Lochinvar
Lochinvar
By Walter Scot
O 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 unarm’d, and
he rode all alone.
So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war,
There never was knight
like the young Lochinvar.
He staid not for brake, and he stopp’d not for stone,
He swam the Eske river
where ford there was none;
But ere he alighted at
Netherby gate,
The bride had consented,
the gallant came late:
For a laggard in love, and
a dastard in war,
Was to wed the fair Ellen
of brave Lochinvar.
So boldly he enter’d the
Netherby Hall,
Among bride’s-men, 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,)
“O 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 I am 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 kiss’d the
goblet: the knight took it up,
He quaff’d off the wine,
and he threw down the cup.
She look’d down to blush,
and she look’d 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 bride-maidens
whisper’d, “’twere better by far
To have match’d our fair
cousin with young Lochinvar.”
One touch to her hand, and
one word in her ear,
When they reach’d 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
Graemes 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?
Walter Scot
Sir
Walter Scott was born on 15th August 1771. He was Scottish
historical novelist, poet and historian.
Many of his works are well known for its English language literature and
Scottish literature. Some of his famous
works are “Ivanhoe”, “Rob Roy”, “Waverley”, “Old Mortality” and “The Bride of
Lammermoor.”
Scott
was an advocate, judge and legal administrator. Scott was a member of the Highland
Society. He served as a long term
president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1820 – 1832). He was the vice
president of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. He became one of the prominent figure in the
world of historical literature due to his knowledge of history.
Summary of the poem
Lochinvar
a courageous knight and a very romantic hero of the poem. The fearless knight loves Ellen. But her father, the king refuses to give his
daughter to Lochinvar in marriage. Ellen
agrees to marry a lethargic man who is not at all suitable for her virtues. But Lochinvar is not ready to give up on her.
He goes to the wedding hall and invites to bride for a final dance and they
both dance to the surprise of the guests.
They admire the handsome couple and wish them to unite in life. She is
under the spell of his love and they both dance across the wedding hall and
reach the entrance and Lochinvar is not ready to lose a minute, he took the
bride with her permission and jumps on his horse and rides away from there and
goes far away happily with his love.
Detail analysis
Stanza 1
“O 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 unarm’d, and he rode all alone.
So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war,
There never was knight like the young Lochinvar.”
Stanza one is full of praise for the brave knight Lochinvar. A proper introdutions to the brave knight. He is young, brave and romantic. He comes from the west like a dawning sun. his bravery is so well admired by all. He needs no weapons than his sword to give terror to his enemies’ spine. He enters the battle with confidence of his courage. The poet brings out his another character, his loyalty and firmness in love. He loves Ellen who agrees to marry a lethargic man for her father the King refuses to agree their marriage.
Stanza 2
“He staid not for brake, and he stopp’d not for stone,
He swam the Eske river where ford there was none;
But ere he alighted at Netherby gate,
The bride had consented, the gallant came late:
For a laggard in love, and a dastard in war,
Was to wed the fair Ellen of brave Lochinvar.”
In this stanza the poet
happily describes the success of young Lochinvar. He says, Lochinvar never leaves the battle
without completing it. He never gets
tired to go towards his victory and glory.
He has crossed the Eske River which is very deep and fast. He has crossed it without any fear. But his final fight is against the King at
Netherby gate is very heart breaking for the King o refuses to give his
daughter Ellen in marriage to him. It’s
sad to see that the bride agrees to marry another man who is not suitable to
her. Now he has come back to win his
love with great hope. Ellen thinks
Lochinvar as coward who doesn’t take her love seriously and so left her behind.
She is heartbroken as she thinks Lochinvar is too passionate and loyal to his
duty than to his love
Stanza 3
“So boldly he enter’d the Netherby Hall,
Among bride’s-men, 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,)
“O come ye in peace here, or come ye in war,
Or to dance at our bridal, young Lord Lochinvar?”
His action is very brave
and courageous. Now the brave knight without a work looks at everyone there.
The King roars and thunders in anger. He asks the knight whether he had come to
fight or to give his good wishes to the couple.
Stanza 4
“I long woo’d your daughter, my suit you denied;—
Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like its tide—
And now I am 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.”
A brave and challenging attitude of Lochinvar is described by the poet in this stanza. He replies the King without any agitation that he has given up his desire to marry Ellen as the king refuses the proposal. He says that he love to dance and drink in the celebration. Also he says that many maidens in Scotland, more beautiful than Ellen would be glad to be the bride of Lochinvar.
Stanza 5
“The bride kiss’d the goblet: the knight took it up,
He quaff’d off the wine, and he threw down the cup.
She look’d down to blush, and she look’d 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.”
Pretty Ellen kisses the goblet and gives to Lochinvar. The knight accepts it and drinks and throws the glass in anger. He is sad to and heartbroken to see his lady love is marrying another unsuitable man. He now offers his final dance with her. Ellen agrees to dance and lovers are united again. Her blush and smile on her face shows her affection to Lochinvar. Tears in her eyes says her pain of marrying another man. She loses her love for ever. The poet describes mixed emotions of the lovers who dance with pain.
Stanza 6
“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 bride-maidens whisper’d, “’twere better by far
To have match’d our fair cousin with young Lochinvar.”
The poet describes the dance of the couple and the way the crowd admire the couple. The couple captivated the whole crowd. The handsome Lochinvar and his strength matches the Ellen’s elegance and grace. The King gets anger to see the dance of the lovers. The bridesmaids are whispered and captured by the perfect match of the lovers. As they swooned across the floor the crowd express their admiration at the perfect match they both made.
Stanza 7
“One touch to her hand, and one word in her ear,
When they reach’d 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.”
An interesting turning point in the seventh stanza. The brave knight holds Ellen’s hand and whispers in her ear. She is captured by his love. They both ran across the hall and reached the entrance of the hall to jump on to the horse. Lochinvar takes Ellen on horse and rides very far with the greatest speed. He wins in his love and gets away from the kinsmen.
One of the best romantic poem which brings out the heroism of the brave knight Lochinvar and beautiful love of Ellen. Everything is possible in love and war. This poem brings out the possibilities of love war, where the hero proves his loyalty to his lady and proves his bravery in winning the hands of the lady.
Poetical devices
Figures of speech from
Lochinvar
“And save his good
broadsword he weapon had none”
The sentences conveys a message that the knight comes with no
weapons. The placement of the words show a good example for inversion.
“So faithful in love and
so dauntless in war”
The repetition of “So” and parallel construction.
“He staid not for brake, and
he stopp’d not for stone,
Parallel
structure and musical effect to say the phrases.
“He swam the Eske river
where ford there was none”
Word order must be noted here
“For a laggard in love, and
a dastard in war”
Repetition of
“L” gives a good effect.
“O come ye in peace here, or come ye in war”
Contrasting
words usage peace and war.
“Or to dance at our bridal, young Lord Lochinvar?”
Alliteration of “L”
Thank you
beautifully presented
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