The Phantom Ship
In Mather's Magnalia Christi,Of the old colonial time,May be found in prose the legendThat is here set down in rhyme.
A ship sailed from New Haven,And the keen and frosty airs,That filled her sails at parting,Were heavy with good men's prayers.
"O Lord! if it be thy pleasure"--Thus prayed the old divine--"To bury our friends in the ocean,Take them, for they are thine!"
But Master Lamberton muttered,And under his breath said he,"This ship is so crank and waltyI fear our grave she will be!"
And the ships that came from England,When the winter months were gone,Brought no tidings of this vesselNor of Master Lamberton.
This put the people to prayingThat the Lord would let them hearWhat in his greater wisdomHe had done with friends so dear.
And at last their prayers were answered:--It was in the month of June,An hour before the sunsetOf a windy afternoon,
When, steadily steering landward,A ship was seen below,And they knew it was Lamberton, Master,Who sailed so long ago.
On she came, with a cloud of canvas,Right against the wind that blew,Until the eye could distinguishThe faces of the crew.
Then fell her straining topmasts,Hanging tangled in the shrouds,And her sails were loosened and lifted,And blown away like clouds.
And the masts, with all their rigging,Fell slowly, one by one,And the hulk dilated and vanished,As a sea-mist in the sun!
And the people who saw this marvelEach said unto his friend,That this was the mould of their vessel,And thus her tragic end.
And the pastor of the villageGave thanks to God in prayer,That, to quiet their troubled spirits,He had sent this Ship of Air.
Words in this poem
- colonial a.
- Of or pertaining to a colony; as, colonial rights, traffic, wars. [Cf. F. colonial.]
- walty a.
- Liable to roll over; crank; as, a walty ship. [Cf. Walter to roll.]
- afternoon n.
- The part of the day which follows noon, between noon and evening.
- landward adv.
- Toward the land.
- hulk n.
- The body of a ship or decked vessel of any kind; esp., the body of an old vessel laid by as unfit for service. [OE. hulke a heavy ship, AS. hulc a light, swift ship; akin to D. hulk a ship of burden, G. holk, OHG. holcho; perh. fr. LL. holcas, Gr. Wolf, Holcad.]
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Phantom Ship 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 Phantom Ship, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/the-phantom-ship.html, id L17617.
Form and metre
The Phantom Ship is 52 lines in 13 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 25 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 christi · timeA · legend · rhymeA
- 2 -A-A haven · airsA · parting · prayersA
- 3 -AAA pleasure · divineA · oceanA · thineA
- 4 -A-A muttered · heA · walty · beA
- 5 -A-A england · goneA · vessel · lambertonA
- 6 -A-A praying · hearA · wisdom · dearA
- 7 -A-A answered · juneA · sunset · afternoonA
- 8 -A-A landward · belowA · master · agoA
- 9 -A-A canvas · blewA · distinguish · crewA
- 10 -A-A topmasts · shroudsA · lifted · cloudsA
- 11 -A-A rigging · oneA · vanished · sunA
- 12 -A-A marvel · friendA · vessel · endA
- 13 -A-A village · prayerA · spirits · airA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In Mather's Magnalia Christi, | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| Of the old colonial time, | 8 | ···˘/˘˘· |
| May be found in prose the legend | 8 | ······/˘ |
| That is here set down in rhyme. | 7 | ······· |
| A ship sailed from New Haven, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And the keen and frosty airs, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| That filled her sails at parting, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Were heavy with good men's prayers. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| "O Lord! if it be thy pleasure"-- | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Thus prayed the old divine-- | 6 | ····˘/ |
| "To bury our friends in the ocean, | 10 | ·/˘/˘···/˘ |
| Take them, for they are thine!" | 6 | ······ |
| But Master Lamberton muttered, | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| And under his breath said he, | 7 | ······· |
| "This ship is so crank and walty | 8 | ······/˘ |
| I fear our grave she will be!" | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| And the ships that came from England, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| When the winter months were gone, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Brought no tidings of this vessel | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Nor of Master Lamberton. | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| This put the people to praying | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| That the Lord would let them hear | 7 | ······· |
| What in his greater wisdom | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| He had done with friends so dear. | 7 | ······· |
| And at last their prayers were answered:-- | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| It was in the month of June, | 7 | ······· |
| An hour before the sunset | 8 | ·/˘···/· |
| Of a windy afternoon, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| When, steadily steering landward, | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| A ship was seen below, | 6 | ······ |
| And they knew it was Lamberton, Master, | 10 | ·····/˘˘/˘ |
| Who sailed so long ago. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| On she came, with a cloud of canvas, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Right against the wind that blew, | 7 | ······· |
| Until the eye could distinguish | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| The faces of the crew. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Then fell her straining topmasts, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Hanging tangled in the shrouds, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| And her sails were loosened and lifted, | 10 | ····/˘˘·/˘ |
| And blown away like clouds. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| And the masts, with all their rigging, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Fell slowly, one by one, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And the hulk dilated and vanished, | 10 | ···˘/˘·/˘˘ |
| As a sea-mist in the sun! | 7 | ······· |
| And the people who saw this marvel | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| Each said unto his friend, | 6 | ······ |
| That this was the mould of their vessel, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And thus her tragic end. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And the pastor of the village | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Gave thanks to God in prayer, | 6 | ······ |
| That, to quiet their troubled spirits, | 10 | ··/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| He had sent this Ship of Air. | 7 | ······· |
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