Chaucer’s Tale of Sir Thopas: The Second Fit
Now hold your mouth for charity,Bothe knight and lady free,And hearken to my spell;Of battle and of chivalry,Of ladies’ love and druerie,Anon I will you tell.
Men speak of romances of priceOf Horn Child, and of Ipotis,Of Bevis, and Sir Guy,Of Sir Libeux, and Pleindamour,But Sir Thopas, he bears the flow’rOf royal chivalry.
His goode steed he all bestrode,And forth upon his way he glode,As sparkle out of brand;Upon his crest he bare a tow’r,And therein stick’d a lily flow’r;God shield his corse from shand!
And, for he was a knight auntrous,He woulde sleepen in none house,But liggen in his hood,His brighte helm was his wanger,And by him baited his destrerOf herbes fine and good.
Himself drank water of the well,As did the knight Sir Percivel,So worthy under weed;Till on a day - . . .
Words in this poem
- anon adv.
- Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- corse n.
- A living body or its bulk. [OF. cors, F. corps. See Corpse.]
- wanger n.
- A pillow for the cheek; a pillow. [AS. wangere. See 1st Wang.]
- drank n.
- Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [Cf. 3d Drake.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chaucer’s Tale of Sir Thopas: The Second Fit is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Canterbury Tales, Project Gutenberg ebook #2383; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Geoffrey Chaucer, Chaucer’s Tale of Sir Thopas: The Second Fit, in The Canterbury Tales (1400), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2383, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/canterbury-tales/chaucer-s-tale-of-sir-thopas-the-second-fit.html, id L15873.
Form and metre
Chaucer’s Tale of Sir Thopas: The Second Fit is 28 lines in 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 11% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 --A--A charity · free · spellA · chivalry · druerie · tellA
- 3 AABCCB bestrodeA · glodeA · brandB · tow'rC · flow'rC · shandB
- 4 AAB--B auntrousA · houseA · hoodB · wanger · destrer · goodB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Now hold your mouth for charity, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Bothe knight and lady free, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And hearken to my spell; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Of battle and of chivalry, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Of ladies’ love and druerie, | 7 | ·/····· |
| Anon I will you tell. | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Men speak of romances of price | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| Of Horn Child, and of Ipotis, | 8 | ········ |
| Of Bevis, and Sir Guy, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Of Sir Libeux, and Pleindamour, | 8 | ········ |
| But Sir Thopas, he bears the flow’r | 10 | ·········· |
| Of royal chivalry. | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| His goode steed he all bestrode, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| And forth upon his way he glode, | 8 | ········ |
| As sparkle out of brand; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Upon his crest he bare a tow’r, | 8 | ········ |
| And therein stick’d a lily flow’r; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| God shield his corse from shand! | 6 | ······ |
| And, for he was a knight auntrous, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| He woulde sleepen in none house, | 8 | ········ |
| But liggen in his hood, | 6 | ······ |
| His brighte helm was his wanger, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And by him baited his destrer | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of herbes fine and good. | 5 | ····· |
| Himself drank water of the well, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| As did the knight Sir Percivel, | 8 | ········ |
| So worthy under weed; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Till on a day - . . . | 4 | ···· |
Notes from the edition 4
Glosses from the Purves edition of 1870, printed beside the lines (Project Gutenberg #2383).
- Stanza 1 tale · gallantry
- Stanza 2 price: worth, esteem
- Stanza 3 shone · torch · body **harm
- Stanza 4 adventurous · lie · pillow · destrer: fed **horse
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