The Legend of King Arthur
Of Brutus'[L1] blood, in Brittaine borne,King Arthur I am to name;Through Christendome and HeathynesseWell knowne is my worthy fame.
In Jesus Christ I doe beleeve;I am a Christyan bore;The Father, Sone, and Holy Gost,One God, I doe adore.
In the four hundred ninetieth yeere[L9],Oer Brittaine I did rayne,After my Savior Christ his byrth,What time I did maintaine
The fellowshipp of the Table Round,Soe famous in those dayes;Whereatt a hundred noble knightsAnd thirty sat alwayes:
Who for their deeds and and martiall feates,As bookes done yett record,Amongst all other nationsWer feared through the world.
And in the castle off TyntagillKing Uther mee begate,
And when I was fifteen yeere old,Then was I crowned kinge:All Brittaine, that was att an uprore,I did to quiett bringe;
And drove the Saxons from the realme,Who had opprest this land;All Scotland then, throughe manly feates,I conquered with my hand.
Ireland, Denmarke, Norwaye,These countryes wan I all;Iseland, Gotheland, and Swetheland;And made their kings my thrall.
I conquered all Gallya,That now is called France;My honor to advance.
Soe terrible to vewe,That in Saint Barnards mount did lye,By force of armes I slew.
And Lucyus, the emperour of Rome,I brought to deadly wracke;And a thousand more of noble knightesFor feare did turne their backe.
Five kinges of Pavye I did killAmidst that bloody strife;Besides the Grecian emperour,Who alsoe lost his liffe.
Whose carcasse I did send to Rome,Cladd poorlye on a beere;And afterward I past Mount-JoyeThe next approaching yeere.
Then I came to Rome, where I was mettRight as a conquerour,And by all the cardinalls solempnelyeI was crowned an emperour.
One winter there I made abode,Then word to mee was brought,Howe Mordred had oppressed the crowne,What treason he had wrought
Att home in Brittaine with my queene:Therfore I came with speedeTo Brittaine backe, with all my power,To quitt that traitorous deede;
And soone at Sandwiche I arrivde,Where Mordred me withstoode:But yett at last I landed there,With effusion of much blood.
For there my nephew Sir Gawaine dyed,Being wounded in that soreThe whiche Sir Lancelot in fightHad given him before.
Thence chased I Mordered away,Who fledd to London right,From London to Winchester, andTo Cornewalle tooke his flyght.
And still I him pursued with speed,Till at last wee mett;Wherby an appointed day of fightWas there agreed and sett:
Where we did fight, of mortal lifeEche other to deprive,Till of a hundred thousand menScarce one was left alive.
There all the noble chivalryeOf Brittaine tooke their end:O see how fickle is their state
There all the traiterous men were slaine,Not one escapte away;And there dyed all my vallyant knightesAlas! that woefull day!
Two and twenty yeere I ware the crowneIn honor and great fame,And thus by death was suddenlyeDeprived of the same.
Words in this poem 19
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
- ninetieth a.
- Next in order after the eighty-ninth.
- fellowshipp n.
- The state or relation of being or associate. [Fellow + -ship.]
- whereatt adv.
- At which; upon which; whereupon; -- used relatively.
- martiall a.
- Of, pertaining to, or suited for, war; military; as, martial music; a martial appearance. [F., fr. L. martialis of or belonging to Mars, the god of war. Cf. March the month.]
- yett n.
- Any one of several species of large marine gastropods belonging to the genus Yetus, or Cymba; a boat shell.
- amongst prep.
- Mixed or mingled; surrounded by. [OE. amongist, amonges, amonge, among, AS. onmang, ongemang, gemang, in a crowd or mixture. For the ending -st see Amidst. See Mingle.]
- quiett a.
- In a state of rest or calm; without stir, motion, or agitation; still; as, a quiet sea; quiet air. [L. quietus, p. p. pf quiescere to rest, keep quiet; akin to quies rest, and prob. to E. while, n. See While, and cf. Coy, a., Quiesce, Quietus, Quit, a., Quite,]
- drove n.
- A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
- amidst prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- liffe n.
- The fiber by which the petioles of the date palm are bound together, from which various kinds of cordage are made. [Written also lief.]
- cladd v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- conquerour n.
- One who conquers. The Conqueror (Eng. Hist.). William the Norman (1027-1067) who invaded England, defeated Harold in the battle of Hastings, and was crowned king, in 1066. [OF. conquereor, fr. conquerre,]
- abode n.
