The Black Knight

Madison Julius Cawein (1865–1914) · 1911

iambic tetrameter · ABBAABA · 196 lines · from Poems

I had not found the road too short,As once I had in days of youth,In that old forest of long ruth,Where my young knighthood broke its heart,Ere love and it had come to part,And lies made mockery of truth.I had not found the road too short.

A blind man, by the nightmare way,Had set me right when I was wrong.--I had been blind my whole life long--What wonder then that on this dayThe blind should show me how astrayMy strength had gone, my heart once strong.A blind man pointed me the way.

The road had been a heartbreak one,Of roots and rocks and tortured trees,And pools, above my horse's knees,And wandering paths, where spiders spun'Twixt boughs that never saw the sun,And silence of lost centuries.The road had been a heartbreak one.

It seemed long years since that black hourWhen she had fled, and I took horseTo follow, and without remorseTo slay her and her paramourIn that old keep, that ruined tower,From whence was borne her father's corse.It seemed long years since that black hour.

And now my horse was starved and spent,My gallant destrier, old and spare;The vile road's mire in mane and hair,I felt him totter as he went:--Such hungry woods were never meantFor pasture: hate had reaped them bare.Aye, my poor beast was old and spent.

I too had naught to stay me with;And like my horse was starved and lean;My armor gone; my raiment mean;Bare-haired I rode; uneasy sithThe way I'd lost, and some dark mythFar in the woods had laughed obscene.I had had naught to stay me with.

Then I dismounted. Better so.And found that blind man at my rein.And there the path stretched straight and plain.I saw at once the way to go.The forest road I used to knowIn days when life had less of pain.Then I dismounted. Better so.

I had but little time to spare,Since evening now was drawing near;And then I thought I saw a sneerEnter into that blind man's stare:And suddenly a thought leapt bare,--What if the Fiend had set him here!--I still might smite him or might spare.

I braced my sword: then turned to look:For I had heard an evil laugh:The blind man, leaning on his staff,Still stood there where my leave I took:What! did he mock me? Would I brookA blind fool's scorn?--My sword was halfOut of its sheath. I turned to look:

And he was gone. And to my sideMy horse came nickering as afraid.Did he too fear to be betrayed?--What use for him? I might not ride.So to a great bough there I tied,And left him in the forest glade:My spear and shield I left beside.

My sword was all I needed there.It would suffice to right my wrongs;To cut the knot of all those thongsWith which she'd bound me to despair,That woman with her midnight hair,Her Circe snares and Siren songs.My sword was all I needed there.

And then that laugh again I heard,Evil as Hell and darkness are.It shook my heart behind its barOf purpose, like some ghastly word.But then it may have been a bird,An owlet in the forest far,A raven, croaking, that I heard.

I loosed my sword within its sheath;My sword, disuse and dews of nightHad fouled with rust and iron-blight.I seemed to hear the forest breatheA menace at me through its teethOf thorns 'mid which the way lay white.I loosed my sword within its sheath.

I had not noticed until nowThe sun was gone, and gray the moonHung staring; pale as marble hewn;--Like some old malice, bleak of brow,It glared at me through leaf and bough,With which the tattered way was strewn.I had not noticed until now.

And then, all unexpected, vastAbove the tops of ragged pinesI saw a ruin, dark with vines,Against the blood-red sunset massed:My perilous tower of the past,Round which the woods thrust giant spines.I never knew it was so vast.

Long while I stood considering.--This was the place and this the night.The blind man then had set me right.Here she had come for sheltering.That ruin held her: that dark wingWhich flashed a momentary light.Some time I stood considering.

Deep darkness fell. The somber glareOf sunset, that made cavernous eyesOf those gaunt casements 'gainst the skies,Had burnt to ashes everywhere.Before my feet there rose a stairOf oozy stone, of giant size,On which the gray moon flung its glare.

Then I went forward, sword in hand,Until the slimy causeway loomed,And huge beyond it yawned and gloomedThe gateway where one seemed to stand,In armor, like a burning brand,Sword-drawn; his visor barred and plumed.And I went toward him, sword in hand.

He should not stay revenge from me.Whatever lord or knight he were,He should not keep me long from her,That woman dyed in infamy.No matter. God or devil he,His sword should prove no barrier.--Fool! who would keep revenge from me!

And then I heard, harsh over all,That demon laughter, filled with scorn:It woke the echoes, wild, forlorn,Dark in the ivy of that wall,As when, within a mighty hall,One blows a giant battle-horn.Loud, loud that laugh rang over all.

