19. Lower and lower are proleptic adjectives. Compare 1. 13. 24. Our mortal hemisphere, the world inhabited by mortals as opposed to Heaven, the "better world" of 1. 25. The word ' hemisphere,' which means either half of the terrestrial or half of the celestial sphere, is not very appropriate to express this meaning. XXXI. 2. With Wilfrid etc., all his plans rendered fruitless by the death of Wilfrid. When Wilfrid past away (from life), all his father's projects also past away, that is, came to an end. 8. Are bursting etc., are bringing destruction on their author. The metaphor implies a comparison between Oswald and an artilleryman whose shell bursts above his own head instead of dealing destruction among the enemy. Compare— ""Tis the sport to have the engineer Hoist with his own petar."-Hamlet, 3. IV. 18. This is rather a favourite idea in the poem. Compare X. 23, 24, and 5. XXVIII. 1-8. 21. Provost. See XXIII. 21. 23, 24. This is an instance of dramatic irony. The words are true, but not in the sense intended by the speaker; they were verified by his own death, not, as he expected, by the death of Rokeby and Redmond. XXXII. 4. death's-men, executioners. 8. varied. The sound of the horse's hoof upon the sod would be dull, on the stone would be sharp. 66 11. A horseman armed etc. This scene is based on a real achievement of Major Philipson, a cavalier officer in the great civil war, who was called, from his desperate and adventurous courage, Robin the Devil. Finding himself in a position to take vengeance on a Parliamentarian and personal enemy called Colonel Briggs, who lived at Kendal, he rode to that town with a troop of horse. Being informed that Colonel Briggs was at prayers (for it was on a Sunday morning), he stationed his men properly in the avenues, and, himself armed, rode directly into the church. It probably was not a regular church, but some large place of meeting. It is said he intended to seize the colonel and carry him off; but as this seems to have been totally impracticable, it is rather probable that his intention was to kill him on the spot, and in the midst of the confusion to escape. Whatever his intention was, it was frustrated, for Briggs happened to be elsewhere. The congregation, as might be expected, was thrown into great confusion on seeing an armed man on horseback make his appearance among them; and the major, taking advantage of their astonishment, turned his horse round, and rode quietly out. But having given an alarm, he was presently assaulted as he left the assembly; and, being seized, his girths were cut, and he was unhorsed. At this instant his party made a furious attack on the assailants, and the major killed with his own hand the man who had seized him, clapped the saddle, ungirthed as it was, upon his horse, and, vaulting into it, rode full speed through the streets of Kendal, calling his men to follow him; and with his whole party made a safe retreat to his asylum in the lake. The action marked the man. Many knew him; and they who did not, knew as well from the exploit that it could be nobody but Robin the Devil." 13. spurn'd, kicked. See 2. XIV. 20. 18. strook is an old past tense of 'strike.' XXXIII. 9. iron trance, the stunning effects of surprise which had held them bound as in an iron chain. 12. hail'd, fell thick as hail. in the same sense. 'Shower' and 'rain' are used 13. with each a wound, each pike with a wound. 'Each' and 'one' are often placed between a preposition and a word governed by a preposition, especially when the governed word is 'other,' as 'with each other,' with one another.' 18. gain'd his feet, managed to stand upright on his feet. 26. trust their eyes, believe in the reality of what they see. 27. Bend their weapons on, aim their weapons at. This use of 'bend' is probably due to the fact that the archer bends his bow when he is about to discharge his arrow. 28. the grim king, the lion, the king of beasts. rouse, rouse himself. 29. blow and insult. dead body in the Iliad- See 5. XII. 30. Compare the maltreatment of Hector's "The thronging Greeks behold with wondering eyes While some, ignobler, the great dead deface With wounds ungenerous, or with taunts disgrace." There was no generous enemy to speak a word for Hector. 