The Lay Of The Last Minstrel: Canto I Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: A BBCCDDEEFFGGHHGGCCIJ KKLMNN OOPPQQRMMLSSTTQQUU QQQJJQQJVJJWWNN QQQQQQXXJJJKKQQJJJXX QQPQQQQQQPQYYQQQQQQZ Z PPOOTTTJJ PA2B2A2OXOXO PC2A2C2A2A2A2OV PD2D2QQQQQD2D2Q PJJQQODA2A2 PQQE2E2E2E2F2XXF2 PA2OA2A2OTTOOJJTT PD2QD2QJOJOOQOOQ XOQOQOOJOJOJQJQE2E2 XOOOOOQOQPQJQJQQQQ QC2C2QC2QC2QQA2QA2 QPOPOOOQQQQQQQQ QQG2QG2QOQO PQQE2E2H2TE2T PQO QJJJJE2OE2QQQ PQJI2JI2QQQQ PQJ2J2K2K2OOQOOQ PQL2QL2OOOOQQQQQ QA2JA2JDQQQQOQOQOQO QPOPOJJ QQQQQQQJJQQKKQQJJ QQQQQF2F2QM2QUQQQQ QN2N2E2E2JJ PQOQOJQJD PQQJJQQQQQQQQJJ PE2E2QQQL2QL2L2L2 PQQQQQQQQPPJJOOPP PJJQM2O2QQQ QL2DJJL2L2QQQQQQ QJQJQQQQQJJOO QQQJJ QPE2E2L2L2JJL2L2L2L2 L2QQPQQQE2E2OOQQOOJJ

Introduction	A
	-
The way was long the wind was cold	B
The Minstrel was infirm and old	B
His wither'd cheek and tresses gray	C
Seem'd to have known a better day	C
The harp his sole remaining joy	D
Was carried by an orphan boy	D
The last of all the Bards was he	E
Who sung of Border chivalry	E
For welladay their date was fled	F
His tuneful brethren all were dead	F
And he neglected and oppress'd	G
Wish'd to be with them and at rest	G
No more on prancing palfrey borne	H
He caroll'd light as lark at morn	H
No longer courted and caress'd	G
High placed in hall a welcome guest	G
He pour'd to lord and lady gay	C
The unpremeditated lay	C
Old times were changed old manners gone	I
A stranger filled the Stuarts' throne	J
The bigots of the iron time	K
Had call'd hs harmless art a crime	K
A wandering Harper scorn'd and poor	L
He begg'd his bread from door to door	M
And timed to please a peasant's ear	N
The harp a king had loved to hear	N
	-
He pass'd where Newark's stately tower	O
Looks out from Yarrow's birchen bower	O
The Minstrel gazed with wishful eye	P
No humbler resting place was nigh	P
With hesitating step at last	Q
The embattled portal arch he bunny'd	Q
Whose ponderous grate and massy bar	R
Had oft roll'd back the tide of war	M
But never closed the iron door	M
Against the desolate and poor	L
The Duchess marked his weary pace	S
His timid mien and reverend face	S
And bade her page the menials tell	T
That they should tend the old man well	T
For she had known adversity	Q
Though born in such a high degree	Q
In pride of power in beauty's bloom	U
Had wept o'er Monmouth's bloody tomb	U
	-
When kindness had his wants supplied	Q
And the old man was gratified	Q
Began to rise his minstrel pride	Q
And he began to talk anon	J
Of good Earl Francis dead and gone	J
And of Earl Walter rest him God	Q
A braver ne'er to battle rode	Q
And how full many a tale he knew	J
Of the old warriors of Buccleuch	V
And would the noble Duchess deign	J
To listen to an old man's strain	J
Though stiff his hand his voice though weak	W
He thought even yet the sooth to speak	W
That if she loved the harp to hear	N
He could make music to her ear	N
	-
The humble boon was soon obtain'd	Q
The Aged Minstrel audience gain'd	Q
But when he reach'd the room of state	Q
Where she with all her ladies sate	Q
Perchance he wished his boon denied	Q
For when to tune his harp he tried	Q
His trembling hand had lost the ease	X
Which marks security to please	X
And scenes long past of joy and pain	J
Came wildering o'er his aged brain	J
He tried to tune his harp in vain	J
The pitying Duchess praised its chime	K
And gave him heart and gave him time	K
Till every string's according glee	Q
Was blended into harmony	Q
And then he said he would full fain	J
He could recall an ancient strain	J
He never thought to sing again	J
It was not framed for village churls	X
