Analysis of The Knight-Errant
Virna Sheard 1862 (Cobourg) – 1943 ( Toronto)
Keen in his blood ran the old mad desire
To right the world's wrongs and champion truth;
Deep in his eyes shone a heaven-lit fire,
And royal and radiant day-dreams of youth!
Gracious was he to both beggar and stranger,
And for a rose tossed from fair finger-tips
He would have ridden hard-pressed through all danger,
The rose on his heart and a song on his lips!
All the king's foes he counted his foemen;
His not to say that a cause could be lost;
Spirits like his faced the enemies' bowmen
On long vanished fields--nor counted the cost.
Wide was his out-look and far was his vision;
Soul-fretting trifles he sent down the wind;
Small griefs gained only his cheerful derision,--
God's weather always was fair to his mind.
But he would comfort a child who was crying,
Knightly his deed to all such in distress;
Never a beast by the road-side lay dying
He did not stoop to with gentle caress.
And by the old, and the sad, and the broken,
Often he lingered, a well-beloved guest;
Dear was his voice, whatever the word spoken,
Sweetening their day with a song or a jest.
In the far times of brave ballad and story,
Men of his make kept the gates of the sea,
Wrought mighty deeds of power and glory,
Scattered their tyrants, and set the land free!
* * * * *
In the far times when perchance hearts were stronger,
When for a faith men could face death alone,
And it would seem that love lasted longer,
Such a white soul would have come to its own.
Down in the city the people but noted
One who was silent when things went awry,
Toiled at dull tasks, and was strangely devoted
To small deeds of kindness that others passed by.
Down in the city the people but noted
One who thought little of wealth and its ways;
One whose true words were full often misquoted,
One who laughed lightly at blame or at praise.
Scheme | abab acac dxdx dede fgfg dhdh iiii adad Jkjk Jlxl |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10111011010 1101101001 10111010110 01001001111 10111110010 0101111101 11110111110 01111001111 101111011 1111101111 10111010010 1110111001 11111011110 1101011101 11110110010 110111111 11110011110 1011111001 10011011110 1111111001 01010010010 1011001011 1111100110 10011101101 00111110010 1111101101 1101110010 1011001011 1 00111011010 1101111101 0111111010 1011111111 10010010110 1111011101 11110110010 11111011011 10010010110 1111011011 11110110010 1111011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,767 |
Words | 341 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 1, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 41 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 127 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 31 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 26, 2023
- 1:43 min read
- 32 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Knight-Errant" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 31 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/43572/the-knight-errant>.
Discuss this Virna Sheard poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In