The Crew of the Long Serpent
Safe at anchor in Drontheim bayKing Olaf's fleet assembled lay,And, striped with white and blue,Downward fluttered sail and banner,As alights the screaming lanner;Lustily cheered, in their wild manner,The Long Serpent's crew
Her forecastle man was Ulf the Red,Like a wolf's was his shaggy head,His teeth as large and white;His beard, of gray and russet blended,Round as a swallow's nest descended;As standard-bearer he defendedOlaf's flag in the fight.
Near him Kolbiorn had his place,Like the King in garb and face,So gallant and so hale;Every cabin-boy and varletWondered at his cloak of scarlet;Like a river, frozen and star-lit,Gleamed his coat of mail.
By the bulkhead, tall and dark,Stood Thrand Rame of Thelemark,A figure gaunt and grand;On his hairy arm imprintedWas an anchor, azure-tinted;Like Thor's hammer, huge and dintedWas his brawny hand.
Einar Tamberskelver, bareTo the winds his golden hair,By the mainmast stood;Graceful was his form, and slender,And his eyes were deep and tenderAs a woman's, in the splendorOf her maidenhood.
In the fore-hold Biorn and BorkWatched the sailors at their work:Heavens! how they swore!Thirty men they each commanded,Iron-sinewed, horny-handed,Shoulders broad, and chests expanded.Tugging at the oar.
These, and many more like these,With King Olaf sailed the seas,Till the waters vastFilled them with a vague devotion,With the freedom and the motion,With the roll and roar of oceanAnd the sounding blast.
When they landed from the fleet,How they roared through Drontheim's street,Boisterous as the gale!How they laughed and stamped and pounded,Till the tavern roof resounded,And the host looked on astoundedAs they drank the ale!
Never saw the wild North SeaSuch a gallant companySail its billows blue!Never, while they cruised and quarrelled,Old King Gorm, or Blue-Tooth Harald,Owned a ship so well apparelled,Boasted such a crew!
Words in this poem
- screaming a.
- Uttering screams; shrieking.
- lanner n.
- A long-tailed falcon (Falco lanarius), of Southern Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa, resembling the American prairie falcon. [F. lanier, OF. also, lasnier. Cf. Lanyard.]
- lustily adv.
- In a lusty or vigorous manner.
- garb n.
- External appearance, as expressive of the feelings or character; looks; fashion or manner, as of speech. [OF. garbe looks, countenance, grace, ornament, fr. OHG. garawi, garwi, ornament, dress. akin to E. gear. See Gear, n.]
- varlet n.
- A servant, especially to a knight; an attendant; a valet; a footman. Spenser. Tusser. [OF. varlet, vaslet, vallet, servant, young man, young noble, dim of vassal. See Vassal, and cf. Valet.]
- wondered a.
- Having performed wonders; able to perform wonderful things.
- bulkhead n.
- A partition in a vessel, to separate apartments on the same deck. [See Bulk part of a building.]
- gaunt a.
- Attenuated, as with fasting or suffering; lean; meager; pinched and grim. [Cf. Norw. gand a thin pointed stick, a tall and thin man, and W. gwan weak.]
- brawny a.
- Having large, strong muscles; muscular; fleshy; strong.
- boisterous a.
- Rough or rude; unbending; unyielding; strong; powerful. [OE. boistous; of uncertain origin; cf. W. bwyst wild, savage, wildness, ferocity, bwystus ferocious.]
- drank n.
- Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [Cf. 3d Drake.]
- gorm n.
- Axle grease. See Gome.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Crew of the Long Serpent 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, The Crew of the Long Serpent, in A Psalm of Life, and Other Poems (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/the-crew-of-the-long-serpent.html, id L17666.
