The Inchcape Rock by Robert Southey

The Inchcape Rock by Robert Southey

About the Poem:

The poem is about the struggle that always goes on between the good and evil forces in this world. The person who digs a ditch for others also falls himself in it. Nature also takes its nemesis. Evil forces are punished by the Divine at last. For some time they seem to be winning, but in the end Good wins over defeating the Evil. In this poem, the same thing happens. Sir Ralf the Rover symbolises evil forces and the Abbot of Aberbrothok  stands for the Good forces.

There was a reef (long line of sand or rocks) 18 kms. away from the eastern coast of Scotland. It posed a danger to the ships and the sailors passing by that way. Many ships were damaged and sailors lost their lives after the accidents. In stormy weather when the wave rose very high, the Inchcape Rock could not be seen by the sailors, so their ships or boats used to strike against the rocks in the ocean. An Abbot did an act of kindness by setting up a bell there. Whenever the waves rose high, the motion of the waves would pull and loosen the chains of the bell and make it ring to warn the coming sailor of the impending danger hidden under the waves there.

1.No stir in the air, no stir in the sea,
The Ship was still as she could be;
Her sails from heaven received no motion,
Her keel was steady in the ocean.

There was no movement in the air and the sea. Therefore, the ship was also motionless. Her sails were erect and there was no motion in them. Her keel was also in balance. (A keel is a piece of wood or metal that gives support to the whole structure of the ship or the boat.)

2.Without either sign or sound of their shock,
The waves flow’d over the Inchcape Rock;
So little they rose, so little they fell,
They did not move the Inchcape Bell.

The waves of the ocean flowed over the Inchcape Rock smoothly without creating sound of the warning bell. It was only because the movement of the waves was so slow that it could not make the bell ring. The waves were not rising up high, so they were not able to hide the dangerous Inchcape Rock.

3.The Abbot of Aberbrothok
Had placed that bell on the Inchcape Rock;
On a buoy in the storm it floated and swung,
And over the waves its warning rung.

When the Rock was hid by the surge’s swell,
The Mariners heard the warning Bell;
And then they knew the perilous Rock,
And blest the Abbot of Aberbrothok

A buoy: It is an object that floats on the sea or a river to mark the places where it is dangerous and where it is safe for boats to go.

Abbot: the head of a monastery

Surge: sudden flow of water coming: swell: rising up

The Abbot of the Abberbrothok  knew the danger of the submerged rock and acted to save the lives of the sailors. He set up a bell there on the Inchcape Rock. It floated on a buoy in the storm and moved and produced the ringing sound that warned the coming sailors on the time of the hidden danger posed by the Inchcape Rock that was submerged (underwater).

The Mariners approaching there would hear the ringing bell and understand the danger created by the hidden rock. Thus they would bless the Abbot of the Aberbrothock.

4.The Sun in the heaven was shining gay,
All things were joyful on that day;
The sea-birds scream’d as they wheel’d round,
And there was joyance in their sound.

Paraphrase: In the above lines, the poet describes that the day was very joyful. The sun in the sky was shining brightly. The sun was gay means happy and also making all the creatures on the earth happy with his pleasant sunrays. It is a kind of personification as the sun has been described in human terms. Heaven is the symbol of the sky. All things mean all the creatures on the earth. The seabirds were also joyous and screaming to express their happiness while flying in the sky making some circles.

5.The buoy of the Inchcape Bell was seen
A darker speck on the ocean green;
Sir Ralph the Rover walk’d his deck,
And fix’d his eye on the darker speck.

Paraphrase: The buoy is the object that floats on the surface of the sea to mark the safe and dangerous places.

As we know that the Inchcape bell was tied to the buoy, so it was visible to Sir Ralph when he stood on the deck (the deck is the upper part of a boat or a ship) of his ship. Then he fixed his eye on the dark spot. Actually the Inchcape bell seemed to like that of a dark spot in the green water of the ocean.

6.He felt the cheering power of spring,
It made him whistle, it made him sing;
His heart was mirthful to excess,
But the Rover’s mirth was wickedness.

Paraphrase: The Rover (the person who loves to travel a lot is called a rover) Sir Ralph, the rover experienced the cheerful effect in him and it made him whistle and sing to express his joy. He felt the joy excessively, but it was not pure. It got generated from his wickedness. It had something devilish in the guise of joy.

7.His eye was on the Inchcape Float;
Quoth he, “My men, put out the boat,
And row me to the Inchcape Rock,
And I’ll plague the Abbot of Aberbrothok.”

Paraphrase: His eye was fixedly looking at the Inchcape Float (it was the buoy that enabled the bell to float). Then he ordered his men to take out the boat to move it with him towards the Inchcape Rock. He also clarified his intention to annoy the Abbot of Aberbrothok. (You must remember here as to what the Abbot had done that was not liked by Sir Ralph, the rover.)

