Lochinvar
Oh, young Lochinvar is come out of the west.Through all the wide Border his steed was the best,And save his good broadsword he weapons had none;He rode all unarmed, and he rode all alone.So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war,There never was knight like the young Lochinvar.
He stayed not for brake, and he stopped not for stone,He swam the Eske River where ford there was none;But ere he alighted at Netherby gateThe bride had consented, the gallant came late:For a laggard in love, and a dastard in warWas to wed the fair Ellen of brave Lochinvar.
So boldly he entered the Netherby Hall,Among bridesmen and kinsmen and brothers and all:Then spoke the bride’s father, his hand on his sword(For the poor craven bridegroom said never a word),“Oh, come ye in peace here, or come ye in war,Or to dance at our bridal, young Lord Lochinvar?”
“I long woo’d your daughter, my suit you denied;--Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like its tide--And now am I come, with this lost love of mine,To lead but one measure, drink one cup of wine.There are maidens in Scotland more lovely by far,That would gladly be bride to the young Lochinvar.”
The bride kissed the goblet; the knight took it up;He quaffed of the wine, and he threw down the cup.She looked down to blush, and she looked up to sigh,With a smile on her lips and a tear in her eye.He took her soft hand ere her mother could bar,--“Now tread we a measure!” said young Lochinvar.
So stately his form, and so lovely her face,That never a hall such a galliard did grace;While her mother did fret, and her father did fume,And the bridegroom stood dangling his bonnet and plume,And the bridemaidens whispered, “’Twere better by farTo have matched our fair cousin with young Lochinvar.”
One touch to her hand, and one word in her ear,When they reached the hall door, and the charger stood near;So light to the croupe the fair lady he swung,So light to the saddle before her he sprung!“She is won! we are gone, over bank, bush, and scaur;They’ll have fleet steeds that follow,” quoth young Lochinvar.
There was mounting ’mong Græmes of the Netherby clan;Forsters, Fenwicks, and Musgraves, they rode and they ran:There was racing and chasing, on Cannobie Lee,But the lost bride of Netherby ne’er did they see.So daring in love, and so dauntless in war,Have ye e’er heard of gallant like young Lochinvar?
Words in this poem 18
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- broadsword n.
- A sword with a broad blade and a cutting edge; a claymore.
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- unarmed a.
- Not armed or armored; having no arms or weapons. [Pref. un- not + armed.]
- dauntless a.
- Incapable of being daunted; undaunted; bold; fearless; intrepid.
- stayed a.
- Staid; fixed; settled; sober; -- now written staid. See Staid.
- laggard a.
- Slow; sluggish; backward. [Lag + -ard.]
- dastard n.
- One who meanly shrinks from danger; an arrant coward; a poltroon. [Prob. from Icel. dæstr exhausted. breathless, p. p. of dæsa to groan, lose one's breath; cf. dasask to become exhausted, and E. daze.]
- boldly adv.
- In a bold manner. [AS. bealdlice.]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- craven v. t.
- To make recreant, weak, spiritless, or cowardly.
- bridegroom n.
- A man newly married, or just about to be married. [OE. bridegome, brudgume, AS. br (akin to OS. br, D. bruidegom, bruigom, OHG. pr, MHG. briutegome, G. bräutigam); AS. br bride + guma man, akin to Goth. guma, Ic]
- gladly adv.
- Preferably; by choice. [From Glad, a.]
- galliard a.
- Gay; brisk; active. [OE., fr. F. gaillard, perh. of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. & Gael. galach valiant, or AS. gagol, geagl, wanton, lascivious.]
- fume n.
- Exhalation; volatile matter (esp. noxious vapor or smoke) ascending in a dense body; smoke; vapor; reek; as, the fumes of tobacco. [L. fumus; akin to Skr. dh smoke, dh to shake, fan a flame, cf. Gr. fum smoke, F. fumée. Cf. Dust, n., Femerell, Thyme.]
- charger n.
- One who, or that which charges.
- scaur n.
- A precipitous bank or rock; a scar.
- quoth v. t.