Form and metre
The Crew of the Long Serpent is 63 lines in 9 stanzas of 7 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCCB, complete in 8 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.3 syllables. 27 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 24% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 AABCCCB bayA · layA · blueB · bannerC · lannerC · mannerC · crewB
- 2 AABCCCB redA · headA · whiteB · blendedC · descendedC · defendedC · fightB
- 3 AABCCCB placeA · faceA · haleB · varletC · scarletC · litC · mailB
- 4 AABCCCB darkA · thelemarkA · grandB · imprintedC · tintedC · dintedC · handB
- 5 AABCCCB bareA · hairA · stoodB · slenderC · tenderC · splendorC · maidenhoodB
- 6 AABCCCB borkA · workA · sworeB · commandedC · handedC · expandedC · oarB
- 7 AABCCCB theseA · seasA · vastB · devotionC · motionC · oceanC · blastB
- 8 AABCCCB fleetA · streetA · galeB · poundedC · resoundedC · astoundedC · aleB
- 9 --A---A sea · company · blueA · quarrelled · harald · apparelled · crewA
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Safe at anchor in Drontheim bay | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| King Olaf's fleet assembled lay, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| And, striped with white and blue, | 7 | ··˘···· |
| Downward fluttered sail and banner, | 8 | /˘/˘··/˘ |
| As alights the screaming lanner; | 8 | ·˘/·/˘·· |
| Lustily cheered, in their wild manner, | 9 | /˘˘····/˘ |
| The Long Serpent's crew | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Her forecastle man was Ulf the Red, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Like a wolf's was his shaggy head, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| His teeth as large and white; | 6 | ······ |
| His beard, of gray and russet blended, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Round as a swallow's nest descended; | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| As standard-bearer he defended | 9 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Olaf's flag in the fight. | 6 | /˘···· |
| Near him Kolbiorn had his place, | 7 | ······· |
| Like the King in garb and face, | 7 | ······· |
| So gallant and so hale; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Every cabin-boy and varlet | 9 | /˘˘/˘··/˘ |
| Wondered at his cloak of scarlet; | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| Like a river, frozen and star-lit, | 9 | ··/˘/˘··· |
| Gleamed his coat of mail. | 5 | ····· |
| By the bulkhead, tall and dark, | 7 | ··/···· |
| Stood Thrand Rame of Thelemark, | 7 | ······· |
| A figure gaunt and grand; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| On his hairy arm imprinted | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Was an anchor, azure-tinted; | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Like Thor's hammer, huge and dinted | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Was his brawny hand. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Einar Tamberskelver, bare | 7 | /˘····· |
| To the winds his golden hair, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| By the mainmast stood; | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Graceful was his form, and slender, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| And his eyes were deep and tender | 8 | ······/˘ |
| As a woman's, in the splendor | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Of her maidenhood. | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| In the fore-hold Biorn and Bork | 7 | ······· |
| Watched the sailors at their work: | 8 | ·˘·/˘··· |
| Heavens! how they swore! | 5 | /˘··· |
| Thirty men they each commanded, | 8 | /˘···˘/˘ |
| Iron-sinewed, horny-handed, | 8 | /˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Shoulders broad, and chests expanded. | 8 | /˘···˘/˘ |
| Tugging at the oar. | 5 | /˘··· |
| These, and many more like these, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| With King Olaf sailed the seas, | 8 | ··/˘·˘·· |
| Till the waters vast | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Filled them with a vague devotion, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| With the freedom and the motion, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| With the roll and roar of ocean | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And the sounding blast. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| When they landed from the fleet, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| How they roared through Drontheim's street, | 8 | ···˘···· |
| Boisterous as the gale! | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| How they laughed and stamped and pounded, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Till the tavern roof resounded, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| And the host looked on astounded | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| As they drank the ale! | 5 | ····· |
| Never saw the wild North Sea | 7 | /˘····· |
| Such a gallant company | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Sail its billows blue! | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Never, while they cruised and quarrelled, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| Old King Gorm, or Blue-Tooth Harald, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Owned a ship so well apparelled, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Boasted such a crew! | 5 | /˘··· |
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