The Inchcape Rock

The poem ‘The Inchcape Rock’ is written by Robert Southey. The poem
is a narrative poem also called ballad. It has total 17 stanzas of four lines
each. The poet has used minimal words. Picturesque description adds to
the beauty of the poem – eg: Green ocean, light waves etc.
The theme of the poem is based on the 14th century story of the wicked
Sir Ralph, the Rover- a sea pirate who removed the warning bell from
the Inchcape Rock installed by Abbot Aberbrothok. But on his return
journey, his own ship collided with the same Rock as there was no
warning sound of the bell.
The rhyme scheme of the poem is aabb. The figures of speech used in
the poem are Alliteration, Inversion, Metaphor, Apostrophe,
Personification, Repetition etc.
The central Idea of the poem is that it is a poem of all times. Its message
is Universal. It is a didactic poem – a poem with the moral ‘As you sow,
so shall you reap’ If anyone does anything bad, he will definitely be
punished.
I like this poem for its relevance. We can relate this poem in all time.
There is poetic justice in the end of the poem which is always justified.