8.The boat is lower’d, the boatmen row,
And to the Inchcape Rock they go;
Sir Ralph bent over from the boat,
And he cut the bell from the Inchcape Float.

Word-meanings: 1. Lowered: let the boat go down the sea

Paraphrase : The boatmen lowered (let the boat go down the ocean from the ship) the boat and rowed it to the Inchcape Rock. Sir Ralph bent down from his boat to reach his hand to the rope that held the bell to the buoy and the Inchcape Rock. After that he cut it.

9.Down sank the Bell with a gurgling sound,
The bubbles rose and burst around;
Quoth Sir Ralph, “The next who comes to the Rock,
Won’t bless the Abbot of Aberbrothok.”

Word-meaning: 1.gurgle: it is a sound created by water when it passes through a very narrow passage. 2. Quoth (used in old English):  said

Paraphrase: As soon as the evil minded Ralph cut the rope, the Bell sank down into the deep water of the ocean creating a gurgling sound. The bubbles also appeared on the surface of the water and they burst at once.

Deriving satanic pleasure out of his wicked job of cutting the rope, he said that the person who followed next towards the Inchcape Rock would not bless the Abbot of Aberbrothok.

 It means the person sailing towards the Rock would not be able to listen to the warning Bell and collide his ship or boat against the Inchcape Rock and die. In that way he would not be able to bless the Abbot.

10.Sir Ralph the Rover sail’d away,
He scour’d the seas for many a day;
And now grown rich with plunder’d store,
He steers his course for Scotland’s shore.

Word-meanings: 1. scour’d: searched for something valuable 2. Plundered: looted 3. Steered: moved in a particular direction/rowed/sailed 4. Course: route/way

Paraphrase: After cutting the rope of the bell, Sir Ralph Rover sailed away from there. He was a pirate and, so, he searched for the ships and boats to loot them of the valuables.  He did so  for many days and  became a rich person with the plundered (looted) valuable things. One day he was on his way to Scotland shore.

11.So thick a haze o’erspreads the sky,
They cannot see the sun on high;
The wind hath blown a gale all day,
At evening it hath died away.

Word-meanings:1. Haze: the sky becomes hazy when the atmosphere becomes full of elements of dust/vapours, etc. 2. Hath: has 3. Gale: a strong wind

Paraphrase: It so happened that a thick fog filled the atmosphere/ It was spread far and wide making the sun invisible to Sir Ralph, the Rover and his companions. A fast wind had also blown throughout the day. But it became silent as the evening time approached.

12.On the deck the Rover takes his stand,
So dark it is they see no land.
Quoth Sir Ralph, “It will be lighter soon,
For there is the dawn of the rising Moon.”

Word-meanings: 1. Deck: the top floor at a ship or a boat 2. Dawn: the period of time when light of the sun appears in the sky.

Paraphrase: Sir Ralph, the Rover stood on the deck and they could not see any land nearby. After that Sir Ralph, remaining optimistic, said that it would soon be some light in the sky as the moon was about to appear.

13.“Canst hear,” said one, “the breakers roar?
For methinks we should be near the shore.”
“Now, where we are I cannot tell,
But I wish we could hear the Inchcape Bell.”

Word-meanings: 1. methinks: I think

 Paraphrase: A sailor on board also expressed his opinion on the situation. He said that they might be near the shore as no ‘roar’ of the waves was heard by them at that time. He could not explain the right location where they were at that time. He also wished that it would have been better if they had heard the Inchcape bell.

14.They hear no sound, the swell is strong,
Though the wind hath fallen they drift along;
Till the vessel strikes with a shivering shock,
“Oh Christ! It is the Inchcape Rock!”

 Paraphrase: They heard no sound and there was a very high swell in the sea-water. The wind had grown weak and they continued rowing their vessel (ship/boat) here and there till it struck against something solid and it sent a shivering shock to the vessel. They immediately understood and uttered in dismay (disappointment) that it was the Inchcape Rock against which their ship had got struck.

15.Sir Ralph the Rover tore his hair,
He curst himself in his despair;
The waves rush in on every side,
The ship is sinking beneath the tide.

Paraphrase: Sir Ralph, the Rover tore his hair in frustration and to show his foolishness and helplessness. He cursed himself for his wrong-doing. The waves rushed into the ship from all sides to take it down the sea water.

 16.But even in his dying fear,
One dreadful sound could the Rover hear;
A sound as if with the Inchcape Bell,
The Devil below was ringing his knell.

Paraphrase: As the ship was proceeding down to rest in the watery grave (As the ship was going down into the sea water,…), the Rover heard the sound like that of the Inchcape Bell. It was the sound of the death-knell that reminded him of his approaching death due to his misdeed done. Nature always takes revenge for the wrong-doings. One, who digs a ditch for others, falls in that very ditch someday.