declare | Z |
Clan Alpine's congest all were there | Z |
Nor ended thus the strain but slow | J |
Sunk in a moan prolonged and low | J |
And changed the conquering clarion swell | J |
For wild lament o'er those that fell | J |
- | |
XVIII | J |
The war pipes ceased but lake and hill | J |
Were busy with their echoes still | J |
And when they slept a vocal strain | L |
Bade their hoarse chorus wake again | L |
While loud a hundred clansmen raise | C |
Their voices in their Chieftain's praise | C |
Each boatman bending to his oar | R2 |
With measured sweep the burden bore | R2 |
In such wild cadence as the breeze | C |
Makes through December's leafless trees | C |
The chorus first could Allan know | J |
'Roderick Vich Alpine ho fro ' | - |
And near and nearer as they rowed | I2 |
Distinct the martial ditty flowed | I2 |
- | |
- | |
XIX | C |
Boat Song | F |
- | |
Hail to the Chief who in triumph advances | C |
Honored and blessed be the ever green Pine | L |
Long may the tree in his banner that glances | C |
Flourish the shelter and grace of our line | L |
Heaven send it happy dew | J |
Earth lend it sap anew | J |
Gayly to bourgeon and broadly to grow | J |
While every Highland glen | L |
Sends our shout back again | L |
'Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu ho ieroe ' | - |
- | |
Ours is no sapling chance sown by the fountain | L |
Blooming at Beltane in winter to fade | I2 |
When the whirlwind has stripped every leaf on the mountain | L |
The more shall Clan Alpine exult in her shade | I2 |
Moored in the rifted rock | U2 |
Proof to the tempest's shock | U2 |
Firmer he roots him the ruder it blow | J |
Menteith and Breadalbane then | L |
Echo his praise again | L |
'Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu ho ieroe ' | - |
- | |
XX | C |
Proudly our pibroch has thrilled in Glen Fruin | L |
And Bannochar's groans to our slogan replied | I2 |
Glen Luss and Ross dhu they are smoking in ruin | L |
And the best of Loch Lomond lie dead on her side | I2 |
Widow and Saxon maid | I2 |
Long shall lament our raid | I2 |
Think of Clan Alpine with fear and with woe | J |
Lennox and Leven glen | L |
Shake when they hear again | L |
'Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu ho ieroe ' | - |
- | |
Row vassals row for the pride of the Highlands | C |
Stretch to your oars for the ever green Pine | L |
O that the rosebud that graces yon islands | C |
Were wreathed in a garland around him to twine | L |
O that some seedling gem | V2 |
Worthy such noble stem | V2 |
Honored and blessed in their shadow might grow | J |
Loud should Clan Alpine then | L |
Ring from her deepmost glen | L |
Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu ho ieroe ' | - |
- | |
XXI | C |
With all her joyful female band | I2 |
Had Lady Margaret sought the strand | I2 |
Loose on the breeze their tresses flew | J |
And high their snowy arms they threw | J |
As echoing back with shrill acclaim | W |
And chorus wild the Chieftain's name | W |
While prompt to please with mother's art | I2 |
The darling passion of his heart | I2 |
The Dame called Ellen to the strand | I2 |
To greet her kinsman ere he land | I2 |
'Come loiterer come a Douglas thou | T2 |
And shun to wreathe a victor's brow ' | - |
Reluctantly and slow the maid | I2 |
The unwelcome summoning obeyed | I2 |
And when a distant bugle rung | J2 |
In the mid path aside she sprung | J2 |
'List Allan bane From mainland cast | I2 |
I hear my father's signal blast | I2 |
Be ours ' she cried 'the skiff to guide | I2 |
And waft him from the mountain side ' | - |
Then like a sunbeam swift and bright | I2 |
She darted to her shallop light | I2 |
And eagerly while Roderick scanned | I2 |
For her dear form his mother's band | I2 |
The islet far behind her lay | C |
And she had landed in the bay | C |
- | |
XXII | C |
Some feelings are to mortals given | L |
With less of earth in them than heaven | L |
And if there be a human tear | Z |
From passion's dross refined and clear | M |
A tear so limpid and so meek | W2 |
It would not stain an angel's cheek | W2 |
'Tis that which pious fathers shed | I2 |
Upon a duteous daughter's head | I2 |
And as the Douglas to his breast | I2 |
His darling Ellen closely pressed | I2 |
