Dirge of the Highland Chief in “Waverley”
Son of the mighty and the free!High-minded leader of the brave!Was it for lofty chief like theeTo fill a nameless grave?Oh! if amidst the valiant slainThe warrior’s bier had been thy lot,E’en though on red Culloden’s plain,We then had mourn’d thee not.
But darkly closed thy dawn of fame,That dawn whose sunbeam rose so fair;Vengeance alone may breathe thy name,The watchword of Despair!Yet, oh! if gallant spirit’s powerHath e’er ennobled death like thine,Then glory mark’d thy parting hour,Last of a mighty line!
O’er thy own towers the sunshine falls,But cannot chase their silent gloom;Those beams that gild thy native wallsAre sleeping on thy tomb!Spring on thy mountains laughs the while,Thy green woods wave in vernal air,But the loved scenes may vainly smile:Not e’en thy dust is there.
On thy blue hills no bugle-soundIs mingling with the torrent’s roar;Unmark’d, the wild deer sport around:Thou lead’st the chase no more!Thy gates are closed, thy halls are still,Those halls where peal’d the choral strain;They hear the wind’s deep murmuring thrill,And all is hush’d again.
No banner from the lonely towerShall wave its blazon’d folds on high;There the tall grass and summer flowerUnmark’d shall spring and die.No more thy bard for other earShall wake the harp once loved by thine--Hush’d be the strain thou canst not hear,Last of a mighty line!
These very beautiful stanzas first appeared in the EdinburghAnnual Register for 1815, (p. 255,) with the following interestingheading.
Words in this poem
- nameless a.
- Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.
- 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]
- valiant a.
- Vigorous in body; strong; powerful; as, a valiant fencer. [OE. valiant, F. vaillant, OF. vaillant, valant, originally p. pr. of OF. & F. valoir to be worth, L. valere to be strong. See Wield, and cf. Avail, Convalesce, ]
- 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]
- sunbeam n.
- A beam or ray of the sun. [AS. sunnebeam.]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- peal v. i.
- To appeal. Spencer.
- choral a.
- Of or pertaining to a choir or chorus; singing, sung, or adapted to be sung, in chorus or harmony. Choral service, a service of song. [LL. choralis, fr. L. chorus. See Chorus.]
- 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,]
- blazon v. t.
- To depict in colors; to display; to exhibit conspicuously; to publish or make public far and wide. [From blazon, n.; confused with 4th blaze: cf. F. blasonner.]
- heading n.
- The act or state of one who, or that which, heads; formation of a head.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Dirge of the Highland Chief in “Waverley” is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Felicia Hemans, Project Gutenberg ebook #66785; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Felicia Hemans, Dirge of the Highland Chief in “Waverley”, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/dirge-of-the-highland-chief-in-waverley.html, id L13476.
Form and metre
Dirge of the Highland Chief in “Waverley” is 43 lines in 6 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 23% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABABCDCD freeA · braveB · theeA · graveB · slainC · lotD · plainC · notD
- 2 ABABCDCD fameA · fairB · nameA · despairB · powerC · thineD · hourC · lineD
- 3 ABABCDCD fallsA · gloomB · wallsA · tombB · whileC · airD · smileC · thereD
- 4 ABABCDCD soundA · roarB · aroundA · moreB · stillC · strainD · thrillC · againD
- 5 ABABCDCD towerA · highB · flowerA · dieB · earC · thineD · hearC · lineD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Son of the mighty and the free! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| High-minded leader of the brave! | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Was it for lofty chief like thee | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To fill a nameless grave? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Oh! if amidst the valiant slain | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| The warrior’s bier had been thy lot, | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| E’en though on red Culloden’s plain, | 8 | ········ |
| We then had mourn’d thee not. | 6 | ······ |
| But darkly closed thy dawn of fame, | 9 | ·/˘·˘···· |
| That dawn whose sunbeam rose so fair; | 8 | ···/···· |
| Vengeance alone may breathe thy name, | 8 | /˘˘/···· |
| The watchword of Despair! | 6 | ·/··˘/ |
| Yet, oh! if gallant spirit’s power | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| Hath e’er ennobled death like thine, | 9 | ··˘/˘˘··· |
| Then glory mark’d thy parting hour, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Last of a mighty line! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| O’er thy own towers the sunshine falls, | 9 | ···/˘·/·· |
| But cannot chase their silent gloom; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Those beams that gild thy native walls | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Are sleeping on thy tomb! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Spring on thy mountains laughs the while, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thy green woods wave in vernal air, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But the loved scenes may vainly smile: | 9 | ···˘··/˘· |
| Not e’en thy dust is there. | 6 | ······ |
| On thy blue hills no bugle-sound | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Is mingling with the torrent’s roar; | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| Unmark’d, the wild deer sport around: | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Thou lead’st the chase no more! | 6 | ······ |
| Thy gates are closed, thy halls are still, | 9 | ····˘···· |
| Those halls where peal’d the choral strain; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| They hear the wind’s deep murmuring thrill, | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| And all is hush’d again. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| No banner from the lonely tower | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Shall wave its blazon’d folds on high; | 8 | ········ |
| There the tall grass and summer flower | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Unmark’d shall spring and die. | 6 | ˘/···· |
| No more thy bard for other ear | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Shall wake the harp once loved by thine-- | 9 | ······˘·· |
| Hush’d be the strain thou canst not hear, | 8 | ········ |
| Last of a mighty line! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| These very beautiful stanzas first appeared in the Edinburgh | 14 | ·/˘/˘/˘·˘/··/˘ |
| Annual Register for 1815, (p. 255,) with the following interesting | 12 | /˘/˘····/˘/˘ |
| heading. | 2 | /˘ |
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