And then I struck him where he towered:I struck him, struck with all my hate:Black-plumed he loomed before the gate:I struck, and found his sword that showeredFierce flame on mine while black he gloweredBehind his visor's wolfish grate.I struck; and taller still he towered.

A year meseemed we battled there:A year; ten years; a century:My blade was snapped; his lay in three:His mail was hewn; and everywhereWas blood; it streaked my face and hair;And still he towered over me.A year meseemed we battled there.

"Unmask!" I cried. "Yea, doff thy casque!Put up thy visor! fight me fair!I have no mail; my head is bare!Take off thy helm, is all I ask!Why dost thou hide thy face?--Unmask!"--My eyes were blind with blood and hair,And still I cried, "Take off thy casque!"

And then once more that laugh rang outLike madness in the caves of Hell:It hooted like some monster well,The haunt of owls, or some mad routOf witches. And with battle shoutOnce more upon that knight I fell,While wild again that laugh rang out.

Like Death's own eyes his glared in mine,As with the fragment of my bladeI smote him helmwise; huge he swayed,Then crashed, like some cadaverous pine,Uncasqued, his face in full moonshine:And I--I saw; and shrank afraid.For, lo! behold! the face was mine.

What devil's work was here!--What jestFor fiends to laugh at, demons hiss!--To slay myself? and so to missMy hate's reward?--revenge confessed!--Was this knight I?--My brain I pressed.--Then who was he who gazed on this?--What devil's work was here!----What jest!

It was myself on whom I gazed--My darker self!--With fear I rose.--I was right weak from those great blows.--I stood bewildered, stunned and dazed,And looked around with eyes amazed.--I could not slay her now, God knows!--Around me there a while I gazed.

Then turned and fled into the night,While overhead once more I heardThat laughter, like some demon birdWailing in darkness.--Then a lightMade clear a woman by that knight.I saw 'twas she, but said no word,And silent fled into the night.

Words in this poem 25

ruth n.: Sorrow for the misery of another; pity; tenderness. [From Rue, v.: cf. Icel. hryggedh, hrygedh.]
broke v. i.: To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
heartbreak n.: Crushing sorrow or grief; a yielding to such grief.
corse n.: A living body or its bulk. [OF. cors, F. corps. See Corpse.]
went n.: Course; way; path; journey; direction.
rode n.: Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
sith prep.: Since; afterwards; seeing that. [See Since.]
glade n.: An open passage through a wood; a grassy open or cleared space in a forest. [Prob. of Scand. origin, and akin to glad, a.; cf. also W. golead, goleuad, a lighting, illumination, fr. goleu light, clear, bright, goleu fwlch glade, lit., a ]
suffice v. i.: To be enough, or sufficient; to meet the need (of anything); to be equal to the end proposed; to be adequate. [OE. suffisen, OF. soufire, F. suffire (cf. suffisant, p.pr.), L. sufficere to put under, to substitute, to avail for, to suffice; sub under + facere to make. Se]
shook v. t.: To pack, as staves, in a shook.
owlet n.: A small owl; especially, the European species (Athene noctua), and the California flammulated owlet (Megascops flammeolus). Owlet moth (Zoöl.), any noctuid moth. [Dim. of owl. Cf. Howlet.]
glare v. i.: To shine with a bright, dazzling light. [OE. glaren, gloren; cf. AS. glær amber, LG. glaren to glow or burn like coals, D. gloren to glimmer; prob. akin to E. glass.]
cavernous a.: Full of caverns; resembling a cavern or large cavity; hollow. [L. cavernosus: cf. F. caverneux.]
gaunt a.: Attenuated, as with fasting or suffering; lean; meager; pinched and grim. [Cf. Norw. gand a thin pointed stick, a tall and thin man, and W. gwan weak.]
causeway n.: A way or road rasid above the natural level of the ground, serving as a dry passage over wet or marshy ground. [OE. cauci, cauchie, OF. cauchie, F. chaussée, from LL. (via) calciata, fr calciare to make a road, either fr. L. calx lime, hence, to pave with limestone (cf. E]
forlorn a.: Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
towered a.: Adorned or defended by towers.
wolfish a.: Like a wolf; having the qualities or form of a wolf; as, a wolfish visage; wolfish designs.
unmask v. t.: To strip of a mask or disguise; to lay open; to expose. [1st pref. un- + mask.]
doff v. t.: To put off, as dress; to divest one's self of; hence, figuratively, to put or thrust away; to rid one's self of. And made us doff our easy robes of peace. [Do + off. See Do, v. t., 7.]
casque n.: A piece of defensive or ornamental armor (with or without a vizor) for the head and neck; a helmet. [F. casque, fr. Sp. casco See Cask.]
swayed a.: Bent down, and hollow in the back; sway-backed; -- said of a horse.
cadaverous a.: Having the appearance or color of a dead human body; pale; ghastly; as, a cadaverous look. [L. cadaverosus.]
moonshine n.: The light of the moon.
jest n.: A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Black Knight is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #7796; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Madison Julius Cawein, The Black Knight, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/the-black-knight.html, id L10960.

