The White Doe of Rylstone

A narrative poem in seven cantos, set during the Northern Rebellion of 1569. A group of Catholic nobleman from the North of England attempt to unseat Queen Elizabeth I and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots. They are soon routed and Elizabeth's forces exact their revenge on the people of the Yorkshire Dales. Inspired by a visit to Bolton Abbey, Wordsworth's poem details the sad fate of one Catholic family whose patriarch decides to lend support to the rebellion. Although it is not among his most popular poems, Wordsworth himself considered The White Doe of Rylstone to be one of his finest.

By : William Wordsworth (1770 - 1850)

00 - Front Matter 01 - Canto First 02 - Canto Second 03 - Canto Third 04 - Canto Fourth 05 - Canto Fifth 06 - Canto Sixth 07 - Canto Seventh 08 - The Force of Prayer 09 - Notes

The White Doe of Rylstone opens outside Bolton Abbey in Wharfedale, where the poet sees the white doe enter the churchyard and lie down by one particular grave, where it is recognized as a regular visitor by the parishioners. The poem then moves back in time to Emily Norton at Rylstone Hall; at her father's command she embroiders a banner for his followers, who are to rise in rebellion. Emily's brother Richard tries unsuccessfully to dissuade their father from this course, then resolves to follow them unarmed, in the hope that he can still dissuade his father. Norton's band of soldiers, including other brothers of Emily, joins forces with those of the Earl of Northumberland and other Catholic rebels, and they march to Wetherby. On the approach of Queen Elizabeth's army the rebels fall back in retreat. The poem then returns to Rylstone Hall, where Emily encounters the white doe by moonlight. She sends an old friend of her father to get news of his fate; he returns to say that her father is taken prisoner, and that he has told Richard to regain the banner and take it to Bolton Abbey, where it can serve as an emblem of the purity of his motives. Richard almost accomplishes this task, but he is surprised by a party of the royal army and is killed. When Rylstone Hall suffers devastation Emily flees, and only returns years later, there to find the same white doe, which henceforth becomes her faithful friend, going wherever she goes. Emily at last dies and is buried at Bolton Abbey. The mystery of why the white doe visits the grave is thus explained.