Such holy drops her tresses steeped | I2 |
Though 't was an hero's eye that weeped | I2 |
Nor while on Ellen's faltering tongue | J2 |
Her filial welcomes crowded hung | J2 |
Marked she that fear affection's proof | J |
Still held a graceful youth aloof | J |
No not till Douglas named his name | W |
Although the youth was Malcolm Graeme | W |
- | |
XXIII | C |
Allan with wistful look the while | J |
Marked Roderick landing on the isle | J |
His master piteously he eyed | I2 |
Then gazed upon the Chieftain's pride | I2 |
Then dashed with hasty hand away | C |
From his dimmed eye the gathering spray | C |
And Douglas as his hand he laid | I2 |
On Malcolm's shoulder kindly said | I2 |
'Canst thou young friend no meaning spy | A |
In my poor follower's glistening eye | A |
I 'll tell thee he recalls the day | C |
When in my praise he led the lay | C |
O'er the arched gate of Bothwell proud | I2 |
While many a minstrel answered loud | I2 |
When Percy's Norman pennon won | L |
In bloody field before me shone | L |
And twice ten knights the least a name | W |
As mighty as yon Chief may claim | W |
Gracing my pomp behind me came | W |
Yet trust me Malcolm not so proud | I2 |
Was I of all that marshalled crowd | I2 |
Though the waned crescent owned my might | I2 |
And in my train trooped lord and knight | I2 |
Though Blantyre hymned her holiest lays | C |
And Bothwell's bards flung back my praise | C |
As when this old man's silent tear | Z |
And this poor maid's affection dear | M |
A welcome give more kind and true | J |
Than aught my better fortunes knew | J |
Forgive my friend a father's boast | I2 |
O it out beggars all I lost ' | - |
- | |
XXIV | J |
Delightful praise like summer rose | C |
That brighter in the dew drop glows | C |
The bashful maiden's cheek appeared | I2 |
For Douglas spoke and Malcolm heard | I2 |
The flush of shame faced joy to hide | I2 |
The hounds the hawk her cares divide | I2 |
The loved caresses of the maid | I2 |
The dogs with crouch and whimper paid | I2 |
And at her whistle on her hand | I2 |
The falcon took his favorite stand | I2 |
Closed his dark wing relaxed his eye | A |
Nor though unhooded sought to fly | A |
And trust while in such guise she stood | I2 |
Like fabled Goddess of the wood | I2 |
That if a father's partial thought | I2 |
O'erweighed her worth and beauty aught | I2 |
Well might the lover's judgment fail | J |
To balance with a juster scale | J |
For with each secret glance he stole | J |
The fond enthusiast sent his soul | J |
- | |
XXV | J |
Of stature fair and slender frame | W |
But firmly knit was Malcolm Graeme | W |
The belted plaid and tartan hose | C |
Did ne'er more graceful limbs disclose | C |
His flaxen hair of sunny hue | J |
Curled closely round his bonnet blue | J |
Trained to the chase his eagle eye | A |
The ptarmigan in snow could spy | A |
Each pass by mountain lake and heath | X2 |
He knew through Lennox and Menteith | X2 |
Vain was the bound of dark brown doe | I2 |
When Malcolm bent his sounding bow | T2 |
And scarce that doe though winged with fear | M |
Outstripped in speed the mountaineer | M |
Right up Ben Lomond could he press | C |
And not a sob his toil confess | C |
His form accorded with a mind | I2 |
Lively and ardent frank and kind | I2 |
A blither heart till Ellen came | W |
Did never love nor sorrow tame | W |
It danced as lightsome in his breast | I2 |
As played the feather on his crest | I2 |
Yet friends who nearest knew the youth | X2 |
His scorn of wrong his zeal for truth | X2 |
And bards who saw his features bold | I2 |
When kindled by the tales of old | I2 |
Said were that youth to manhood grown | L |
Not long should Roderick Dhu's renown | L |
Be foremost voiced by mountain fame | W |
But quail to that of Malcolm Graeme | W |
- | |
XXVI | J |
Now back they wend their watery way | C |
And 'O my sire ' did Ellen say | C |
'Why urge thy chase so far astray | C |
And why so late returned And why ' | - |
The rest was in her speaking eye | A |
'My child the chase I follow far | Y2 |
'Tis mimicry of noble war | R2 |
And with that gallant pastime reft | I2 |
Were all of Douglas I have left | I2 |
I met young Malcolm as I strayed | I2 |
Far eastward in Glenfinlas' shade | I2 |
Nor strayed I safe for all around | I2 |
