Analysis of Adventures of King Robert the Bruce
William Topaz McGonagall 1825 – 1902 (Greyfriars Parish, Edinburgh)
King Robert the Bruce's deadly enemy, John of Lorn,
Joined the English with eight hundred Highlanders one morn,
All strong, hardy, and active fearless mountaineers,
But Bruce's men attacked them with swords and spears.
And while they were engaged, a new enemy burst upon them,
Like a torrent of water rushing down a rocky glen:
It was John of Lorn and his Highlanders that came upon them,
So the tide of battle was too much for them to stem.
And with savage yells they made the valley ring,
Then made a long circuit, and stole in behind the King,
Whirling their broadswords and Lochaber axes left and right;
And the enemy being thrice their number, they relinquished the fight
Then to a certain house Bruce quickly hied,
And sitting by the door the housewife he spied;
And she asked him who he was, and he said, A wanderer,
Then she said, All wanderers are welcome here, kind sir.
Then the King said, Good dame, tell me the reason why,
How you respect all wanderers that chance to pass by,
And for whose sake you bear such favour to homeless men?
Then she said, King Robert the Bruce, if you want to ken,
The lawful King of this country, whom I hope to see;
Then the Bruce said, My good woman, your King stands before thee;
And she said, Ah! Sire, where are your men gone?
Then the King told her that he's come alone.
Then she said, Ah, my lawful King, this must not be,
For I have two stout sons, and they shall follow thee,
And fight to the death for your Majesty,
Aye, in faith, my good King, by land or sea.
Then she brought her sons before the King, and thus did say,
Now swear, my sons, to be true to your King without dismay;
Then they knelt and cried, Mother, we'll do as you desire,
We willingly will fight on behalf of our noble sire.
Who has been hunted like a felon by night and by day,
By foul plotters devising to take his life away;
But God will protect him in the midst of the strife,
And, mother dear, we'll fight for him during life.
Then the King said, Noble lads, it's you shall follow me,
And ye shall be near me by land or sea,
And for your loyalty towards me your mother I'll reward;
When all on a sudden the tramping of horses was heard.
Then the King heard voices he knew full well,
But what had fetched his friends there he couldn't tell;
'Twas Edward his brother and Lord Douglas, with one hundred and fifty men,
That had travelled far, to find their King, o'er mountain and glen.
And when they met they conversed on the events of the day,
Then the King unto them quickly did say,
If we knew where the enemy were, we would work them skaith;
Then Lord James said, I'll lead you where they are, by my faith.
Then they marched on the enemy just as the morning broke,
To a farm-house where they were lodged, and, with one bold stroke,
They, the Scots, rushed in and killed two-thirds of them dead;
And such was the life, alas! King Robert the Bruce led!
Scheme | AABB CACC DDEE EXFF GGAA HHAA HHHH IIFF IIJJ HHXX KKAA IILL MMNN |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (85%) |
Metre | 11001010100111 101011101011 11100101010 11010111101 011001011001011 10101101010101 11111011011011 1011101111111 01101110101 1101100100101 10110110101 00100101110101001 1101011101 0101010111 01111110110100 1111100110111 101111110101 1101110011111 011111111101 1111100111111 0101111011111 10111110111011 01111011111 1011011101 111111011111 111111011101 0110111100 1011111111 1110101010111 11111111110101 11101101111010 1100111011101010 11110101011011 1110010111101 111011001101 01011111101 1011101111101 0111111111 011100011110101 11101001011011 1011101111 11111111101 110110011011100101 111011111101001 01111011001101 1011011011 11110100011111 1111111111111 11110100110101 1011110101111 101100111111 0110101110011 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 2,844 |
Words | 548 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 13 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 52 |
Letters per line (avg) | 43 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 171 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 42 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 25, 2023
- 2:47 min read
- 112 Views
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"Adventures of King Robert the Bruce" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41773/adventures-of-king-robert-the-bruce>.
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