The Spectre Boat. A Ballad
Light rued false Ferdinand to leave a lovely maid forlorn,Who broke her heart and died to hide her blushing cheek from scorn.One night he dreamt he wooed her in their wonted bower of love,Where the flowers sprang thick around them, and the birds sang sweetabove.
But the scene was swiftly changed into a churchyard’s dismal view,And her lips grew black beneath his kiss, from love’s delicious hue.What more he dreamt, he told to none; but, shuddering, pale, and dumb,Looked out upon the waves, like one that knew his hour was come.
’Twas now the dead watch of the night—the helm was lashed a-lee,And the ship rode where Mount Ætna lights the deep Levantine sea;When beneath its glare a boat came, rowed by a woman in her shroud,Who, with eyes that made our blood run cold, stood up and spoke aloud:—
“Come, Traitor, down, for whom my ghost still wanders unforgiven!Come down, false Ferdinand, for whom I broke my peace with heaven!”—It was vain to hold the victim, for he plunged to meet her call,Like the bird that shrieks and flutters in the gazing serpent’s thrall.
You may guess the boldest mariner shrunk daunted from the sight,For the spectre and her winding-sheet shone blue with hideous light;Like a fiery wheel the boat spun with the waving of her hand,And round they went, and down they went, as the cock crew from the land.
Words in this poem
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- wonted a.
- Accustomed; customary; usual.
- dismal a.
- Fatal; ill-omened; unlucky. [Formerly a noun; e. g., "I trow it was in the dismalle." Chaucer. Of uncertain origin; but perh. (as suggested by Skeat) from OF. disme, F. dîme, tithe, the phr]
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- levantine a.
- Of or pertaining to the Levant. J. Spencer. [F. levantin, or It. levantino. See Levant, n.]
- glare v. i.
- To shine with a bright, dazzling light. [OE. glaren, gloren; cf. AS. glær amber, LG. glaren to glow or burn like coals, D. gloren to glimmer; prob. akin to E. glass.]
- 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.]
- aloud adv.
- With a loud voice, or great noise; loudly; audibly. [Pref. a- + loud.]
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- spectre n.
- Something preternaturally visible; an apparition; a ghost; a phantom. [F. spectre, fr. L. spectrum an appearance, image, specter, fr. specere to look. See Spy, and cf. Spectrum.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Spectre Boat. A Ballad 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, The Spectre Boat. A Ballad, in The Pleasures of Hope, and Other Poems (1824), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59788, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/campbell-poems/the-spectre-boat-a-ballad.html, id L24415.
Form and metre
The Spectre Boat. A Ballad is 21 lines in 5 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
See other poems in iambic heptameter.
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 AAB-B forlornA · scornA · loveB · sweet · aboveB
- 2 AABB viewA · hueA · dumbB · comeB
- 3 AABB leeA · seaA · shroudB · aloudB
- 4 --AA unforgiven · heaven · callA · thrallA
- 5 AABB sightA · lightA · handB · landB
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 heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Light rued false Ferdinand to leave a lovely maid forlorn, | 14 | ···/˘····/˘·˘/ |
| Who broke her heart and died to hide her blushing cheek from scorn. | 14 | ·········/˘··· |
| One night he dreamt he wooed her in their wonted bower of love, | 15 | ·········/˘/˘·· |
| Where the flowers sprang thick around them, and the birds sang sweet | 14 | ··/˘·········· |
| above. | 2 | ·· |
| But the scene was swiftly changed into a churchyard’s dismal view, | 15 | ····/˘····/·/˘· |
| And her lips grew black beneath his kiss, from love’s delicious hue. | 15 | ···········˘/˘· |
| What more he dreamt, he told to none; but, shuddering, pale, and dumb, | 15 | ·········/˘˘··· |
| Looked out upon the waves, like one that knew his hour was come. | 15 | ···········/˘·· |
| ’Twas now the dead watch of the night—the helm was lashed a-lee, | 15 | ············˘·· |
| And the ship rode where Mount Ætna lights the deep Levantine sea; | 14 | ··········˘/˘· |
| When beneath its glare a boat came, rowed by a woman in her shroud, | 16 | ···········/˘··· |
| Who, with eyes that made our blood run cold, stood up and spoke aloud:— | 15 | ·····/·······˘/ |
| “Come, Traitor, down, for whom my ghost still wanders unforgiven! | 15 | ·/˘······/˘·˘/˘ |
| Come down, false Ferdinand, for whom I broke my peace with heaven!”— | 15 | ···/˘········/˘ |
| It was vain to hold the victim, for he plunged to meet her call, | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| Like the bird that shrieks and flutters in the gazing serpent’s thrall. | 15 | ······/˘··/˘/˘· |
| You may guess the boldest mariner shrunk daunted from the sight, | 15 | ····/˘/˘˘·/˘··· |
| For the spectre and her winding-sheet shone blue with hideous light; | 15 | ··/˘··/˘····/˘· |
| Like a fiery wheel the boat spun with the waving of her hand, | 15 | ··/˘······/˘··· |
| And round they went, and down they went, as the cock crew from the land. | 15 | ··············· |
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