Laurel · Mary E. Burt · Poems Every Child Should Know

The Inchcape Rock

Mary E. Burt (1850–1918) · 1904

iambic tetrameter · AABB · 68 lines · from Poems Every Child Should Know

No stir in the air, no stir in the sea,The ship was still as she could be;Her sails from heaven received no motion;Her keel was steady in the ocean.

Without either sign or sound of their shock,The waves flowed over the Inchcape Rock;So little they rose, so little they fell,They did not move the Inchcape Bell.

The Abbot of AberbrothokHad placed that Bell on the Inchcape Rock;On a buoy in the storm it floated and swung,And over the waves its warning rung.

When the Rock was hid by the surge’s swell,The mariners heard the warning Bell;And then they knew the perilous Rock,And blest the Abbot of Aberbrothok.

The sun in heaven was shining gay;All things were joyful on that day;The sea-birds screamed as they wheeled round,And there was joyance in their sound.

The buoy of the Inchcape Bell was seen,A dark spot on the ocean green;Sir Ralph the Rover walked his deck,And he fixed his eye on the darker speck.

He felt the cheering power of spring;It made him whistle, it made him sing:His heart was mirthful to excess,But the Rover’s mirth was wickedness.

His eye was on the Inchcape float.Quoth he, “My men, put out the boatAnd row me to the Inchcape Rock,And I’ll plague the Abbot of Aberbrothok.”

The boat is lowered, the boatmen row,And to the Inchcape Rock they go;Sir Ralph bent over from the boat,And he cut the Bell from the Inchcape float.

Down sank the Bell with a gurgling sound;The bubbles rose and burst around.Quoth Sir Ralph, “The next who comes to the RockWon’t bless the Abbot of Aberbrothok.”

Sir Ralph the Rover sailed away;He scoured the sea for many a day;And now grown rich with plundered store,He steers his course for Scotland’s shore.

So thick a haze o’erspread the sky,They cannot see the sun on high:The wind hath blown a gale all day,At evening it hath died away.

On the deck the Rover takes his stand;So dark it is they see no land.Quoth Sir Ralph, “It will be brighter soon,For there is the dawn of the rising moon.”

“Canst hear,” said one, “the broken roar?For methinks we should be near the shore.”“Now where we are I cannot tell,But I wish I could hear the Inchcape Bell.”

They hear no sound; the swell is strong;Though the wind hath fallen, they drift alongTill the vessel strikes with a shivering shock:“O Christ! it is the Inchcape Rock!”

Sir Ralph the Rover tore his hair,He curst himself in his despair:The waves rush in on every side,The ship is sinking beneath the tide.

But, even in his dying fear,One dreadful sound could the Rover hear,--A sound as if with the Inchcape BellThe Devil below was ringing his knell.

Words in this poem

rung n.: A floor timber in a ship. [OE. ronge, AS. hrung, a staff, rod, pole; akin to G. runge a short, thick piece of iron or wood, OD. ronghe a prop, support, Icel. röng a rib in a ship, Goth. H]
joyance n.: Enjoyment; gayety; festivity; joyfulness. [OF. joiance.]
ralph n.: A name sometimes given to the raven.
rover n.: One who practices robbery on the seas; a pirate. [D. roover a robber. See Rove, v. i.]
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.]
methinks v.: It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
tore n.: The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring. Mortimer. [Probably from the root of tear; cf. W. tór a break, cut, tóri to break, cut.]
curst a.: Froward; malignant; mischievous; malicious; snarling. [SeeCurse.]
dreadful a.: Full of dread or terror; fearful.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Inchcape Rock 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, The Inchcape Rock, in Poems Every Child Should Know (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16436, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poems-every-child/the-inchcape-rock.html, id L25245.

Form and metre

The Inchcape Rock is 68 lines in 17 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).

See other poems in iambic 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 AABB sea^A · be^A · motion^B · ocean^B
2 AABB shock^A · rock^A · fell^B · bell^B
3 AABB aberbrothok^A · rock^A · swung^B · rung^B
4 AABB swell^A · bell^A · rock^B · aberbrothok^B
5 AABB gay^A · day^A · round^B · sound^B
6 AABB seen^A · green^A · deck^B · speck^B
7 AABB spring^A · sing^A · excess^B · wickedness^B
8 AABB float^A · boat^A · rock^B · aberbrothok^B
9 AABB row^A · go^A · boat^B · float^B
10 AABB sound^A · around^A · rock^B · aberbrothok^B
11 AABB away^A · day^A · store^B · shore^B
12 AABB sky^A · high^A · day^B · away^B
13 AABB stand^A · land^A · soon^B · moon^B
14 AABB roar^A · shore^A · tell^B · bell^B
15 AABB strong^A · along^A · shock^B · rock^B
16 AABB hair^A · despair^A · side^B · tide^B
17 AABB fear^A · hear^A · bell^B · knell^B