Hunters and horsemen scoured the ground | I2 |
This youth though still a royal ward | I2 |
Risked life and land to be my guard | I2 |
And through the passes of the wood | I2 |
Guided my steps not unpursued | I2 |
And Roderick shall his welcome make | C2 |
Despite old spleen for Douglas' sake | C2 |
Then must he seek Strath Endrick glen | L |
Nor peril aught for me again ' | - |
- | |
XXVII | J |
Sir Roderick who to meet them came | W |
Reddened at sight of Malcolm Graeme | W |
Yet not in action word or eye | A |
Failed aught in hospitality | I2 |
In talk and sport they whiled away | C |
The morning of that summer day | C |
But at high noon a courier light | I2 |
Held secret parley with the knight | I2 |
Whose moody aspect soon declared | I2 |
That evil were the news he heard | I2 |
Deep thought seemed toiling in his head | I2 |
Yet was the evening banquet made | I2 |
Ere he assembled round the flame | W |
His mother Douglas and the Graeme | W |
And Ellen too then cast around | I2 |
His eyes then fixed them on the ground | I2 |
As studying phrase that might avail | J |
Best to convey unpleasant tale | J |
Long with his dagger's hilt he played | I2 |
Then raised his haughty brow and said | I2 |
- | |
XXVIII | J |
'Short be my speech nor time affords | C |
Nor my plain temper glozing words | C |
Kinsman and father if such name | W |
Douglas vouchsafe to Roderick's claim | W |
Mine honored mother Ellen why | A |
My cousin turn away thine eye | A |
And Graeme in whom I hope to know | I2 |
Full soon a noble friend or foe | I2 |
When age shall give thee thy command | I2 |
And leading in thy native land | I2 |
List all The King's vindictive pride | I2 |
Boasts to have tamed the Border side | I2 |
Where chiefs with hound and trawl who came | W |
To share their monarch's sylvan game | W |
Themselves in bloody toils were snared | I2 |
And when the banquet they prepared | I2 |
And wide their loyal portals flung | J2 |
O'er their own gateway struggling hung | J2 |
Loud cries their blood from Meggat's mead | I2 |
From Yarrow braes and banks of Tweed | I2 |
Where the lone streams of Ettrick glide | I2 |
And from the silver Teviot's side | I2 |
The dales where martial clans did ride | I2 |
Are now one sheep walk waste and wide | I2 |
This tyrant of the Scottish throne | L |
So faithless and so ruthless known | L |
Now hither comes his end the same | W |
The same pretext of sylvan game | W |
What grace for Highland Chiefs judge ye | I2 |
By fate of Border chivalry | I2 |
Yet more amid Glenfinlas' green | L |
Douglas thy stately form was seen | L |
This by espial sure I know | I2 |
Your counsel in the streight I show ' | - |
- | |
XXIX | C |
Ellen and Margaret fearfully | J |
Sought comfort in each other's eye | A |
Then turned their ghastly look each one | L |
This to her sire that to her son | L |
The hasty color went and came | W |
In the bold cheek of Malcohm Graeme | W |
But from his glance it well appeared | I2 |
'T was but for Ellen that he feared | I2 |
While sorrowful but undismayed | I2 |
The Douglas thus his counsel said | I2 |
'Brave Roderick though the tempest roar | R2 |
It may but thunder and pass o'er | X |
Nor will I here remain an hour | X |
To draw the lightning on thy bower | X |
For well thou know'st at this gray head | I2 |
The royal bolt were fiercest sped | I2 |
For thee who at thy King's command | I2 |
Canst aid him with a gallant band | I2 |
Submission homage humbled pride | I2 |
Shall turn the Monarch's wrath aside | I2 |
Poor remnants of the Bleeding Heart | I2 |
Ellen and I will seek apart | I2 |
The refuge of some forest cell | J |
There like the hunted quarry dwell | J |
Till on the mountain and the moor | Z2 |
The stern pursuit be passed and o'er ' | - |
- | |
XXX | C |
'No by mine honor ' Roderick said | I2 |
'So help me Heaven and my good blade | I2 |
No never Blasted be yon Pine | L |
My father's ancient crest and mine | L |
If from its shade in danger part | I2 |
The lineage of the Bleeding Heart | I2 |
Hear my blunt speech grant me this maid | I2 |
To wife thy counsel to mine aid | I2 |
To Douglas leagued with Roderick Dhu | J |
Will friends and allies flock enow | L |
Like cause of doubt distrust and grief | J |
Will bind to us each Western Chief | J |
