Analysis of Coeur De Lion
Dinah Maria Mulock Craik 1826 (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire) – 1887 (Shortlands, London)
RICHARD the Lion-hearted, crowned serene
With the true royalty of perfect man;
Seated in stone above the praise or ban
Of these mixed crowds who come gaping lean
As if to see what the word 'king' might mean
In those old times. Behold! what need that rim
Of crown 'gainst this blue sky, to signal him
A monarch, of the monarchs that have been,
And, perhaps, are not?--Read his destinies
In the full brow o'er-arching kingly eyes,
In the strong hands, grasping both rein and sword,
In the close mouth, so sternly beautiful:--
Surely, a man who his own spirit can rule;
Lord of himself, therefore his brethren's lord.
'O Richard, O mon roi.' So minstrels sighed.
The many-centuried voice dies fast away
Amidst the turmoil of our modern day.
How know we but these green-wreathed legends hide
An ugly truth that never could abide
In this our living world's far purer air?--
Nevertheless, O statue, rest thou there,
Our Richard, of all chivalry the pride;
Or if not the true Richard, still a type
Of the old regal glory, fallen, o'er-ripe,
And giving place to better blossoming:
Stand--imaging the grand heroic days;
And let our little children come and gaze,
Whispering with innocent awe--'This was a King.'
Scheme | ABBAACCXXXDXXD EFFEEGGEHHIJJI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1001010101 1011001011 1001010111 111111101 1111101111 0111011111 1111111101 01101111 0011111100 00111010101 0011101101 0011110100 10011111011 11011111 1101111101 010111101 0101110101 1111111101 1101110101 01101011101 00111111 10101110001 1110110101 101101010101 0101110100 1100010101 01101010101 100110011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,215 |
Words | 217 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 14, 14 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 466 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 104 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:06 min read
- 103 Views
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"Coeur De Lion" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/8001/coeur-de-lion>.
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