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 iambic tetrameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
No stir in the air, no stir in the sea,	10	··········
The ship was still as she could be;	8	········
Her sails from heaven received no motion;	9	···/˘/·/˘
Her keel was steady in the ocean.	9	···/˘··/˘
Without either sign or sound of their shock,	10	··/˘······
The waves flowed over the Inchcape Rock;	8	·····/··
So little they rose, so little they fell,	10	·/˘···/˘··
They did not move the Inchcape Bell.	8	·····/··
The Abbot of Aberbrothok	8	·/˘·····
Had placed that Bell on the Inchcape Rock;	9	······/··
On a buoy in the storm it floated and swung,	12	··/˘····/˘··
And over the waves its warning rung.	8	·····/˘·
When the Rock was hid by the surge’s swell,	10	·······/˘·
The mariners heard the warning Bell;	8	·/˘··/˘·
And then they knew the perilous Rock,	8	·····/˘·
And blest the Abbot of Aberbrothok.	10	···/˘·····
The sun in heaven was shining gay;	8	···/·/˘·
All things were joyful on that day;	8	···/˘···
The sea-birds screamed as they wheeled round,	8	········
And there was joyance in their sound.	8	···/˘···
The buoy of the Inchcape Bell was seen,	10	·/˘··/····
A dark spot on the ocean green;	8	·····/˘·
Sir Ralph the Rover walked his deck,	8	···/˘···
And he fixed his eye on the darker speck.	10	·······/˘·
He felt the cheering power of spring;	8	···/˘/··
It made him whistle, it made him sing:	9	···/˘····
His heart was mirthful to excess,	8	···/˘·˘/
But the Rover’s mirth was wickedness.	9	··/˘··/˘˘
His eye was on the Inchcape float.	8	·····/··
Quoth he, “My men, put out the boat	8	········
And row me to the Inchcape Rock,	8	·····/··
And I’ll plague the Abbot of Aberbrothok.”	11	····/˘·····
The boat is lowered, the boatmen row,	9	···/˘····
And to the Inchcape Rock they go;	8	···/····
Sir Ralph bent over from the boat,	8	········
And he cut the Bell from the Inchcape float.	10	·······/··
Down sank the Bell with a gurgling sound;	9	······/˘·
The bubbles rose and burst around.	8	·/˘·····
Quoth Sir Ralph, “The next who comes to the Rock	10	··········
Won’t bless the Abbot of Aberbrothok.”	10	···/˘·····
Sir Ralph the Rover sailed away;	8	···/˘·˘/
He scoured the sea for many a day;	8	·/···/··
And now grown rich with plundered store,	8	·····/˘·
He steers his course for Scotland’s shore.	8	·····/˘·
So thick a haze o’erspread the sky,	8	········
They cannot see the sun on high:	8	·/˘·····
The wind hath blown a gale all day,	8	········
At evening it hath died away.	8	·/˘···˘/
On the deck the Rover takes his stand;	9	····/˘···
So dark it is they see no land.	8	········
Quoth Sir Ralph, “It will be brighter soon,	8	······/·
For there is the dawn of the rising moon.”	10	·······/˘·
“Canst hear,” said one, “the broken roar?	8	·····/˘·
For methinks we should be near the shore.”	9	·˘/······
“Now where we are I cannot tell,	8	·····/˘·
But I wish I could hear the Inchcape Bell.”	10	·······/··
They hear no sound; the swell is strong;	8	········
Though the wind hath fallen, they drift along	10	····/˘··˘/
Till the vessel strikes with a shivering shock:	10	··/˘···/˘·
“O Christ! it is the Inchcape Rock!”	8	·····/··
Sir Ralph the Rover tore his hair,	8	···/˘···
He curst himself in his despair:	8	··˘/··˘/
The waves rush in on every side,	8	·····/˘·
The ship is sinking beneath the tide.	9	···/˘····
But, even in his dying fear,	8	·/˘··/˘·
One dreadful sound could the Rover hear,--	9	·/˘···/˘·
A sound as if with the Inchcape Bell	9	······/··
The Devil below was ringing his knell.	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.

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