Lord Ullin’s Daughter
A chieftain to the Highlands bound,Cries, “Boatman, do not tarry!And I’ll give thee a silver pound,To row us o’er the ferry.”
“Now who be ye, would cross Lochgyle,This dark and stormy water?”“O, I’m the chief of Ulva’s isle,And this Lord Ullin’s daughter.
“And fast before her father’s menThree days we’ve fled together,For should he find us in the glen,My blood would stain the heather.
“His horsemen hard behind us ride;Should they our steps discover,Then who will cheer my bonny brideWhen they have slain her lover?”
Outspoke the hardy Highland wight“I’ll go, my chief—I’m ready;It is not for your silver bright,But for your winsome lady:
“And by my word! the bonny birdIn danger shall not tarry;So though the waves are raging white,I’ll row you o’er the ferry.”
By this the storm grew loud apace,The water-wraith was shrieking;And in the scowl of heaven each faceGrew dark as they were speaking.
But still as wilder blew the wind,And as the night grew drearer,Adown the glen rode armèd men,Their trampling sounded nearer.
“O haste thee, haste!” the lady cries,“Though tempests round us gather;I’ll meet the raging of the skies,But not an angry father.”
The boat has left a stormy land,A stormy sea before her,—When, oh! too strong for human hand,The tempest gathered o’er her.
And still they rowed amidst the roarOf waters fast prevailing:Lord Ullin reached that fatal shore,His wrath was changed to wailing.
For sore dismayed, through storm and shade,His child he did discover:One lovely hand she stretched for aid,And one was round her lover.
“Come back! come back!” he cried in grief,“Across this stormy water:And I’ll forgive your Highland chief,My daughter!—oh my daughter!”
Twas vain: the loud waves lashed the shore,Return or aid preventing:The waters wild went o’er his child—And he was left lamenting.
The evil spirit of the waters.
Words in this poem 15
- boatman n.
- A man who manages a boat; a rower of a boat.
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- discover v. i.
- To discover or show one's self.
- bonny a.
- Handsome; beautiful; pretty; attractively lively and graceful. [OE. boni, prob. fr. F. bon, fem. bonne, good, fr. L. bonus good. See Bounty, and cf. Bonus, Boon.]
- wight n.
- A whit; a bit; a jot. [OE. wight, wiht, a wight, a whit, AS. wiht, wuht, a creature, a thing; skin to D. wicht a child, OS. & OHG. wiht a creature, thing, G. wicht a creature, Icel. v]
- winsome a.
- Cheerful; merry; gay; light-hearted. [AS. wynsum, fr. wynn joy; akin to OS. wunnia, OHG. wunna, wunni, G. wonne, Goth. wunan to rejoice (in unwunands sad), AS. wunian to dwell. Win, v. t., Wont, a.]
- 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,]
- apace adv.
- With a quick pace; quick; fast; speedily. [Pref. a- + pace. OE. a pas at a walk, in which a is the article. See Pace.]
- wraith n.
- An apparition of a person in his exact likeness, seen before death, or a little after; hence, an apparition; a specter; a vision; an unreal image. [Scot. wraith, warth; probably originally, a guardian angel, from Icel. vörthr a warden, guardian, akin to E. ward. See Ward a guard.]
- scowl v. i.
- To wrinkle the brows, as in frowning or displeasure; to put on a frowning look; to look sour, sullen, severe, or angry. [Akin to Dan. skule; cf. Icel. skolla to skulk, LG. schulen to hide one's self, D. schuilen, G. schielen to squint, Dan. skele, Sw. skela, AS. sceolh squinting. ]
- adown adv.
- From a higher to a lower situation; downward; down, to or on the ground. [OE. adun, adoun, adune. AS. of dune off the hill. See Down.]
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- amidst prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Lord Ullin’s Daughter 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, Lord Ullin’s Daughter, in The Pleasures of Hope, and Other Poems (1824), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59788, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/campbell-poems/lord-ullin-s-daughter.html, id L24435.
Form and metre
Lord Ullin’s Daughter is 57 lines in 15 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 9 of its 15 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%).
See other poems in iambic 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 ABAB boundA · tarryB · poundA · ferryB
- 2 ABAB lochgyleA · waterB · isleA · daughterB
- 3 ABAB menA · togetherB · glenA · heatherB
- 4 ABAB rideA · discoverB · brideA · loverB
- 5 A-A- wightA · ready · brightA · lady
- 6 -A-A bird · tarryA · white · ferryA
- 7 ABAB apaceA · shriekingB · faceA · speakingB
- 8 -A-A wind · drearerA · men · nearerA
- 9 A-A- criesA · gather · skiesA · father
- 10 ABAB landA · herB · handA · herB
- 11 ABAB roarA · prevailingB · shoreA · wailingB
- 12 ABAB shadeA · discoverB · aidA · loverB
- 13 ABAB griefA · waterB · chiefA · daughterB
- 14 -A-A shore · preventingA · child · lamentingA
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 iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A chieftain to the Highlands bound, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Cries, “Boatman, do not tarry! | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| And I’ll give thee a silver pound, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To row us o’er the ferry.” | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| “Now who be ye, would cross Lochgyle, | 9 | ········· |
| This dark and stormy water?” | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| “O, I’m the chief of Ulva’s isle, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And this Lord Ullin’s daughter. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| “And fast before her father’s men | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Three days we’ve fled together, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| For should he find us in the glen, | 8 | ········ |
| My blood would stain the heather. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| “His horsemen hard behind us ride; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Should they our steps discover, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Then who will cheer my bonny bride | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When they have slain her lover?” | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Outspoke the hardy Highland wight | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| “I’ll go, my chief—I’m ready; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| It is not for your silver bright, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But for your winsome lady: | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| “And by my word! the bonny bird | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In danger shall not tarry; | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| So though the waves are raging white, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I’ll row you o’er the ferry.” | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| By this the storm grew loud apace, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The water-wraith was shrieking; | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| And in the scowl of heaven each face | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Grew dark as they were speaking. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| But still as wilder blew the wind, | 7 | ···/··· |
| And as the night grew drearer, | 7 | ······· |
| Adown the glen rode armèd men, | 7 | ˘/····· |
| Their trampling sounded nearer. | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| “O haste thee, haste!” the lady cries, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| “Though tempests round us gather; | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| I’ll meet the raging of the skies, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But not an angry father.” | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| The boat has left a stormy land, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A stormy sea before her,— | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| When, oh! too strong for human hand, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The tempest gathered o’er her. | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| And still they rowed amidst the roar | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Of waters fast prevailing: | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Lord Ullin reached that fatal shore, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| His wrath was changed to wailing. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| For sore dismayed, through storm and shade, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| His child he did discover: | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| One lovely hand she stretched for aid, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And one was round her lover. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| “Come back! come back!” he cried in grief, | 8 | ········ |
| “Across this stormy water: | 7 | ˘/·/˘/˘ |
| And I’ll forgive your Highland chief, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| My daughter!—oh my daughter!” | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Twas vain: the loud waves lashed the shore, | 8 | ········ |
| Return or aid preventing: | 7 | ˘/··˘/˘ |
| The waters wild went o’er his child— | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And he was left lamenting. | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| The evil spirit of the waters. | 8 | ·//˘··/˘ |
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