But for high dames and mighty carls	X
He had play'd it to King Charles the Good	Q
When he kept court in Holyrood	Q
And much he wish'd yet fear'd to try	P
The long forgotten melody	Q
Amid the strings his fingers stray'd	Q
And an uncertain warbling made	Q
And oft he shook his hoary head	Q
But when he caught the measure wild	Q
The old man raised his face and smiled	Q
And lighten'd up his faded eye	P
With all a poet's ecstasy	Q
In varying cadence soft or strong	Y
He swept the sounding chords along	Y
The present scene the future lot	Q
His toils his wants were all forgot	Q
Cold diffidence and age's frost	Q
In the full tide of song were lost	Q
Each blank in faithless memory void	Q
The poet's glowing thought supplied	Q
And while his harp responsive rung	Z
'Twas thus the Latest Minstrel sung	Z
	-
Canto I	P
I	P
The feast was over in Branksome tower	O
And the Ladye had gone to her secret bower	O
Her bower that was guarded by word and by spell	T
Deadly to hear and deadly to tell	T
Jesu Maria shield us well	T
No living wight save the Ladye alone	J
Had dared to cross the threshold stone	J
	-
II	P
The tables were drawn it was idlesse all	A2
Knight and page and household squire	B2
Loiter'd through the lofty hall	A2
Or crowded round the ample fire	O
The staghours weary with the chase	X
Lay stretch'd upon the rusy foloor	O
And urged in dreams the forest race	X
From Teviot stone to Eskdale moor	O
	-
III	P
Nine and twenty knights of fame	C2
Hung their shields in Branksome Hall	A2
Nine and twenty squires of name	C2
Brought them their steeds to bower from stall	A2
Nine and twenty yeomen tall	A2
Waited duteous on them all	A2
They were all knights of mettle true	O
Kinsmen to the bold Buccleuch	V
	-
IV	P
Ten of them were sheathed in steel	D2
With belted sword and spur on heel	D2
They quitted not their harness bright	Q
Neither by day nor yet by night	Q
They lay down to rest	Q
With corslet laced	Q
Pillow'd on buckler cold and hard	Q
They carved at the meal	D2
With gloves of steel	D2
And they drank the red wine through the helmet barr'd	Q
	-
V	P
Ten squires ten yeomen mail clad men	J
Waited the beck of the warders ten	J
Thirty steeds both fleet and wight	Q
Stood saddled in stable day and night	Q
Barbed with frontlet of steel I trow	O
And with Jedwood axe at saddlebow	D
A hundred more fed free in stall	A2
Such was the custom of Branksome Hall	A2
	-
VI	P
Why do these steeds stand ready dight	Q
Why watch these warriors arm'd by night	Q
They watch to hear the blood hound baying	E2
They watch to hear the war horn braying	E2
To see St George's red cross streaming	E2
To see the midnight beacon gleaming	E2
They watch against Southern force and guile	F2
Lest Scroop or Howard or Percy's powers	X
Threaten Branksome's lordly towers	X
From Warkwork or Naworth or merry Carlisle	F2
	-
VII	P
Such is the custom of Branksome Hall	A2
Many a valiant knight is here	O
But he the chieftain of them all	A2
His sword hangs rusting on the wall	A2
Beside his broken spear	O
Bards long shall tell	T
How Lord Walter fell	T
When startled burghers fled afar	O
The furies of the Border war	O
When the streets of high Dunedin	J
Saw lances gleam and falchion redden	J
And heard the slogan's deadly yell	T
Then the Chef of Branksome fell	T
	-
VIII	P
Can piety the discord heal	D2
Or stanch the death feud's enmity	Q
Can Christian lore can patriot zeal	D2
Can love of blessed charity	Q
No vainly to each holy shrine	J
In mutual pilgrimage they drew	O
Implored in vain the grace divine	J
For chiefs their own red falchions slew	O
While Cessford owns the rule of Carr	O
While Ettrick boasts the line of Scott	Q
