LORD ULLIN'S DAUGHTER

LORD ULLIN'S DAUGHTER

 

About The Poem

The poem, written as a ballad, is about the tragic drowning of a young man and his beloved while trying to escape the wrath of the latter’s father.

Lord Ullin was a powerful Lord of Scotland. His daughter – probably all that he had – was in love with a man of a lower rank. The chieftain of Ulva’s Island. Definitely Lord Ullin was not going to permit his daughter marry a chieftain. As it is said, love is blind – and foolish too when it comes to loving someone whom your dear ones would not accept – and Lord Ullin and the chieftain were blind.

Certainly Lord Ullin was not going to bless this marriage so the lovers decided to run away to the Chieftain’s island – maybe beyond after that. Three days they ran together – I believe they rode on horseback. By the evening of the third day, they reached the coast. From there they had to take a boat to Ulva’s island – though we are not told if they were going to Ulva’s island or not.

  

About The Author

Campbell, Thomas (1777-1844) Thomas Campbell was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1777. He was educated at Glasgow High School and the University of Glasgow where he won prizes for classics and for poetry. During the holidays he worked as a tutor in the western Highlands and his poem Glenara and the ballad of Lord Ullin’s Daughter were both written after a visit to Mull at that time. He becamefamous for his poem The Pleasures of Hope which dealt with popular issues of the time such as the French Revolution, the partition of Poland and slavery. He travelled in Germany before returning to Scotland and then settling in London. He continued writing and travelling and was then elected Lord Rector of Glasgow University in 1826. His family life suffered a series of sad events — Campbell’s wife died in 1828, one of his two sons died and the other became insane. Campbell’s health suffered, too, and he withdrew from public life. He died in 1844.

My View Points Towards The Poem 

It is a tragic love story. It shows the love of the the lovers towards each other who end up dying in the storming weather. They ran away as the relationship of the lover wasn’t excepted by their parents.The inequality shown by the lord Ullin is shown in this poem.