Zukovskij's Translation of Campbell's "Lord Ullin's Daughter" (1) (Thomas Campbell, Vasilij Andreevic Zukovskij ‪)‬

The English poet Thomas Campbell (1777-1844) was greatly admired in his own day for his sprawling longer pieces such as The Pleasures of Hope and Gertrude of Wyoming, but today he is most valued by the anthologists for his battle songs and ballads. As W. Macneile Dixon has observed, it is Campbell's martial lyrics such as "Ye Mariners of England," "The Battle of the Baltic," and "Hohenlinden"--and "that inimitable ballad" "Lord Ullin's Daughter"--that assure him his place with the makers of English literature. (2) In 1795 Campbell visited Mull, one of the largest islands of the Inner Hebrides (Argyllshire, Scotland), and there sketched the ballad "Lord Ullin's Daughter," which he reworked in 1804 and finally published in 1809. (3) The ballad is the story of an attempted elopement which results in the deaths of the couple. The fleeing lovers, the young "chief of Ulva's isle" and his "bonny bride," Lord Ullin's daughter, have been hotly pursued by Lord Ullin and his horsemen for three days. Both know that the young man's life will be forfeit if they are captured. They approach a boatman to whom the young man offers money if he will row them over the ferry; that is, if he will take them across Lochgyle. The boatman, a "hardy Highland wight," agrees to row them across in spite of the raging storm, not for money, but for the sake of the "winsome lady." As the pursuers approach, the boat puts out into the stormy loch. When Lord Ullin reaches the shore, he is forced to watch his daughter and her lover drown as he calls out to them, vainly promising forgiveness to the young man if only they will return. (4)