Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

A Wraith in the Mist

Birds Of Passage. Flight The Fifth

A Wraith in the Mist - meaning Summary

A Mistaken Identity Glimpse

The poem sketches a brief scene on Inchkenneth where a figure in Highland dress appears to be the island laird, Sir Allan McLean. His giant form and pained face suggest nobility, but the speaker reveals him to be merely a city Rambler from Bolt Court. The contrast undercuts romantic expectation: the stranger’s appearance evokes power, while his true identity and idle boasting expose vanity and imagined authority.

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On the green little isle of Inchkenneth, Who is it that walks by the shore, So gay with his Highland blue bonnet, So brave with his targe and claymore? His form is the form of a giant, But his face wears an aspect of pain; Can this be the Laird of Inchkenneth? Can this be Sir Allan McLean? Ah, no! It is only the Rambler, The Idler, who lives in Bolt Court, And who says, were he Laird of Inchkenneth, He would wall himself round with a fort.

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