When the loud pipes my bridal tell | J |
The Links of Forth shall hear the knell | J |
The guards shall start in Stirling's porch | T |
And when I light the nuptial torch | T |
A thousand villages in flames | C |
Shall scare the slumbers of King James | C |
Nay Ellen blench not thus away | C |
And mother cease these signs I pray | C |
I meant not all my heat might say | C |
Small need of inroad or of fight | I2 |
When the sage Douglas may unite | I2 |
Each mountain clan in friendly band | I2 |
To guard the passes of their land | I2 |
Till the foiled King from pathless glen | L |
Shall bootless turn him home again ' | - |
- | |
XXXI | C |
There are who have at midnight hour | X |
In slumber scaled a dizzy tower | X |
And on the verge that beetled o'er | X |
The ocean tide's incessant roar | R2 |
Dreamed calmly out their dangerous dream | K2 |
Till wakened by the morning beam | K2 |
When dazzled by the eastern glow | J |
Such startler cast his glance below | J |
And saw unmeasured depth around | I2 |
And heard unintermitted sound | I2 |
And thought the battled fence so frail | J |
It waved like cobweb in the gale | J |
Amid his senses' giddy wheel | J |
Did he not desperate impulse feel | J |
Headlong to plunge himself below | J |
And meet the worst his fears foreshow | T |
Thus Ellen dizzy and astound | I2 |
As sudden ruin yawned around | I2 |
By crossing terrors wildly tossed | I2 |
Still for the Douglas fearing most | I2 |
Could scarce the desperate thought withstand | I2 |
To buy his safety with her hand | I2 |
- | |
XXXII | C |
Such purpose dread could Malcolm spy | A |
In Ellen's quivering lip and eye | A |
And eager rose to speak but ere | Z |
His tongue could hurry forth his fear | M |
Had Douglas marked the hectic strife | J |
Where death seemed combating with life | J |
For to her cheek in feverish flood | I2 |
One instant rushed the throbbing blood | I2 |
Then ebbing back with sudden sway | C |
Left its domain as wan as clay | C |
'Roderick enough enough ' he cried | I2 |
'My daughter cannot be thy bride | I2 |
Not that the blush to wooer dear | M |
Nor paleness that of maiden fear | M |
It may not be forgive her | X |
Chief Nor hazard aught for our relief | J |
Against his sovereign Douglas ne'er | Z |
Will level a rebellious spear | M |
'T was I that taught his youthful hand | I2 |
To rein a steed and wield a brand | I2 |
I see him yet the princely boy | A3 |
Not Ellen more my pride and joy | A3 |
I love him still despite my wrongs | C |
By hasty wrath and slanderous tongues | C |
O seek the grace you well may find | I2 |
Without a cause to mine combined ' | - |
- | |
XXXIII | C |
Twice through the hall the Chieftain strode | I2 |
The waving of his tartars broad | I2 |
And darkened brow where wounded pride | I2 |
With ire and disappointment vied | I2 |
Seemed by the torch's gloomy light | I2 |
Like the ill Demon of the night | I2 |
Stooping his pinions' shadowy sway | C |
- | |
Upon the righted pilgrim's way | C |
But unrequited Love thy dart | I2 |
Plunged deepest its envenomed smart | I2 |
And Roderick with thine anguish stung | J2 |
At length the hand of Douglas wrung | J2 |
While eyes that mocked at tears before | R2 |
With bitter drops were running o'er | X |
The death pangs of long cherished hope | U |
Scarce in that ample breast had scope | U |
But struggling with his spirit proud | I2 |
Convulsive heaved its checkered shroud | I2 |
While every sob so mute were all | J |
Was heard distinctly through the ball | J |
The son's despair the mother's look | S |
III might the gentle Ellen brook | S |
She rose and to her side there came | W |
To aid her parting steps the Graeme | W |
- | |
XXXIV | J |
Then Roderick from the Douglas broke | S2 |
As flashes flame through sable smoke | S2 |
Kindling its wreaths long dark and low | J |
To one broad blaze of ruddy glow | J |
So the deep anguish of despair | Z |
Burst in fierce jealousy to air | Z |
With stalwart grasp his hand he laid | I2 |
On Malcolm's breast and belted plaid | I2 |
'Back beardless boy ' he sternly said | I2 |
'Back minion holdst thou thus at naught | I2 |
The lesson I so lately taught | I2 |
This roof the Douglas and that maid | I2 |
Thank thou for punishment delayed ' | - |