The slaughter'd chiefs the mortal jar	O
The havoc of the feudal war	O
Shall never never be forgot	Q
	-
IX	X
In sorrow o'er Lord Walter's bier	O
The warlike foresters had bent	Q
And many a flower and many a tear	O
Old Teviot's maids and matrons lent	Q
But o'er her warrior's bloody bier	O
The Ladye dropp'd nor flowers nor tear	O
Vengeance deep brooding o'er the slain	J
Had lock'd the source of softer woe	O
And burning pride and high disdain	J
Forbade the rising tear to flow	O
Until amid his sorrowing clan	J
Her son lisp'd from the nurse's knee	Q
And if I live to be a man	J
My father's death revenged shall be	Q
Then fast the mother's tears did seek	E2
To dew the infant's kindling cheek	E2
	-
X	X
All loose her negligent attire	O
All loose her golden hair	O
Hung Margaret o'er her slaughter'd sire	O
And wept in wild despair	O
But not alone the bitter tear	O
Had filial grief supplied	Q
For hopeless love and anxious fear	O
Had lent their mingled tide	Q
Nor in her mother's alter'd eye	P
Dared she to look for sympathy	Q
Her lover 'gainst her father's clan	J
With Carr in arms had stood	Q
When Mathouse burn to Melrose ran	J
All purple with their blood	Q
And well she knew her mother dread	Q
Before Lord Cranstoun she should wed	Q
Would see her on her dying bed	Q
	-
XI	Q
Of noble race the Ladye came	C2
Her father was a clerk of fame	C2
Of Bethune's line of Picardie	Q
He learn'd the art that none may name	C2
In Padua far beyond the sea	Q
Men said he changed his mortal frame	C2
By feat of magic mystery	Q
For when in studious mode he paced	Q
St Andrew's cloister'd hall	A2
His form no darkening shadow traced	Q
Upon the sunny wall	A2
	-
XII	Q
And of his skill as bards avow	P
He taught that Ladye fair	O
Till to her bidding she could bow	P
The viewless forms of air	O
And now she sits in secret bower	O
In old Lord David's western tower	O
And listens to a heavy sound	Q
That moans the mossy turrets round	Q
Is it the roar of Teviot's tide	Q
That chafes against the scaur's red side	Q
Is it the wind that swings the oaks	Q
Is it the echo from the rocks	Q
What may it be the heavy sound	Q
That moans old Branksome's turrets round	Q
	-
XIII	Q
At the sullen moaning sound	Q
The ban dogs bay and howl	G2
And from the turrets round	Q
Loud whoops the startled owl	G2
In the hall both squire and knight	Q
Swore that a storm was near	O
And looked forth to view the night	Q
But the night was still and clear	O
	-
XIV	P
From the sound of Teviot's tide	Q
Chafing with the mountain's side	Q
From the groan of the wind swung oak	E2
From the sullen echo of the rock	E2
From the voice of the coming storm	H2
The Ladye knew it well	T
It was the Spirit of the Flood that spoke	E2
And he called on the Spirit of the Fell	T
	-
XV	P
River Spirit	Q
Sleep'st thou brother	O
	-
Mountain Spirit	Q
Brother nay	J
On my hills the moon beams play	J
From Craik cross to Skelfhill pen	J
By every rill in every glen	J
Merry elves their morris pacing	E2
To aerial minstrelry	O
Emerald rings on brown heath tracing	E2
Trip it deft and merrily	Q
Up and mark their nimble feet	Q
Up and list their music sweet	Q
	-
XVI	P
River Spirit	Q
Tears of an imprisoned maiden	J
Mix with my polluted stream	I2
Margaret of Branksome sorrow laden	J
Mourns beneath the moon's pale beam	I2
Tell me thou who view'st the stars	Q
When shall cease these feudal jars	Q
What shall be the maiden's fate	Q
Who shall be the maiden's mate	Q
	-
XVII	P
Mountain Spirit	Q
Arthur's slow wain his course doth roll	J2
In utter darkness round the pole	J2
The Northern Bear lowers black and grim	K2
