Canto Fourth: The Prophecy II
Such fond conceit, half said, half sung,Love prompted to the bridegroom's tongue.All while he stripped the wild-rose spray,His axe and bow beside him lay,For on a pass 'twixt lake and woodA wakeful sentinel he stood.Hark!--on the rock a footstep rung,And instant to his arms he sprung.'Stand, or thou diest!--What, Malise?--soonArt thou returned from Braes of Doune.By thy keen step and glance I know,Thou bring'st us tidings of the foe.'--For while the Fiery Cross tried on,On distant scout had Malise gone.--'Where sleeps the Chief?' the henchman said.'Apart, in yonder misty glade;To his lone couch I'll be your guide.'--Then called a slumberer by his side,And stirred him with his slackened bow,--'Up, up, Glentarkin! rouse thee, ho!We seek the Chieftain; on the trackKeep eagle watch till I come back.'
Words in this poem
- wakeful a.
- Not sleeping; indisposed to sleep; watchful; vigilant.
- 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]
- henchman n.
- An attendant; a servant; a follower. Now chiefly used as a political cant term. [OE. hencheman, henxman; prob. fr. OE. & AS. hengest horse + E. man, and meaning, a groom. AS. hengest is akin to D. & G. hengst stallion, OHG. hengist horse, ge]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- glade n.
- An open passage through a wood; a grassy open or cleared space in a forest. [Prob. of Scand. origin, and akin to glad, a.; cf. also W. golead, goleuad, a lighting, illumination, fr. goleu light, clear, bright, goleu fwlch glade, lit., a ]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- slumberer n.
- One who slumbers; a sleeper.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto Fourth: The Prophecy II is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Lady of the Lake, Project Gutenberg ebook #3011; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Walter Scott, Canto Fourth: The Prophecy II, in The Lady of the Lake (1810), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3011, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/scott-lady-of-the-lake/canto-fourth-the-prophecy-ii.html, id L06645.
Form and metre
Canto Fourth: The Prophecy II is 22 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 91% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 14% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABBCCAADDEEFF--GGEEHH sungA · tongueA · sprayB · layB · woodC · stoodC · rungA · sprungA · soonD · douneD · knowE · foeE · onF · goneF · said · glade · guideG · sideG · bowE · hoE · trackH · backH
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Such fond conceit, half said, half sung, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Love prompted to the bridegroom's tongue. | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| All while he stripped the wild-rose spray, | 8 | ········ |
| His axe and bow beside him lay, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| For on a pass 'twixt lake and wood | 8 | ········ |
| A wakeful sentinel he stood. | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Hark!--on the rock a footstep rung, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| And instant to his arms he sprung. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| 'Stand, or thou diest!--What, Malise?--soon | 8 | ········ |
| Art thou returned from Braes of Doune. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| By thy keen step and glance I know, | 8 | ········ |
| Thou bring'st us tidings of the foe.'-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For while the Fiery Cross tried on, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| On distant scout had Malise gone.-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| 'Where sleeps the Chief?' the henchman said. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| 'Apart, in yonder misty glade; | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| To his lone couch I'll be your guide.'-- | 8 | ········ |
| Then called a slumberer by his side, | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| And stirred him with his slackened bow,-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| 'Up, up, Glentarkin! rouse thee, ho! | 8 | ········ |
| We seek the Chieftain; on the track | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Keep eagle watch till I come back.' | 8 | ·/˘····· |
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.