A Wraith in the Mist
On the green little isle of Inchkenneth,Who is it that walks by the shore,So gay with his Highland blue bonnet,So brave with his targe and claymore?
His form is the form of a giant,But his face wears an aspect of pain;Can this be the Laird of Inchkenneth?Can this be Sir Allan McLean?
Ah, no! It is only the Rambler,The Idler, who lives in Bolt Court,And who says, were he Laird of Inchkenneth,He would wall himself round with a fort.
Words in this poem
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- targe n.
- A shield or target. [F. Cf. Target.]
- 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.]
- laird n.
- A lord; a landholder, esp. one who holds land directly of the crown. [See Lord.]
- rambler n.
- One who rambles; a rover; a wanderer.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Wraith in the Mist is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, A Wraith in the Mist, in A Psalm of Life, and Other Poems (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/a-wraith-in-the-mist.html, id L17791.
Form and metre
A Wraith in the Mist is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is anapaestic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%). 85% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.9 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in anapaestic trimeter.
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 -A-A inchkenneth · shoreA · bonnet · claymoreA
- 2 -A-A giant · painA · inchkenneth · mcleanA
- 3 -A-A rambler · courtA · inchkenneth · fortA
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| On the green little isle of Inchkenneth, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Who is it that walks by the shore, | 8 | ········ |
| So gay with his Highland blue bonnet, | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| So brave with his targe and claymore? | 8 | ······/· |
| His form is the form of a giant, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| But his face wears an aspect of pain; | 9 | ·····/··· |
| Can this be the Laird of Inchkenneth? | 9 | ········· |
| Can this be Sir Allan McLean? | 8 | ····/˘˘/ |
| Ah, no! It is only the Rambler, | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| The Idler, who lives in Bolt Court, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And who says, were he Laird of Inchkenneth, | 10 | ·········· |
| He would wall himself round with a fort. | 9 | ···˘/···· |
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.