The Death of Clanronald
Oh, ne’er be Clanronald the valiant forgot!Still fearless and first in the combat, he fell;But we paused not one tear-drop to shed o’er the spot,We spared not one moment to murmur “Farewell.”We heard but the battle-word given by the chief,“To-day for revenge, and to-morrow for grief!”
And wildly, Clanronald! we echo’d the vow,With the tear on our cheek, and the sword in our hand;Young son of the brave! we may weep for thee now,For well has thy death been avenged by thy band,When they joined in wild chorus the cry of the chief,“To-day for revenge, and to-morrow for grief!”
Thy dirge in that hour was the bugle’s wild call,The clash of the claymore, the shout of the brave;But now thy own bard may lament for thy fall,And the soft voice of melody sigh o’er thy grave--While Albyn remembers the words of the chief,“To-day for revenge, and to-morrow for grief!”
Thou art fallen, O fearless one! flower of thy race!Descendant of heroes! thy glory is set:But thy kindred, the sons of the battle and chase,Have proved that thy spirit is bright in them yet!Nor vainly have echo’d the words of the chief,“To-day for revenge, and to-morrow for grief!”
Words in this poem
- 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, ]
- dirge n.
- A piece of music of a mournful character, to accompany funeral rites; a funeral hymn. [Contraction of Lat. dirige, direct thou (imperative of dirigere), the first word of a funeral hymn (Lat. transl. of Psalm v. 8) beginning, "Dirige, Domine, in c]
- claymore n.
- A large two-handed sword used formerly by the Scottish Highlanders. [Gael. claidheamhmor a broadsword; Gael. claidheamh sword + mor great, large. Cf. Claymore.]
- albyn n.
- Scotland; esp. the Highlands of Scotland. T. Cambell. [See Albion.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Death of Clanronald 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, The Death of Clanronald, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/the-death-of-clanronald.html, id L13478.
Form and metre
The Death of Clanronald is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 78% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.2 syllables.
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 ABABCC forgotA · fellB · spotA · farewellB · chiefC · griefC
- 2 ABABCC vowA · handB · nowA · bandB · chiefC · griefC
- 3 ABABCC callA · braveB · fallA · graveB · chiefC · griefC
- 4 ABABCC raceA · setB · chaseA · yetB · chiefC · griefC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oh, ne’er be Clanronald the valiant forgot! | 11 | ·······/˘˘/ |
| Still fearless and first in the combat, he fell; | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| But we paused not one tear-drop to shed o’er the spot, | 12 | ············ |
| We spared not one moment to murmur “Farewell.” | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·/ |
| We heard but the battle-word given by the chief, | 11 | ····/˘·/··· |
| “To-day for revenge, and to-morrow for grief!” | 11 | ···˘/··/˘·· |
| And wildly, Clanronald! we echo’d the vow, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| With the tear on our cheek, and the sword in our hand; | 12 | ····/·····/· |
| Young son of the brave! we may weep for thee now, | 11 | ··········· |
| For well has thy death been avenged by thy band, | 11 | ······˘/··· |
| When they joined in wild chorus the cry of the chief, | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| “To-day for revenge, and to-morrow for grief!” | 11 | ···˘/··/˘·· |
| Thy dirge in that hour was the bugle’s wild call, | 11 | ····/··/˘·· |
| The clash of the claymore, the shout of the brave; | 11 | ····/······ |
| But now thy own bard may lament for thy fall, | 11 | ······˘/··· |
| And the soft voice of melody sigh o’er thy grave-- | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| While Albyn remembers the words of the chief, | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘····· |
| “To-day for revenge, and to-morrow for grief!” | 11 | ···˘/··/˘·· |
| Thou art fallen, O fearless one! flower of thy race! | 12 | ··/˘·/˘·/··· |
| Descendant of heroes! thy glory is set: | 11 | ˘/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| But thy kindred, the sons of the battle and chase, | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| Have proved that thy spirit is bright in them yet! | 10 | ····/····· |
| Nor vainly have echo’d the words of the chief, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| “To-day for revenge, and to-morrow for grief!” | 11 | ···˘/··/˘·· |
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.