Emily Dickinson Lexicon

gallant (-er), adj. [Fr. < OFr galer, to make merry.] (webplay: ship).

1. Spacious; majestic; noble; large; powerful; [fig.] bowing; reaching; extending a hand.
2. Noble; courtly; gentlemanly; courteous in a romantic sense.
3. Pompous; showy; [word play on “galleon”] ship-wrecked; lost at sea.