Form and metre

The Black Knight is 196 lines in 28 stanzas of 7 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBAABA, complete in 22 of its 28 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 15 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% 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 ABBCCBA short^A · youth^B · ruth^B · heart^C · part^C · truth^B · short^A
2 ABBAABA way^A · wrong^B · long^B · day^A · astray^A · strong^B · way^A
3 ABBAABA one^A · trees^B · knees^B · spun^A · sun^A · centuries^B · one^A
4 ABBAABA hour^A · horse^B · remorse^B · paramour^A · tower^A · corse^B · hour^A
5 ABBAABA spent^A · spare^B · hair^B · went^A · meant^A · bare^B · spent^A
6 ABBAABA with^A · lean^B · mean^B · sith^A · myth^A · obscene^B · with^A
7 ABBAABA so^A · rein^B · plain^B · go^A · know^A · pain^B · so^A
8 ABBAABA spare^A · near^B · sneer^B · stare^A · bare^A · here^B · spare^A
9 ABBAABA look^A · laugh^B · staff^B · took^A · brook^A · half^B · look^A
10 ABBAABA side^A · afraid^B · betrayed^B · ride^A · tied^A · glade^B · beside^A
11 ABBAABA there^A · wrongs^B · thongs^B · despair^A · hair^A · songs^B · there^A
12 ABBAABA heard^A · are^B · bar^B · word^A · bird^A · far^B · heard^A
13 ABB-ABA sheath^A · night^B · blight^B · breathe · teeth^A · white^B · sheath^A
14 ABBAABA now^A · moon^B · hewn^B · brow^A · bough^A · strewn^B · now^A
15 ABBAABA vast^A · pines^B · vines^B · massed^A · past^A · spines^B · vast^A
16 ABB-ABA considering^A · night^B · right^B · sheltering · wing^A · light^B · considering^A
17 ABBAABA glare^A · eyes^B · skies^B · everywhere^A · stair^A · size^B · glare^A
18 ABBAA-A hand^A · loomed^B · gloomed^B · stand^A · brand^A · plumed · hand^A
19 ABB-A-A me^A · were^B · her^B · infamy · he^A · barrier · me^A
20 ABBAABA all^A · scorn^B · forlorn^B · wall^A · hall^A · horn^B · all^A
21 ABBAABA towered^A · hate^B · gate^B · showered^A · glowered^A · grate^B · towered^A
22 A-BAABA there^A · century · three^B · everywhere^A · hair^A · me^B · there^A
23 ABBAABA casque^A · fair^B · bare^B · ask^A · unmask^A · hair^B · casque^A
24 ABBAABA out^A · hell^B · well^B · rout^A · shout^A · fell^B · out^A
25 ABBAABA mine^A · blade^B · swayed^B · pine^A · moonshine^A · afraid^B · mine^A
26 ABBAABA jest^A · hiss^B · miss^B · confessed^A · pressed^A · this^B · jest^A
27 ABBAABA gazed^A · rose^B · blows^B · dazed^A · amazed^A · knows^B · gazed^A
28 ABBAABA night^A · heard^B · bird^B · light^A · knight^A · word^B · night^A

