Sir Walter Scott - Soldier, Rest!

Hi everyone,

This one has a very interesting background.  I covered the bones of it in class, but this site gives the exhaustive version.

Of particular interest are these paragraphs, found early on that page-

"The plot [of the poem] runs roughly as follows (Spoilers follow): 

The Highland Scots, led by Sir Roderick Dhu (exiled for committing a brazen murder in the King’s court) are at odds with the Lowland Scots, who are loyal to King James, who nominally rules Scotland. Douglas, who was formerly of the king’s court, has quarreled as a result of vicious rumors, and has fled to the highlands with his daughter Ellen and his minstrel, Allan Bane. 

As the poem opens, a lowland hunter, calling himself James Fitz-James, becomes lost in the highlands while chasing an elusive stag. His horse dies of exhaustion by the shores of a lake. He blows his horn, but instead of his countrymen, he is found by a highland maiden, who rows across from an island. By the common courtesy of the time, he is given a bed for the night, and sent on his way, even though he is known to be on the other side of the conflict. The maid is, of course, Ellen, and Fitz-James is smitten."

(eNotes does a slightly more thorough summary of the entire poem.)

Pay attention to the concrete structure, rhythm and scansion.  Lots of contrasting tones to consider: intention of narrator voice vs imagery and content of individual stanzas.

To give you further inspiration when developing and revising your notes, I highly recommend you check out this student analysis.

A google search of "walter scott soldier rest" will also give screeds of further links for your perusal.

Enjoy.


- T. Marcus