Analysis of The Elected Knight. From The Danish.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 (Portland) – 1882 (Cambridge)
Sir Oluf he rideth over the plain,
Full seven miles broad and seven miles wide,
But never, ah never, can meet with the man,
A tilt with him dare ride.
He saw under the hill-side
A Knight full well equipped;
His steed was black, his helm was barred;
He was riding at full speed.
He wore upon his spurs
Twelve little golden birds;
Anon he spurred his steed with a clang,
And there sat all the birds and sang.
He wore upon his mail
Twelve little golden wheels;
Anon in eddies the wild wind blew,
And round and round the wheels they flew.
He wore before his breast
A lance that was poised in rest;
And it was sharper than diamond-stone.
It made Sir Oluf's heart to groan.
He wore upon his helm
A wreath of ruddy gold;
And that gave him the Maidens Three,
The youngest was fair to behold.
Sir Oluf questioned the Knight eftsoon
If he were come from heaven down;
'Art thou Christ of Heaven,' quoth he,
'So will I yield me unto thee.'
'I am not Christ the Great,
Thou shalt not yield thee yet;
I am an Unknown Knight,
Three modest maidens have me bedight.'
'Art thou a Knight elected,
And have three Maidens thee bedight;
So shalt thou ride a tilt this day,
For all the Maidens' honour!'
The first tilt they together rode
They put their steeds to the test;
The second tilt they together rode,
They proved their manhood best;
The third tilt they together rode,
Neither of them would yield;
The fourth tilt they together rode,
They both fell on the field.
Now lie the Lords upon the plain,
And their blood runs unto death:
Now sit the Maidens in the high tower,
The youngest sorrows till death.
Scheme | ABXB BXXX XXCC XXDD EEFF XGHG AXHH XXXB XBXH IEIE IJIJ AKXK |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (58%) |
Metre | 11111001 1101101011 11011011101 011111 1110011 011101 11111111 1110111 110111 110101 11111101 01110101 110111 110101 10100111 01010111 110111 0111101 011101101 1111111 110111 011101 01110101 01011101 1110011 11011101 11111011 11111101 111101 111111 111011 11010111 1101010 0111011 11110111 110101 01110101 1111101 010110101 11111 01110101 101111 01110101 111101 11010101 0111101 1101000110 0101011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,549 |
Words | 304 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 103 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 12, 2023
- 1:30 min read
- 81 Views
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"The Elected Knight. From The Danish." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18848/the-elected-knight.--from-the-danish.>.
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