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
I had not found the road too short,	8	········
As once I had in days of youth,	8	········
In that old forest of long ruth,	8	···/˘···
Where my young knighthood broke its heart,	8	···/····
Ere love and it had come to part,	8	········
And lies made mockery of truth.	8	···/˘˘··
I had not found the road too short.	8	········
A blind man, by the nightmare way,	8	·····/··
Had set me right when I was wrong.--	8	········
I had been blind my whole life long--	8	········
What wonder then that on this day	8	·/˘·····
The blind should show me how astray	8	······˘/
My strength had gone, my heart once strong.	8	········
A blind man pointed me the way.	8	···/˘···
The road had been a heartbreak one,	8	·····/··
Of roots and rocks and tortured trees,	8	·····/˘·
And pools, above my horse's knees,	8	·····/˘·
And wandering paths, where spiders spun	8	·/˘˘··/·
'Twixt boughs that never saw the sun,	8	···/˘···
And silence of lost centuries.	8	·/˘··/˘˘
The road had been a heartbreak one.	8	·····/··
It seemed long years since that black hour	9	·······/˘
When she had fled, and I took horse	8	········
To follow, and without remorse	8	·/˘···˘/
To slay her and her paramour	8	·····/˘˘
In that old keep, that ruined tower,	9	·····/˘/˘
From whence was borne her father's corse.	8	·····/˘·
It seemed long years since that black hour.	9	·······/˘
And now my horse was starved and spent,	8	········
My gallant destrier, old and spare;	8	·/˘·····
The vile road's mire in mane and hair,	8	········
I felt him totter as he went:--	8	···/˘···
Such hungry woods were never meant	8	·/˘··/˘·
For pasture: hate had reaped them bare.	8	·/˘·····
Aye, my poor beast was old and spent.	8	········
I too had naught to stay me with;	8	········
And like my horse was starved and lean;	8	········
My armor gone; my raiment mean;	8	·/˘··/˘·
Bare-haired I rode; uneasy sith	8	····˘/˘·
The way I'd lost, and some dark myth	8	········
Far in the woods had laughed obscene.	8	······˘/
I had had naught to stay me with.	8	········
Then I dismounted. Better so.	8	·····/˘·
And found that blind man at my rein.	8	········
And there the path stretched straight and plain.	8	········
I saw at once the way to go.	8	········
The forest road I used to know	8	·/˘·····
In days when life had less of pain.	8	········
Then I dismounted. Better so.	8	·····/˘·
I had but little time to spare,	8	···/˘···
Since evening now was drawing near;	8	·/˘··/˘·
And then I thought I saw a sneer	8	········
Enter into that blind man's stare:	8	/˘······
And suddenly a thought leapt bare,--	8	·/˘˘····
What if the Fiend had set him here!--	8	········
I still might smite him or might spare.	8	········
I braced my sword: then turned to look:	8	········
For I had heard an evil laugh:	8	·····/˘·
The blind man, leaning on his staff,	8	···/˘···
Still stood there where my leave I took:	8	········
What! did he mock me? Would I brook	8	········
A blind fool's scorn?--My sword was half	8	········
Out of its sheath. I turned to look:	8	········
And he was gone. And to my side	8	········
My horse came nickering as afraid.	9	·······˘/
Did he too fear to be betrayed?--	8	······˘/
What use for him? I might not ride.	8	········
So to a great bough there I tied,	8	········
And left him in the forest glade:	8	·····/˘·
My spear and shield I left beside.	8	······˘/
My sword was all I needed there.	8	·····/˘·
It would suffice to right my wrongs;	8	··˘/····
To cut the knot of all those thongs	8	········
With which she'd bound me to despair,	8	······˘/
That woman with her midnight hair,	8	·/˘··/··
Her Circe snares and Siren songs.	7	····/˘·
My sword was all I needed there.	8	·····/˘·
And then that laugh again I heard,	8	····˘/··
Evil as Hell and darkness are.	8	/˘···/˘·
It shook my heart behind its bar	8	········
Of purpose, like some ghastly word.	8	·/˘··/˘·
But then it may have been a bird,	8	········
An owlet in the forest far,	8	·/˘··/˘·
A raven, croaking, that I heard.	8	·/˘/˘···
I loosed my sword within its sheath;	8	········
My sword, disuse and dews of night	8	··˘/····
Had fouled with rust and iron-blight.	8	·····/˘·
I seemed to hear the forest breathe	8	·····/˘·
A menace at me through its teeth	8	·/˘·····
Of thorns 'mid which the way lay white.	8	········
I loosed my sword within its sheath.	8	········
I had not noticed until now	8	···/˘···
The sun was gone, and gray the moon	8	········
Hung staring; pale as marble hewn;--	8	·/˘··/˘·
Like some old malice, bleak of brow,	8	···/˘···
It glared at me through leaf and bough,	8	········
With which the tattered way was strewn.	8	···/˘···
I had not noticed until now.	8	···/˘···
And then, all unexpected, vast	8	····˘/˘·
Above the tops of ragged pines	8	·····/˘·
