The Neckan
In summer, on the headlands,The Baltic Sea along,Sits Neckan with his harp of gold,And sings his plaintive song.
Green rolls, beneath the headlands,Green rolls the Baltic Sea;And there, below the Neckan’s feet,His wife and children be.
He sings not of the ocean,Its shells and roses pale:Of earth, of earth, the Neckan sings,He hath no other tale.
He sits upon the headlands,And sings a mournful staveOf all he saw and felt on earth,Far from the kind sea-wave.
Sings how, a knight, he wanderedBy castle, field, and town;But earthly knights have harder heartsThan the sea-children own.
Sings of his earthly bridal,Priest, knights, and ladies gay.“And who art thou,” the priest began,“Sir Knight, who wedd’st to-day?”
“I am no knight,” he answered;“From the sea-waves I come.”The knights drew sword, the ladies screamed,The surpliced priest stood dumb.
He sings how from the chapelHe vanished with his bride,And bore her down to the sea-halls,Beneath the salt sea-tide.
He sings how she sits weeping’Mid shells that round her lie.“False Neckan shares my bed,” she weeps;“No Christian mate have I.”
He sings how through the billowsHe rose to earth again,And sought a priest to sign the cross,That Neckan heaven might gain.
He sings how, on an evening,Beneath the birch-trees cool,He sate and played his harp of gold,Beside the river-pool.
Beside the pool sate Neckan,Tears filled his mild blue eye.On his white mule, across the bridge,A cassocked priest rode by.
“Why sitt’st thou there, O Neckan,And play’st thy harp of gold?Sooner shall this my staff bear leaves,Than thou shalt heaven behold.”
But, lo! the staff, it budded;It greened, it branched, it waved.“O ruth of God!” the priest cried out,“This lost sea-creature saved!”
The cassocked priest rode onwards,And vanished with his mule;And Neckan in the twilight grayWept by the river-pool.
He wept, “The earth hath kindness,The sea, the starry poles;Earth, sea, and sky, and God above,--But, ah! not human souls!”
In summer, on the headlands,The Baltic Sea along,Sits Neckan with his harp of gold,And sings this plaintive song.
Words in this poem
- surpliced a.
- Wearing a surplice.
- sate v. t.
- To satisfy the desire or appetite of; to satiate; to glut; to surfeit. [Probably shortened fr. satiate: cf. L. satus full. See Satiate.]
- cassocked a.
- Clothed with a cassock.
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- ruth n.
- Sorrow for the misery of another; pity; tenderness. [From Rue, v.: cf. Icel. hryggedh, hrygedh.]
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Neckan is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #54985; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Matthew Arnold, The Neckan, in Poems (1849–1867), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54985, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/arnold-poems/the-neckan.html, id L06974.
Form and metre
The Neckan is 68 lines in 17 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.9 syllables. 12 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 10% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-A headlands · alongA · gold · songA
- 2 -A-A headlands · seaA · feet · beA
- 3 -A-A ocean · paleA · sings · taleA
- 4 -A-A headlands · staveA · earth · waveA
- 6 -A-A bridal · gayA · began · dayA
- 7 -A-A answered · comeA · screamed · dumbA
- 8 -A-A chapel · brideA · halls · tideA
- 9 -A-A weeping · lieA · weeps · iA
- 10 -A-A billows · againA · cross · gainA
- 11 -A-A evening · coolA · gold · poolA
- 12 -A-A neckan · eyeA · bridge · byA
- 13 -A-A neckan · goldA · leaves · beholdA
- 14 -A-A budded · wavedA · out · savedA
- 15 -A-A onwards · muleA · gray · poolA
- 16 -A-A kindness · polesA · above · soulsA
- 17 -A-A headlands · alongA · gold · songA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In summer, on the headlands, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| The Baltic Sea along, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Sits Neckan with his harp of gold, | 8 | ········ |
| And sings his plaintive song. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Green rolls, beneath the headlands, | 7 | ······· |
| Green rolls the Baltic Sea; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And there, below the Neckan’s feet, | 8 | ········ |
| His wife and children be. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| He sings not of the ocean, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Its shells and roses pale: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Of earth, of earth, the Neckan sings, | 8 | ········ |
| He hath no other tale. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| He sits upon the headlands, | 7 | ······· |
| And sings a mournful stave | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Of all he saw and felt on earth, | 8 | ········ |
| Far from the kind sea-wave. | 6 | ······ |
| Sings how, a knight, he wandered | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| By castle, field, and town; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But earthly knights have harder hearts | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Than the sea-children own. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Sings of his earthly bridal, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Priest, knights, and ladies gay. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| “And who art thou,” the priest began, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| “Sir Knight, who wedd’st to-day?” | 6 | ······ |
| “I am no knight,” he answered; | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| “From the sea-waves I come.” | 6 | ······ |
| The knights drew sword, the ladies screamed, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The surpliced priest stood dumb. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| He sings how from the chapel | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| He vanished with his bride, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| And bore her down to the sea-halls, | 8 | ········ |
| Beneath the salt sea-tide. | 6 | ······ |
| He sings how she sits weeping | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| ’Mid shells that round her lie. | 6 | ······ |
| “False Neckan shares my bed,” she weeps; | 8 | ········ |
| “No Christian mate have I.” | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| He sings how through the billows | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| He rose to earth again, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And sought a priest to sign the cross, | 8 | ········ |
| That Neckan heaven might gain. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| He sings how, on an evening, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Beneath the birch-trees cool, | 6 | ······ |
| He sate and played his harp of gold, | 8 | ········ |
| Beside the river-pool. | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Beside the pool sate Neckan, | 7 | ˘/····· |
| Tears filled his mild blue eye. | 7 | ··˘···· |
| On his white mule, across the bridge, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| A cassocked priest rode by. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| “Why sitt’st thou there, O Neckan, | 7 | ······· |
| And play’st thy harp of gold? | 6 | ······ |
| Sooner shall this my staff bear leaves, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Than thou shalt heaven behold.” | 7 | ···/˘˘/ |
| But, lo! the staff, it budded; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| It greened, it branched, it waved. | 8 | ··˘··˘·· |
| “O ruth of God!” the priest cried out, | 8 | ········ |
| “This lost sea-creature saved!” | 7 | ···/˘·˘ |
| The cassocked priest rode onwards, | 8 | ·/˘˘··/˘ |
| And vanished with his mule; | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| And Neckan in the twilight gray | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Wept by the river-pool. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| He wept, “The earth hath kindness, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The sea, the starry poles; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Earth, sea, and sky, and God above,-- | 8 | ········ |
| But, ah! not human souls!” | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In summer, on the headlands, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| The Baltic Sea along, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Sits Neckan with his harp of gold, | 8 | ········ |
| And sings this plaintive song. | 6 | ···/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.