30. had hew'd, would have hew❜d. 33-36. Compare Marmion, 6. XXXVII. 21-28, where a similar appeal is made in behalf of Marmion, who like Bertram combined great valour with villany of the deepest dye. Both passages are in accordance with the charitable spirit of the saying 'De mortuis nil nisi bonum' (Of the dead say nothing but good). 36. Compare Wolfe's lines on the burial of Sir John Moore"But he lay like a warrior taking his rest With his martial cloak around him. XXXIV. 16. dead. There were three dead bodies on the floor, namely, Wilfrid, Oswald, and Bertram. 18. This, when compared with XXVI. 19-22, will be seen to be a contemptuous reflection on the fickleness of the mob. XXXV. Scott intended the previous stanza to be the end of the poem. The thirty-fifth stanza was added at the request of James Ballantyne, although Scott did not recognize the necessity of making any addition, and accompanied the new stanza with a note expressing his own opinion, that it " spoiled one effect without producing another.' 3. brown August. August is called brown because in that month the leaves become brown. 8. The task to bind and pile, the task of binding and piling. 12. gleaner's. See 3. XII. 3. 18. How fate etc., how fate gave virtue her due, that is, rewarded the virtuous by giving them the happiness they deserved. 19. for, in recompense for. 21. Time and tide etc. Tide' seems here to be used in its old sense as a synonym of ' time,' which sense survives in the word 'holy-tide. See 2. x. 6. Perhaps it means the ebb and flow of human fortune. 22. April, like March (1. XIX. 8), has rapid successions of shower and sunshine. Compare "And hopes and light regrets that come In Memoriam, XI. 23. morrow, morning This old meaning is most common in the greeting 'good morrow.' INSTANCES OF FIGURES OF SPEECH ETC. (The following lists of instances do not profess to be exhaustive. Spaces are left for Students to add other examples that they may discover in the course of their reading.) Abstract for concrete, 1. IV. 12, XX. 29, 2. X. 7, 8, 9, XI. 13, 3. II. 15, XIV. 23, 25, 27, 30, 31. Adjectives used as adverbs, 2. III. 19, XXX. 19, 3. VIII. 9, 4. VII. 18, VIII. 6, XXVII. 23, XXIX. 9, XXX. 2, 5. I. 13, 15, XXXIV. 22. Alliteration (placing close together words or syllables beginning with the same letter), 1. XXXIII. 2, 8, 2. III. 13, 3. XV. 15, 5. XVIII. I, 25, 6. xxx. 14. Anacoluthon (change of construction) 1. XXI. 13, 4. XV. 15-19. Aposiopesis (breaking off a sentence before it is finished), 1. XXXIV. 15, 3. XXXI. 7, 6. IX. 13, XXIX. 8. Apostrophe (suddenly changing the course of a speech or narrative by an address to a person or object that would naturally be spoken of in the third person), 1. XII. 26, 3. XXIII. 9, 4. XIX. 15, 5. X. 21. Apposition to idea of sentence, 2. XXV. 4, 3. XI. II. Archaic forms, 3. IV. 7, XIX. 6, xxiv. 2, 6. XXXII. 18. Chiasmus (reversal of order of words previously observed.) 2. XI. 5, XIX. 24, 3. I. II, XIV. 9, XXIII. 12, 5. XXXVI. 8, 6. III. 12. Dramatic irony, 6. XXXI. 23, 24. Grammatical irregularity, 2. XI. 12, 3. VII. 13, 4. III. II. Hypallage (transference of attributes), 1. III. 2. XII. 25, XVI. 14, 20, XIX. 23, XXIII. 4, XXV. 7, 3. XIV. 26, XXIX. 16, 4. XVI. II, XXVIII. 10, 5. XIII. 9, 10, 6. XXXV. 3. Indirect narration, 1. XXIII. 13, 4. XXVI. 24, 5. XII. 16. Intransitive verbs used transitively, (1) in a causative sense, 2. Irony, 1. XVIII, 9, 4. XXV. 13, 5. XII. 24, 6. XII. 19-24. Metonymy (substitution of one word for another on account of Mixture of simile and metaphor, 1. XXXII. 14, 16, 2. VIII. 19, Nouns used as adjectives, 1. v. 6, 11, 5. XXXIII. IO, XXXVI. Oxymoron (verbal contradiction), 1. XIV. 19. Past tense forms used as participles, 2. VI. 18, XI. 29, Personal pronouns used reflexively, 1. XXXI. 17, 2. II. 14, VI, Personification, 1. XXXIII. 2. I. 17, II. 14, 3. XIV. 23, 25, 30, Possessive genitives of nouns and pronouns qualified by parti- Proleptic adjectives, 2. XXVI. 15, 5. IV. 28, XII. I, XXVII. 10, Redundant subjects, 2. XIX. 13, 6. I. 5. Tautology (repetition of the same idea in different words), 2. Zeugma, (understanding from a verb used in grammatical connec- GLASGOW PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS BY ROBERT MACLEHOSE. |