Analysis of Tales Of A Wayside Inn : Part 1. The Musician's Tale; The Saga of King Olaf XVII. -- King Svend Of The Forked Beard
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 (Portland) – 1882 (Cambridge)
Loudly the sailors cheered
Svend of the Forked Beard,
As with his fleet he steered
Southward to Vendland;
Where with their courses hauled
All were together called,
Under the Isle of Svald
Near to the mainland.
After Queen Gunhild's death,
So the old Saga saith,
Plighted King Svend his faith
To Sigrid the Haughty;
And to avenge his bride,
Soothing her wounded pride,
Over the waters wide
King Olaf sought he.
Still on her scornful face,
Blushing with deep disgrace,
Bore she the crimson trace
Of Olaf's gauntlet;
Like a malignant star,
Blazing in heaven afar,
Red shone the angry scar
Under her frontlet.
Oft to King Svend she spake,
'For thine own honor's sake
Shalt thou swift vengeance take
On the vile coward!'
Until the King at last,
Gusty and overcast,
Like a tempestuous blast
Threatened and lowered.
Soon as the Spring appeared,
Svend of the Forked Beard
High his red standard reared,
Eager for battle;
While every warlike Dane,
Seizing his arms again,
Left all unsown the grain,
Unhoused the cattle.
Likewise the Swedish King
Summoned in haste a Thing,
Weapons and men to bring
In aid of Denmark;
Eric the Norseman, too,
As the war-tidings flew,
Sailed with a chosen crew
From Lapland and Finmark.
So upon Easter day
Sailed the three kings away,
Out of the sheltered bay,
In the bright season;
With them Earl Sigvald came,
Eager for spoil and fame;
Pity that such a name
Stooped to such treason!
Safe under Svald at last,
Now were their anchors cast,
Safe from the sea and blast,
Plotted the three kings;
While, with a base intent,
Southward Earl Sigvald went,
On a foul errand bent,
Unto the Sea-kings.
Thence to hold on his course,
Unto King Olaf's force,
Lying within the hoarse
Mouths of Stet-haven;
Him to ensnare and bring,
Unto the Danish king,
Who his dead corse would fling
Forth to the raven!
Scheme | aAaabbax ccxdeeed fffxggga hhhijjji aAaklxlk mmmxnnnh ooopqqqp jjjrsssr tttpmmmp |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 100101 11011 111111 1011 111101 100101 100111 1101 10111 101101 11111 110010 010111 100101 100101 11011 110101 101101 110101 1110 100101 1001001 110101 1001 111111 111101 111101 10110 010111 10010 101001 10010 110101 11011 111101 10110 110011 101101 11101 1010 10101 100101 100111 0111 10011 101101 110101 1101 101101 101101 110101 00110 11111 101101 101101 11110 110111 101101 110101 10011 110101 10111 101101 10011 111111 10111 100101 11110 110101 100101 111111 11010 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,757 |
Words | 321 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 72 |
Letters per line (avg) | 20 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 159 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 35 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:37 min read
- 137 Views
Citation
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"Tales Of A Wayside Inn : Part 1. The Musician's Tale; The Saga of King Olaf XVII. -- King Svend Of The Forked Beard" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18764/tales-of-a-wayside-inn-%3A-part-1.-the-musician%27s-tale%3B-the-saga-of-king-olaf-xvii.----king-svend-of-the-forked-beard>.
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