Orion's studded belt is dim	K2
Twinkling faint and distant far	O
Shimmers through mist each planet star	O
Ill may I read their high decree	Q
But no kind influence deign they shower	O
On Teviot's tide and Branksome's tower	O
Till pride be quell'd and love be free	Q
	-
XVIII	P
The unearthly voices ceast	Q
And the heavy sound was still	L2
It died on the river's breast	Q
It died on the side of the hill	L2
But round Lord David's tower	O
The sound still floated near	O
For it rung in the Ladye's bower	O
And it rung in the Ladye's ear	O
She raised her stately head	Q
And her heart throbb'd high with pride	Q
Your mountains shall bend	Q
And your streams ascend	Q
Ere Margaret be our foeman's bride	Q
	-
XIX	Q
The Lady sought the lofty hall	A2
Where many a bold retainer lay	J
And with jocund din among them all	A2
Her son pursued his infant play	J
A fancied moss trooper the boy	D
The truncheon of a spear bestrode	Q
And round the hall right merrily	Q
In mimic foray rode	Q
Even bearded knights in arms grown old	Q
Share in his frolic gambols bore	O
Albeit their hearts of rugged mould	Q
Were stubborn as the steel they wore	O
For the grey warriors prophesied	Q
How the brave boy in future war	O
Should tame the Unicorn's pride	Q
Exalt the Crescent and the Star	O
	-
XX	Q
The Ladye forgot her purpose high	P
One moment and no more	O
One moment gazed with a mother's eye	P
As she paused at the arched door	O
Then from amid the armed train	J
She call'd to her William of Deloraine	J
	-
XXI	Q
A stark moss trooping Scott was he	Q
As e'er couch'd Border lance by knee	Q
Through Solway sands through Tarras moss	Q
Blindfold he knew the paths to cross	Q
By wily turns by desperate bounds	Q
Had baffled Percy's best blood hounds	Q
In Eske or Liddell fords were none	J
But he would ride them one by one	J
Alike to him was time or tide	Q
December's snow or July's pride	Q
Alike to him was tide or time	K
Moonless midnight or matin prime	K
Steady of heart and stout of hand	Q
As ever drove prey from Cumberland	Q
Five times outlawed had be been	J
By England's King and Scotland's Queen	J
	-
XXII	Q
Sir William of Deloraine good at need	Q
Mount thee on the wightest steed	Q
Spare not to spur nor stint to ride	Q
Until thou come to fair Tweedside	Q
And in Melrose's holy pile	F2
Seek thou the Monk of St Mary's aisle	F2
Greet the Father well from me	Q
Say that the fated hour is come	M2
And to night he shall watch with thee	Q
To win the treasure of the tomb	U
For this will be St Michael's night	Q
And though stars be dim the moon is bright	Q
And the Cross of bloody red	Q
Will point to the grave of the mighty dead	Q
	-
XXIII	Q
What he gives thee see thou keep	N2
Stay not thou for food or sleep	N2
Be it scroll or be it book	E2
Into it Knight thou must not look	E2
If thou readest thou art lorn	J
Better hadst thou ne'er been born	J
	-
XXIV	P
O swiftly can speed my dapple grey steed	Q
Which drinks of the Teviot clear	O
Ere break of day the Warrior 'gan say	Q
Again will I be here	O
And safer by none may thy errand be done	J
Than noble dame by me	Q
Letter nor line know I never a one	J
Wer't my neck verse at Hairibee	D
	-
XXV	P
Soon in his saddle sate he fast	Q
And soon the steep descent he past	Q
Soon cross'd the sounding barbican	J
And soon the Teviot side he won	J
Eastward the wooded path he rode	Q
Green hazels o'er his basnet nod	Q
He passed the Peel of Goldiland	Q
And cross'd old Borthwick's roaring strand	Q
Dimly he view'd the Moat hill's mound	Q
Where Druid shades still flitted round	Q
In Hawick twinkled many a light	Q
Behind him soon they set in night	Q