- Said; spoke; uttered; -- used only in the first and third persons in the past tenses, and always followed by its nominative, the word or words said being the object; as, quoth I. quoth he. [AS.cweedhan, imp cwæedh, pl. cwædon; akin to OS. queedhan, OHG. quethan, quedan, Icel. kveedha, Goth. qiþan. sq. root22. Cf. Bequeath.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Lochinvar is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Every Child Should Know The What-Every-Child-Should-Know-Library, Project Gutenberg ebook #16436; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Mary E. Burt, Lochinvar, in Poems Every Child Should Know (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16436, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poems-every-child/lochinvar.html, id L25221.
Form and metre
Lochinvar is 48 lines in 8 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABBCC, complete in 5 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 AA---- westA · bestA · none · alone · war · lochinvar
- 2 --AA-- stone · none · gateA · lateA · war · lochinvar
- 3 AA---- hallA · allA · sword · word · war · lochinvar
- 4 AABBCC deniedA · tideA · mineB · wineB · farC · lochinvarC
- 5 AABBCC upA · cupA · sighB · eyeB · barC · lochinvarC
- 6 AABBCC faceA · graceA · fumeB · plumeB · farC · lochinvarC
- 7 AABBCC earA · nearA · swungB · sprungB · scaurC · lochinvarC
- 8 AABBCC clanA · ranA · leeB · seeB · warC · lochinvarC
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, young Lochinvar is come out of the west. | 11 | ··········· |
| Through all the wide Border his steed was the best, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| And save his good broadsword he weapons had none; | 11 | ····/··/˘·· |
| He rode all unarmed, and he rode all alone. | 11 | ···˘/····˘/ |
| So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| There never was knight like the young Lochinvar. | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| He stayed not for brake, and he stopped not for stone, | 11 | ··········· |
| He swam the Eske River where ford there was none; | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| But ere he alighted at Netherby gate | 11 | ···˘/˘····· |
| The bride had consented, the gallant came late: | 11 | ···˘/˘·/˘·· |
| For a laggard in love, and a dastard in war | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| Was to wed the fair Ellen of brave Lochinvar. | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| So boldly he entered the Netherby Hall, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| Among bridesmen and kinsmen and brothers and all: | 13 | ·········/˘·· |
| Then spoke the bride’s father, his hand on his sword | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| (For the poor craven bridegroom said never a word), | 11 | ···/˘/··/·· |
| “Oh, come ye in peace here, or come ye in war, | 11 | ··········· |
| Or to dance at our bridal, young Lord Lochinvar?” | 12 | ····//˘····· |
| “I long woo’d your daughter, my suit you denied;-- | 11 | ····/˘···˘/ |
| Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like its tide-- | 11 | ··········· |
| And now am I come, with this lost love of mine, | 11 | ··········· |
| To lead but one measure, drink one cup of wine. | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| There are maidens in Scotland more lovely by far, | 12 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| That would gladly be bride to the young Lochinvar.” | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| The bride kissed the goblet; the knight took it up; | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| He quaffed of the wine, and he threw down the cup. | 11 | ··········· |
| She looked down to blush, and she looked up to sigh, | 11 | ··········· |
| With a smile on her lips and a tear in her eye. | 12 | ············ |
| He took her soft hand ere her mother could bar,-- | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| “Now tread we a measure!” said young Lochinvar. | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| So stately his form, and so lovely her face, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| That never a hall such a galliard did grace; | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| While her mother did fret, and her father did fume, | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| And the bridegroom stood dangling his bonnet and plume, | 12 | ··/··/˘·/˘·· |
| And the bridemaidens whispered, “’Twere better by far | 13 | ······/˘·/˘·· |
| To have matched our fair cousin with young Lochinvar.” | 12 | ···/·/˘····· |
| One touch to her hand, and one word in her ear, | 11 | ··········· |
| When they reached the hall door, and the charger stood near; | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| So light to the croupe the fair lady he swung, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| So light to the saddle before her he sprung! | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| “She is won! we are gone, over bank, bush, and scaur; | 11 | ··········· |
| They’ll have fleet steeds that follow,” quoth young Lochinvar. | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| There was mounting ’mong Græmes of the Netherby clan; | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| Forsters, Fenwicks, and Musgraves, they rode and they ran: | 12 | /˘/··/˘····· |
| There was racing and chasing, on Cannobie Lee, | 12 | ··/˘·/˘····· |
| But the lost bride of Netherby ne’er did they see. | 12 | ············ |
| So daring in love, and so dauntless in war, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| Have ye e’er heard of gallant like young Lochinvar? | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
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