Eager as greyhound on his game | W |
Fiercely with Roderick grappled Graeme | W |
'Perish my name if aught afford | I2 |
Its Chieftain safety save his sword ' | - |
Thus as they strove their desperate hand | I2 |
Griped to the dagger or the brand | I2 |
And death had been but Douglas rose | C |
And thrust between the struggling foes | C |
His giant strength ' Chieftains forego | J |
I hold the first who strikes my foe | J |
Madmen forbear your frantic jar | Y2 |
What is the Douglas fallen so far | Y2 |
His daughter's hand is deemed the spoil | J |
Of such dishonorable broil ' | - |
Sullen and slowly they unclasp | U |
As struck with shame their desperate grasp | U |
And each upon his rival glared | I2 |
With foot advanced and blade half bared | I2 |
- | |
XXXV | J |
Ere yet the brands aloft were flung | J2 |
Margaret on Roderick's mantle hung | J2 |
And Malcolm heard his Ellen's scream | K2 |
As faltered through terrific dream | K2 |
Then Roderick plunged in sheath his sword | I2 |
And veiled his wrath in scornful word ' | - |
Rest safe till morning pity 't were | X |
Such cheek should feel the midnight air | Z |
Then mayst thou to James Stuart tell | J |
Roderick will keep the lake and fell | J |
Nor lackey with his freeborn clan | L |
The pageant pomp of earthly man | L |
More would he of Clan Alpine know | J |
Thou canst our strength and passes show | J |
Malise what ho ' his henchman came | W |
'Give our safe conduct to the Graeme ' | - |
Young Malcolm answered calm and bold ' | - |
Fear nothing for thy favorite hold | I2 |
The spot an angel deigned to grace | C |
Is blessed though robbers haunt the place | C |
Thy churlish courtesy for those | C |
Reserve who fear to be thy foes | C |
As safe to me the mountain way | C |
At midnight as in blaze of day | C |
Though with his boldest at his back | B3 |
Even Roderick Dhu beset the track | B3 |
Brave Douglas lovely Ellen nay | C |
Naught here of parting will I say | C |
Earth does not hold a lonesome glen | L |
So secret but we meet again | L |
Chieftain we too shall find an hour ' | - |
He said and left the sylvan bower | X |
- | |
XXXVI | J |
Old Allan followed to the strand | I2 |
Such was the Douglas's command | I2 |
And anxious told how on the morn | L |
The stern Sir Roderick deep had sworn | L |
The Fiery Cross should circle o'er | X |
Dale glen and valley down and moor | Z2 |
Much were the peril to the Graeme | W |
From those who to the signal came | W |
Far up the lake 't were safest land | I2 |
Himself would row him to the strand | I2 |
He gave his counsel to the wind | I2 |
While Malcolm did unheeding bind | I2 |
Round dirk and pouch and broadsword rolled | I2 |
His ample plaid in tightened fold | I2 |
And stripped his limbs to such array | C |
As best might suit the watery way | C |
- | |
- | |
XXXVII | J |
Then spoke abrupt 'Farewell to thee | I2 |
Pattern of old fidelity ' | - |
The Minstrel's hand he kindly pressed | I2 |
'O could I point a place of rest | I2 |
My sovereign holds in ward my land | I2 |
My uncle leads my vassal band | I2 |
To tame his foes his friends to aid | I2 |
Poor Malcolm has but heart and blade | I2 |
Yet if there be one faithful Graeme | W |
Who loves the chieftain of his name | W |
Not long shall honored Douglas dwell | J |
Like hunted stag in mountain cell | J |
Nor ere yon pride swollen robber dare | Z |
I may not give the rest to air | Z |
Tell Roderick Dhu I owed him naught | I2 |
Not tile poor service of a boat | I2 |
To waft me to yon mountain side ' | - |
Then plunged he in the flashing tide | I2 |
Bold o'er the flood his head he bore | R2 |
And stoutly steered him from the shore | R2 |
And Allan strained his anxious eye | A |
Far mid the lake his form to spy | A |
Darkening across each puny wave | J |
To which the moon her silver gave | J |
Fast as the cormorant could skim | C3 |
The swimmer plied each active limb | C3 |
Then landing in the moonlight dell | J |
Loud shouted of his weal to tell | J |
The Minstrel heard the far halloo | J |
And joyful from the shore withdrew | J |
Walter Scott (sir)
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
Write your comment about The Lady Of The Lake: Canto Ii. - The Island poem by Walter Scott (sir)
Best Poems of Walter Scott (sir)