Analysis of The Knight's Leap: A Legend of Altenar
Charles Kingsley 1819 – 1875
'So the foemen have fired the gate, men of mine;
And the water is spent and gone?
Then bring me a cup of the red Ahr-wine:
I never shall drink but this one.
'And reach me my harness, and saddle my horse,
And lead him me round to the door:
He must take such a leap to-night perforce,
As horse never took before.
'I have fought my fight, I have lived my life,
I have drunk my share of wine;
From Trier to Coln there was never a knight
Led a merrier life than mine.
'I have lived by the saddle for years two score;
And if I must die on tree,
Then the old saddle tree, which has borne me of yore,
Is the properest timber for me.
'So now to show bishop, and burgher, and priest,
How the Altenahr hawk can die:
If they smoke the old falcon out of his nest,
He must take to his wings and fly.'
He harnessed himself by the clear moonshine,
And he mounted his horse at the door;
And he drained such a cup of the red Ahr-wine,
As man never drained before.
He spurred the old horse, and he held him tight,
And he leapt him out over the wall;
Out over the cliff, out into the night,
Three hundred feet of fall.
They found him next morning below in the glen,
With never a bone in him whole-
A mass or a prayer, now, good gentlemen,
For such a bold rider's soul.
Scheme | AXAX BCBC XADA CECE XFXF ACAC DGDG XHXH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (88%) |
Metre | 10111001111 00101101 1110110111 11011111 01111001011 01111101 1111011101 1110101 1111111111 1111111 11011111001 10100111 11110101111 0111111 101101111111 1011011 11111001001 101111 11101101111 11111101 110011011 011011101 01110110111 1110101 1101101111 011111001 1100110101 110111 11111001001 11001011 0110111100 1101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,240 |
Words | 258 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 118 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 32 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 1:17 min read
- 114 Views
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