Lord Ullin's Daughter

About the Poet 

Thomas Campbell (1777-1844) is the poet of this poem. The poem was written around 1804. He is well known for his sentimental poetry. Most of his poems deal with common human problems.

 

About the Poem

Inspired by the Scottish tradition of chivalry and romance, this poem is about love and sacrifice portrayed through a narrative involving a chieftain, his beloved, the king and others. Considered to be one of the most popular romantic poems of Campbell, the poem unfolds the story of the attempted elopement resulting in the death of the couple. Well structured and set in a lyrical tone with a regular rhyme scheme, the poem has a curious beginning, a terrifying middle and a tragic end.

Summary 

The poem, written as a ballad and told in third person narration is a tragic story of the daughter of Lord Ullin and her lover who die a very sorrowful death when chased by her father and his men.

The poem begins with the daughter and her lover, the Scottish chieftain arriving at the banks of Lochgyle with the intention of eloping to a safer place. The chieftain, chief of Ulva's island, promises to reward the boatman with a silver pound on helping him and his beloved, Lord Ullin's daughter, to elope to a distant land. The weather is stormy and it is very dangerous to cross the Lochgyle in such a state. The chieftain tells the boatman that if the Lord’s men catch him eloping with her daughter, they would immediately slay him. The boatman hesitates because agreeing can cost him their lives. Then the beautiful daughter of Lord Ullin pleads to the boatman; she says that she is ready to face the raging storm but not her angry father. Finally, the boatman agrees to take them across Lochgyle. He says that he does so not for money, but because of the charming lady. It is not for her silver bright but for her winsome lady.

The middle part of the poem brings out the terror and tension in the hearts of the chieftain and his beloved as they anticipate the arrival of the King's men. The dark clouds gathered. The storm grew fierce.  They appeal to the boatman to speed up to evade arrest. At this point, Lord Ullin's daughter expresses her unwillingness to confront her angry father who has turned down her proposal to marry the chieftain. She prefers to embrace death for the sake of love than confront a wrathful father who will oppose her choice to marry the chieftain.

The poem reaches the climax when the boat carrying the chieftain and his beloved, i.e., Lord Ullin's daughter capsizes amidst heavy storm. Lord Ullin at this point reaches the shore only to see that his daughter is drowning. At once his wrath transforms into wailing. He cries in grief persuading his daughter to come back. He can witness his daughter waving her hand for rescue but in vain. He even promises to grant amnesty to his daughter and the chieftain. But unfortunately, tragedy dwells upon Lord Ullin's daughter and her lover as both of them are drowned leaving Lord Ullin completely shattered.

Figures of Speech

·         The poet uses metaphor to describe the weather – ‘water wraith shrieking’ and the 'scowl of heaven' are used to reinforce the violence of the storm.

·         The water of Lochgyle has become turbulent and very noisy due to the storm. ‘Shrieking’ here refers to the lamenting of the water. The poet has used a symbolism to prepare the reader for what is going to happen. The spirit of the lake seems to be lamenting at the imminent death of the two lovers.

·         “Fatal shore”- “Fatal shore” is a transferred epithet. It is called ‘fatal’ because the daughter of Lord Ullin will face her death as she leaves the shore.

·         The examples of alliteration are hardy Highland, human hand, water-wraith, storm and shade, water wild went

·         The rhyme scheme is abab that is, alternating rhyme scheme. In the last paragraph the rhyme scheme changes to abcb.

 Word Meanings

v  Out spoke – Spoke

v  Hardy – Rough built

v  Highland – Hilly

v  Wight – Fighter (Boatman)

v  Silver bright – Bright silver pounds

v  Winsome – Fair

v  By my word – I swear

v  Bonny – Fair

v  “Bonny bird”- It refers to the beautiful bride and daughter of Lord Ullin.  

v  Tarry – Delay

v  Raging – Displaying anger

v  Apace – Suddenly

v  Water-wraith – Water demon

v  Shrieking – Shouting; yelling

v  Scowl – Angry expression

v  Heaven – Sky

v  Drearer – Scary

v  Adown – Down

v  Glen – A narrow valley

v  Trampling – Sound of heavy footsteps

v  Haste – Hurry

v  Thee – You

v  Tempest – Storm

v  Gather – Collect; come around

v  Raging – Anger; fury

v  Amidst – In the midst of

v  Roar – Roar of the storms and waves

v  Water fast prevailing – Water was defeating the boat

v  Fatal – Deadly; where death is possible

v  Wrath – Anger

v  Wailing – Crying

v  Sorely – painfully

v  Dismayed – Feel disheartened; loose all courage and hope

 My Opinion 

In my opinion, the daughter of Lord Ullin did the right thing by choosing the true love and opposing her father's interest. His father was obstinate and overlooked her daughter's happiness. She was in love with a brave and independent man. Everyone has the right to be happy and to spend the life with their soulmates. She found that true love in chieftain and eloped with him. She wanted the blessings from her father but had to sacrifice her life instead. She did the best she could do in such situation.