Glenara
O heard ye yon pibroch sound sad in the gale,Where a band cometh slowly with weeping and wail?’Tis the chief of Glenara laments for his dear;And her sire, and the people, are called to her bier.
Glenara came first with the mourners and shroud;Her kinsmen they followed, but mourned not aloud:Their plaids all their bosoms were folded around:They marched all in silence,—they looked on the ground.
In silence they reached over mountain and moor,To a heath, where the oak-tree grew lonely and hoar;“Now here let us place the grey stone of her cairn:Why speak ye no word!”—said Glenara the stern.
“And tell me, I charge you! ye clan of my spouse,Why fold ye your mantles, why cloud ye your brows?”So spake the rude chieftain:—no answer is made,But each mantle unfolding a dagger displayed.
“I dreamt of my lady, I dreamt of her shroud,”Cried a voice from the kinsmen, all wrathful and loud;“And empty that shroud, and that coffin did seem:Glenara! Glenara! now read me my dream!”
O! pale grew the cheek of that chieftain, I ween,When the shroud was unclosed, and no lady was seen;When a voice from the kinsmen spoke louder in scorn,’Twas the youth who had loved the fair Ellen of Lorn:
“I dreamt of my lady, I dreamt of her grief,I dreamt that her lord was a barbarous chief:On a rock of the ocean fair Ellen did seem;Glenara! Glenara! now read me my dream!”
In dust, low the traitor has knelt to the ground,And the desert revealed where his lady was found;From a rock of the ocean that beauty is borne—Now joy to the house of fair Ellen of Lorn!
Words in this poem
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- bier n.
- A handbarrow or portable frame on which a corpse is placed or borne to the grave. [OE. bæe, beere, AS. b, b; akin to D. baar, OHG. bara, G. bahre, Icel barar, Dbaare, L. feretrum, Gr. , from the same bear to produce. See 1st Bear, and cf. Barr]
- aloud adv.
- With a loud voice, or great noise; loudly; audibly. [Pref. a- + loud.]
- hoar v. t.
- To become moldy or musty. [AS. harian to grow gray.]
- cairn n.
- A rounded or conical heap of stones erected by early inhabitants of the British Isles, apparently as a sepulchral monument. [Gael. carn, gen. cairn, a heap: cf. Ir. & W. carn.]
- spouse v. t.
- To wed; to espouse. [See Espouse, and Spouse, n.]
- wrathful a.
- Full of wrath; very angry; greatly incensed; ireful; passionate; as, a wrathful man.
- ween v. i.
- To think; to imagine; to fancy. [OE. wenen, AS. w, fr. w hope, expectation, opinion; akin to D. waan, OFries. w, OS. & OHG. wan, G. wahn delusion, Icel. van hope, expectation, Goth. w, and D. w]
- unclosed a.
- Not separated by inclosures; open. Clarendon. [Pref. un- not + closed.]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- lorn a.
- Lost; undone; ruined. [Strong p. p. of Lose. See Lose, Forlorn.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Glenara is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Thomas Campbell, Project Gutenberg ebook #59788; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Campbell, Glenara, in The Pleasures of Hope, and Other Poems (1824), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59788, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/campbell-poems/glenara.html, id L24418.
Form and metre
Glenara is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 6 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%).
See other poems in anapaestic tetrameter.
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 AABB galeA · wailA · dearB · bierB
- 2 AABB shroudA · aloudA · aroundB · groundB
- 4 --AA spouse · brows · madeA · displayedA
- 5 AABB shroudA · loudA · seemB · dreamB
- 6 AABB weenA · seenA · scornB · lornB
- 7 AABB griefA · chiefA · seemB · dreamB
- 8 AABB groundA · foundA · borneB · lornB
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 anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| O heard ye yon pibroch sound sad in the gale, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Where a band cometh slowly with weeping and wail? | 12 | ···/˘/˘·/˘·· |
| ’Tis the chief of Glenara laments for his dear; | 12 | ·······˘/··· |
| And her sire, and the people, are called to her bier. | 12 | ··/··/˘····· |
| Glenara came first with the mourners and shroud; | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Her kinsmen they followed, but mourned not aloud: | 11 | ····/˘···˘/ |
| Their plaids all their bosoms were folded around: | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| They marched all in silence,—they looked on the ground. | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| In silence they reached over mountain and moor, | 10 | ·/˘···/˘·· |
| To a heath, where the oak-tree grew lonely and hoar; | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| “Now here let us place the grey stone of her cairn: | 11 | ··········· |
| Why speak ye no word!”—said Glenara the stern. | 11 | ··········· |
| “And tell me, I charge you! ye clan of my spouse, | 11 | ··········· |
| Why fold ye your mantles, why cloud ye your brows?” | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| So spake the rude chieftain:—no answer is made, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| But each mantle unfolding a dagger displayed. | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘·/˘˘/ |
| “I dreamt of my lady, I dreamt of her shroud,” | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Cried a voice from the kinsmen, all wrathful and loud; | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| “And empty that shroud, and that coffin did seem: | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| Glenara! Glenara! now read me my dream!” | 11 | ··········· |
| O! pale grew the cheek of that chieftain, I ween, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| When the shroud was unclosed, and no lady was seen; | 12 | ····˘/··/˘·· |
| When a voice from the kinsmen spoke louder in scorn, | 11 | ········/·· |
| ’Twas the youth who had loved the fair Ellen of Lorn: | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| “I dreamt of my lady, I dreamt of her grief, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| I dreamt that her lord was a barbarous chief: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| On a rock of the ocean fair Ellen did seem; | 11 | ·····/·/˘·· |
| Glenara! Glenara! now read me my dream!” | 11 | ··········· |
| In dust, low the traitor has knelt to the ground, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| And the desert revealed where his lady was found; | 12 | ··/˘˘/··/˘·· |
| From a rock of the ocean that beauty is borne— | 11 | ·····/·/˘·· |
| Now joy to the house of fair Ellen of Lorn! | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
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