Duchommar
Morna, thou fairest of women,daughter of Cormac-Carbre!why in the circle of stones, in the caveof the rock, alone? The stream murmurethhoarsely. The blast groanethin the aged tree. The lake is troubledbefore thee. Dark are the clouds ofthe sky. But thou art like snow onthe heath. Thy hair like a thin cloudof gold on the top of Cromleach. Thybreasts like two smooth rocks on the hillwhich is seen from the stream of Brannuin.Thy arms, as two white pillarsin the hall of Fingal.
Words in this poem
- hoarsely adv.
- With a harsh, grating sound or voice.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Duchommar is in the public domain. This text is taken from Fragments of Ancient Poetry, Project Gutenberg ebook #8161; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: James Macpherson, Duchommar, in Fragments of Ancient Poetry (1760), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8161, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macpherson-ossian/duchommar.html, id L09654.
Form and metre
Duchommar is 14 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 72%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 71% 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Morna, thou fairest of women, | 8 | /˘·/˘·/˘ |
| daughter of Cormac-Carbre! | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| why in the circle of stones, in the cave | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| of the rock, alone? The stream murmureth | 10 | ···˘/··/˘˘ |
| hoarsely. The blast groaneth | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| in the aged tree. The lake is troubled | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| before thee. Dark are the clouds of | 8 | ········ |
| the sky. But thou art like snow on | 8 | ········ |
| the heath. Thy hair like a thin cloud | 8 | ········ |
| of gold on the top of Cromleach. Thy | 9 | ········· |
| breasts like two smooth rocks on the hill | 8 | ········ |
| which is seen from the stream of Brannuin. | 9 | ········· |
| Thy arms, as two white pillars | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| in the hall of Fingal. | 6 | ······ |
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.