Analysis of Richard Coeur de Lion
Marriott Edgar 1880 (Kirkcudbright) – 1951 (Battle)
Richard the First, Coeur-de-Lion,
Is a name that we speak of with pride,
Though he only lived six months in England
From his birth to the day that he died.
He spent all his time fighting battles,
Dressed up in most rigid attire,
For he had his suits made by the Blacksmith,
And his underwear knitted of wire.
He married a lady from Flanders,
Berengaria's what they called her;
She turned out a good wife to Richard,
In spite of a name like that there.
For when he came home from his fighting
She'd bandage the wounds in his sconce,
And every time a snake bit him
She'd suck out the poison at once.
In their 'ouse they'd a minstrel called Blondel
To amuse them at t'end of the day'
And the King had but one thing against him...
He had nobbut one tune he could play.
The Queen saw nowt wrong with the number
And would have it again and again,
And when Richard said: "Put a sock in it!"
She'd give 'im a look full of pain.
The King got fed up at the finish,
And were so sick of 'earing it played,
That he packed his spare suit on a wagon
And went off and joined the Crusade.
He got fighting the moment he landed,
And though Saracen lads did their best,
He cut off their heads in such numbers,
That the hatmakers lodged a protest.
The Sultan, whose name were Saladin,
Thought he'd best try this business to stem,
So he rode up to Richard and told him
He mustn't do that there to them.
Said Richard: "Oh! Who's going to stop me?"
Said Saladin: "I will-and quick!"
So the King poked his sword at the Sultan,
Who, in turn, swiped his skimpter at Dick.
They fought all that day without ceasing;
They fought till at last they both saw
That each was a match for the other,
So they chucked it and called it a draw.
As Richard rode home in the moonlight
He heard someone trying to croon,
And there by the roadside stood Blondel,
Still playing his signature tune.
He'd worked out his passage from England
In search of his Master and Lord,
And had swum the last part of the journey
'Cos his tune got 'im thrown overboard.
This meeting filled Richard with panic:
He rode off and never drew rein
Till he got past the Austrian border
And felt he could breathe once again.
He hid in a neighbouring Castle,
But he hadn't been there very long
When one night just outside his window
Stood Blondel, still singing his song.
This 'ere took the heart out of Richard;
He went home dejected and low,
And the very next fight he got into
He were killed without striking a blow.
Scheme | ABCB XDXD EDFX GXHX IXHI DJXK XLAL XMEM XNHN OPAP GQDQ XRIR CSOS PKDJ ITXT FIXI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (69%) |
Metre | 10011110 101111111 1110111010 111101111 111111010 110110010 111111101 011010110 110010110 11110 111011110 01101111 111111110 11001011 010010111 11101011 011101011 1011111101 0011111011 11111111 011111010 011101001 0110110101 11101111 011111010 00111111 1111111010 01101001 1110010110 0111111 111110110 101101 010110100 111111011 1111110011 11011111 1101110111 11001101 1011111010 10111111 111110110 11111111 111011010 111101101 11011001 1111011 0110111 11011001 111110110 01111001 0110111010 11111110 110110110 11101011 1111010010 01111101 1100110 111011101 111111110 1111011 111011110 11101001 0010111101 101011001 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,449 |
Words | 473 |
Sentences | 22 |
Stanzas | 16 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 64 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 119 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 29 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 08, 2023
- 2:24 min read
- 122 Views
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"Richard Coeur de Lion" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/26576/richard-coeur-de-lion>.
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