I saw a ruin, dark with vines,	8	···/˘···
Against the blood-red sunset massed:	8	·····/··
My perilous tower of the past,	8	·/˘˘/···
Round which the woods thrust giant spines.	8	·····/˘·
I never knew it was so vast.	8	·/˘·····
Long while I stood considering.--	8	····˘/˘˘
This was the place and this the night.	8	········
The blind man then had set me right.	8	········
Here she had come for sheltering.	8	·····/˘˘
That ruin held her: that dark wing	8	·/˘·····
Which flashed a momentary light.	8	···/˘·˘·
Some time I stood considering.	8	····˘/˘˘
Deep darkness fell. The somber glare	8	·/˘··/˘·
Of sunset, that made cavernous eyes	8	·/···/˘·
Of those gaunt casements 'gainst the skies,	9	·········
Had burnt to ashes everywhere.	8	···/˘/˘·
Before my feet there rose a stair	8	········
Of oozy stone, of giant size,	8	·/˘··/˘·
On which the gray moon flung its glare.	8	········
Then I went forward, sword in hand,	8	···/˘···
Until the slimy causeway loomed,	8	···/˘/··
And huge beyond it yawned and gloomed	8	········
The gateway where one seemed to stand,	8	·/······
In armor, like a burning brand,	8	·/˘··/˘·
Sword-drawn; his visor barred and plumed.	8	···/˘···
And I went toward him, sword in hand.	9	·········
He should not stay revenge from me.	8	····˘/··
Whatever lord or knight he were,	8	·/˘·····
He should not keep me long from her,	8	········
That woman dyed in infamy.	8	·/˘··/˘˘
No matter. God or devil he,	8	·/˘··/˘·
His sword should prove no barrier.--	8	·····/˘˘
Fool! who would keep revenge from me!	8	····˘/··
And then I heard, harsh over all,	8	········
That demon laughter, filled with scorn:	8	·/˘/˘···
It woke the echoes, wild, forlorn,	8	···/˘·˘/
Dark in the ivy of that wall,	8	···/˘···
As when, within a mighty hall,	8	·····/˘·
One blows a giant battle-horn.	8	···/˘/˘·
Loud, loud that laugh rang over all.	8	········
And then I struck him where he towered:	9	·······/˘
I struck him, struck with all my hate:	8	········
Black-plumed he loomed before the gate:	8	········
I struck, and found his sword that showered	9	·······/˘
Fierce flame on mine while black he glowered	9	·······/˘
Behind his visor's wolfish grate.	8	···/˘/˘·
I struck; and taller still he towered.	9	···/˘··/˘
A year meseemed we battled there:	8	·····/˘·
A year; ten years; a century:	8	·····/˘˘
My blade was snapped; his lay in three:	8	········
His mail was hewn; and everywhere	8	·····/˘·
Was blood; it streaked my face and hair;	8	········
And still he towered over me.	8	···/˘···
A year meseemed we battled there.	8	·····/˘·
"Unmask!" I cried. "Yea, doff thy casque!	8	˘/······
Put up thy visor! fight me fair!	8	···/˘···
I have no mail; my head is bare!	8	········
Take off thy helm, is all I ask!	8	········
Why dost thou hide thy face?--Unmask!"--	8	······˘/
My eyes were blind with blood and hair,	8	········
And still I cried, "Take off thy casque!"	8	········
And then once more that laugh rang out	8	········
Like madness in the caves of Hell:	8	·/˘·····
It hooted like some monster well,	8	·/˘··/˘·
The haunt of owls, or some mad rout	8	········
Of witches. And with battle shout	8	·/˘··/˘·
Once more upon that knight I fell,	8	········
While wild again that laugh rang out.	8	··˘/····
Like Death's own eyes his glared in mine,	8	········
As with the fragment of my blade	8	···/˘···
I smote him helmwise; huge he swayed,	8	········
Then crashed, like some cadaverous pine,	9	····˘/˘˘·
Uncasqued, his face in full moonshine:	8	······/·
And I--I saw; and shrank afraid.	8	······˘/
For, lo! behold! the face was mine.	8	··˘/····
What devil's work was here!--What jest	8	·/˘·····
For fiends to laugh at, demons hiss!--	8	·····/˘·
To slay myself? and so to miss	8	···/····
My hate's reward?--revenge confessed!--	8	··˘/˘/˘/
Was this knight I?--My brain I pressed.--	8	········
Then who was he who gazed on this?--	8	········
What devil's work was here!----What jest!	8	·/˘·····
It was myself on whom I gazed--	8	···/····
My darker self!--With fear I rose.--	8	·/˘·····
I was right weak from those great blows.--	8	········
I stood bewildered, stunned and dazed,	8	··˘/˘···
And looked around with eyes amazed.--	8	······˘/
I could not slay her now, God knows!--	8	········
Around me there a while I gazed.	8	········
Then turned and fled into the night,	8	········
While overhead once more I heard	8	·/˘/····
That laughter, like some demon bird	8	·/˘··/˘·
Wailing in darkness.--Then a light	8	/˘·/˘···
Made clear a woman by that knight.	8	···/˘···
I saw 'twas she, but said no word,	8	········
And silent fled into the night.	8	·/˘·····

The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.

More by Madison Julius Cawein

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