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The Covenanter’s Lament for Bothwell Bridge

Winthrop Mackworth Praed (1802–1839) · 1820–1839

iambic tetrameter · ABBA · 52 lines · from Poems

The men of sin prevail!Once more the prince of this world lifts his horn;Judah is scattered, as the chaff is borneBefore the stormy gale.

Where are our brethren? whereThe good and true, the terrible and fleet?They whom we loved, with whom we sat at meat,With whom we kneeled in prayer?

Mangled and marred they lieUpon the bloody pillow of their rest;Stern Dalzell smiles, and Clavers with a jestSpurs his fierce charger by.

So let our foes rejoice;We to the Lord, who hears their impious boasts,Will call for comfort; to the God of hostsWe will lift up our voice.

Give ear unto our song;For we are wandering o’er our native landAs sheep that have no shepherd; and the handOf wicked men is strong.

Only to Thee we bow:Our lips have drained the fury of Thy cup;And the deep murmurs of our hearts go upTo Heaven for vengeance now.

Avenge,--oh! not our yearsOf pain and wrong, the blood of martyrs shed,The ashes heaped upon the hoary head,The maiden’s silent tears.

The babe’s bread torn away,The harvest blasted by the war-steed’s hoof,The red flame wreathing o’er the cottage roof,Judge not for these to-day!--

Is not Thine own dread rodMocked by the proud, Thy holy book disdained,Thy name blasphemed, Thy temple courts profaned?Avenge Thyself, O God!

Break Pharaoh’s iron crown;Bind with new chains their nobles and their kings:Wash from thine house the blood of unclean things,And hurl their Dagon down!

Come in Thine own good time!We will abide; we have not turned from Thee,Though in a world of grief our portion be,Of bitter grief and crime.

Be Thou our guard and guide!Forth from the spoiler’s synagogue we go,That we may worship where the torrents flowAnd where the whirlwinds ride.

From lonely rocks and cavesWe will pour forth our sacrifice of prayer.--On, brethren, to the mountains! seek we thereSafe temples, quiet graves!

Words in this poem

jest n.: A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
charger n.: One who, or that which charges.
hoary a.: White or whitish."The hoary willows."
babe n.: An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
blasted a.: Blighted; withered.
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.]
dagon n.: A slip or piece. [See Dag a loose end.]
synagogue n.: A congregation or assembly of Jews met for the purpose of worship, or the performance of religious rites. [F., from L. synagoga, Gr. Syn-, and Agent.]

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

About this text

The Covenanter’s Lament for Bothwell Bridge is in the public domain. This text is taken from The poems of Winthrop Mackworth Praed. [selected], Project Gutenberg ebook #71008; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Winthrop Mackworth Praed, The Covenanter’s Lament for Bothwell Bridge, in Poems (1820–1839), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #71008, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/praed-poems/the-covenanter-s-lament-for-bothwell-bridge.html, id L10237.

Form and metre

The Covenanter’s Lament for Bothwell Bridge is 52 lines in 13 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBA. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

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 ABBA prevail^A · horn^B · borne^B · gale^A
2 ABBA where^A · fleet^B · meat^B · prayer^A
3 ABBA lie^A · rest^B · jest^B · by^A
4 ABBA rejoice^A · boasts^B · hosts^B · voice^A
5 ABBA song^A · land^B · hand^B · strong^A
6 ABBA bow^A · cup^B · up^B · now^A
7 ABBA years^A · shed^B · head^B · tears^A
8 ABBA away^A · hoof^B · roof^B · day^A
9 ABBA rod^A · disdained^B · profaned^B · god^A
10 ABBA crown^A · kings^B · things^B · down^A
11 ABBA time^A · thee^B · be^B · crime^A
12 ABBA guide^A · go^B · flow^B · ride^A
13 ABBA caves^A · prayer^B · there^B · graves^A

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
The men of sin prevail!	6	····˘/
Once more the prince of this world lifts his horn;	10	··········
Judah is scattered, as the chaff is borne	10	/˘·/˘·····
Before the stormy gale.	6	···/˘·
Where are our brethren? where	7	··/˘/˘·
The good and true, the terrible and fleet?	9	·····/˘··
They whom we loved, with whom we sat at meat,	10	··········
With whom we kneeled in prayer?	7	····˘··
Mangled and marred they lie	8	/˘˘··˘··
Upon the bloody pillow of their rest;	10	···/˘/˘···
Stern Dalzell smiles, and Clavers with a jest	10	·/˘·······
Spurs his fierce charger by.	6	···/˘·
So let our foes rejoice;	7	··/˘·˘/
We to the Lord, who hears their impious boasts,	11	·······˘/˘·
Will call for comfort; to the God of hosts	10	···/˘·····
We will lift up our voice.	7	····/˘·
Give ear unto our song;	7	····/˘·
For we are wandering o’er our native land	10	···/˘·//˘·
As sheep that have no shepherd; and the hand	10	·····/˘···
Of wicked men is strong.	7	·/˘˘···
Only to Thee we bow:	6	/˘····
Our lips have drained the fury of Thy cup;	10	/····/˘···
And the deep murmurs of our hearts go up	10	···/˘·/···
To Heaven for vengeance now.	7	·/˘·/˘·
Avenge,--oh! not our years	7	˘/··/˘·
Of pain and wrong, the blood of martyrs shed,	10	·······/˘·
The ashes heaped upon the hoary head,	10	·/˘····/˘·
The maiden’s silent tears.	6	·/˘/˘·
The babe’s bread torn away,	6	····˘/
The harvest blasted by the war-steed’s hoof,	10	·/˘/˘·····
The red flame wreathing o’er the cottage roof,	10	···/˘··/˘·
Judge not for these to-day!--	6	······
Is not Thine own dread rod	6	······
Mocked by the proud, Thy holy book disdained,	10	·····/˘·˘/
Thy name blasphemed, Thy temple courts profaned?	10	·····/˘·˘/
Avenge Thyself, O God!	6	˘/˘/··
Break Pharaoh’s iron crown;	6	·/˘/˘·
Bind with new chains their nobles and their kings:	10	·····/˘···
Wash from thine house the blood of unclean things,	10	·······˘/·
And hurl their Dagon down!	6	···/˘·
Come in Thine own good time!	6	······
We will abide; we have not turned from Thee,	10	··˘/······
Though in a world of grief our portion be,	10	······//˘·
Of bitter grief and crime.	6	·/˘···
Be Thou our guard and guide!	7	··/˘···
Forth from the spoiler’s synagogue we go,	10	···/˘/˘···
That we may worship where the torrents flow	10	···/˘··/˘·
And where the whirlwinds ride.	6	···/··
From lonely rocks and caves	6	·/˘···
We will pour forth our sacrifice of prayer.--	10	····//˘···
On, brethren, to the mountains! seek we there	10	·/˘··/˘···
Safe temples, quiet graves!	6	·/˘/˘·

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