And soon he spurr'd his courser keen	J
Beneath the tower of Hazeldean	J
	-
XXVI	P
The clattering hoofs the watchmen mark	E2
Stand ho thou courier of the dark	E2
For Branksome ho '' the knight rejoin'd	Q
And left the friendly tower behind	Q
He turn'd him now from Teviotside	Q
And guided by the tinkling rill	L2
Northward the dark ascent did ride	Q
And gained the moor at Horsliehill	L2
Broad on the left before him lay	L2
For many a mile the Roman way	L2
	-
XXVII	P
A moment now he slack'd his speed	Q
A moment breathed his panting steed	Q
Drew saddle girth and corslet band	Q
And loosen'd in the sheath his brand	Q
On Minto crags the moonbeams glint	Q
Where Barnhill hew'd his bed of flint	Q
Who flung his outlaw'd limbs to rest	Q
Where falcons hang their giddy nest	Q
Mid cliffs from whence his eagle eye	P
For many a league his prey could spy	P
Cliffs doubling on their echoes borne	J
The terrors of the robber's horn	J
Cliffs which for many a year	O
The warbling Doric reed shall hear	O
When some sad swain shall teach the grove	P
Ambition is no cure for love	P
	-
XXVIII	P
Unchallenged thence pass'd Deloraine	J
To ancient Riddel's fair domain	J
Where Aill from mountains freed	Q
Down from the lakes did raving come	M2
Each wave was creased with tawny foam	O2
Like the mane of a chestnut steed	Q
In vain no torrent deep or broad	Q
Might bar the bold moss trooper's road	Q
	-
XXIX	Q
At the first plunge the horse sunk low	L2
And the water broke o'er the saddlebow	D
Above the flaming tide I ween	J
Scarce half the charger's neck was seen	J
For he was barded from counter to tail	L2
And the rider was armed complete in mail	L2
Never heavier man and horse	Q
Stemm'd a midnight torrent's force	Q
The warrior's very plume I say	Q
Was daggled by the dashing spray	Q
Yet through good heart and Our Ladye's grace	Q
At length he gain'd the landing place	Q
	-
XXX	Q
Now Bowden Moor the march man won	J
And sternly shook his plumed head	Q
As glanced his eye o'er Halidon	J
For on his soul the slaughter red	Q
Of that unhallow'd morn arose	Q
When first the Scott and Carr were foes	Q
When royal James beheld the fray	Q
Prize to the victor of the day	Q
When Home and Douglas in the van	J
Bore down Buccleuch's retiring clan	J
Till gallant Cessford's heart blood dear	O
Reek'd on dark Elliot's Border spear	O
	-
XXXI	Q
In bitter mood he spurred fast	Q
And soon the hated heath was past	Q
And far beneath in lustre wan	J
Old Melros' rose and fair Tweed ran	J
	-
Like some tall rock with lichens grey	Q
Seem'd dimly huge the dark Abbaye	P
When Harwick he pass'd had curfew rung	E2
Now midnight lauds were in Melrose sung	E2
The sound upon the fitful gale	L2
In solemn wise did rise and fail	L2
Like that wild harp whose magic tone	J
Is waken'd by the winds alone	J
But when Melrose he reach'd 'twas silence all	L2
He meetly stabled his steed in stall	L2
And sought the convent's lonely wall	L2
Here paused the harp and with its swell	L2
The Master's fire and courage fell	L2
Dejectedly and low he bow'd	Q
And gazing timid on the crowd	Q
He seem'd to seek in every eye	P
If they approved his mistrelsy	Q
And diffident of present praise	Q
Somewhat he spoke of former days	Q
And how old age and wand'ring long	E2
Had done his hand and harp some wrong	E2
The Duchess and her daughters fair	O
And every gentle lady there	O
Each after each in due degree	Q
Gave praises to his melody	Q
His hand was true his voice was clear	O
And much they long'd the rest to hear	O
Encouraged thus the Aged Man	J
After meet rest again began	J

Walter Scott (sir)

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