- Act of waiting; delay. [OE. abad, abood, fr. abiden to abide. See Abide. For the change of vowel, cf. abode, imp. of abide.]
- quitt n.
- Any one of numerous species of small passerine birds native of tropical America. See Banana quit, under Banana, and Guitguit.
- nephew n.
- A grandson or grandchild, or remoter lineal descendant. [OE. neveu, nevou, nevu, fr. F. neveu, OF. also, nevou, L. nepos; akin to AS. nefa, D. neef, G. neffe, OHG. nevo, Icel. nefi a kinsman, gr. nepat grandson, desce]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- woefull a.
- Full of woe; sorrowful; distressed with grief or calamity; afflicted; wretched; unhappy; sad.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Legend of King Arthur is in the public domain. This text is taken from English and Scottish Ballads, Volume I, Project Gutenberg ebook #37031; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Francis James Child, The Legend of King Arthur, in English and Scottish Ballads, Volume I (1857), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37031, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/child-ballads/the-legend-of-king-arthur.html, id L08569.
Form and metre
The Legend of King Arthur is 95 lines in 25 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 24% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 borne · nameA · heathynesse · fameA
- 2 -A-A beleeve · boreA · gost · adoreA
- 3 -A-A yeere[l9 · rayneA · byrth · maintaineA
- 4 -A-A round · dayesA · knights · alwayesA
- 7 -A-A old · kingeA · uprore · bringeA
- 8 -A-A realme · landA · feates · handA
- 9 -A-A norwaye · allA · swetheland · thrallA
- 10 -AA gallya · franceA · advanceA
- 11 A-A veweA · lye · slewA
- 12 -A-A rome · wrackeA · knightes · backeA
- 14 -A-A rome · beereA · joye · yeereA
- 16 -A-A abode · broughtA · crowne · wroughtA
- 17 -A-A queene · speedeA · power · deedeA
- 18 -A-A arrivde · withstoodeA · there · bloodA
- 19 -A-A dyed · soreA · fight · beforeA
- 20 -A-A away · rightA · and · flyghtA
- 21 -A-A speed · mettA · fight · settA
- 22 -A-A life · depriveA · men · aliveA
- 24 -A-A slaine · awayA · knightes · dayA
- 25 -A-A crowne · fameA · suddenlye · sameA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Of Brutus'[L1] blood, in Brittaine borne, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| King Arthur I am to name; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Through Christendome and Heathynesse | 8 | ········ |
| Well knowne is my worthy fame. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| In Jesus Christ I doe beleeve; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I am a Christyan bore; | 6 | ······ |
| The Father, Sone, and Holy Gost, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| One God, I doe adore. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| In the four hundred ninetieth yeere[L9], | 9 | ···/˘/˘·· |
| Oer Brittaine I did rayne, | 6 | ······ |
| After my Savior Christ his byrth, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| What time I did maintaine | 6 | ······ |
| The fellowshipp of the Table Round, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Soe famous in those dayes; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Whereatt a hundred noble knights | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And thirty sat alwayes: | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Who for their deeds and and martiall feates, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| As bookes done yett record, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Amongst all other nations | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Wer feared through the world. | 5 | ····· |
| And in the castle off Tyntagill | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| King Uther mee begate, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And when I was fifteen yeere old, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Then was I crowned kinge: | 5 | ····· |
| All Brittaine, that was att an uprore, | 9 | ········· |
| I did to quiett bringe; | 5 | ····· |
| And drove the Saxons from the realme, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Who had opprest this land; | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| All Scotland then, throughe manly feates, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| I conquered with my hand. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Ireland, Denmarke, Norwaye, | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| These countryes wan I all; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Iseland, Gotheland, and Swetheland; | 10 | ·········· |
| And made their kings my thrall. | 6 | ······ |
| I conquered all Gallya, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| That now is called France; | 5 | ····· |
| My honor to advance. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Soe terrible to vewe, | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| That in Saint Barnards mount did lye, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| By force of armes I slew. | 6 | ······ |
| And Lucyus, the emperour of Rome, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| I brought to deadly wracke; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And a thousand more of noble knightes | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| For feare did turne their backe. | 6 | ······ |
| Five kinges of Pavye I did kill | 8 | ········ |
| Amidst that bloody strife; | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Besides the Grecian emperour, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘˘ |
| Who alsoe lost his liffe. | 6 | ······ |
| Whose carcasse I did send to Rome, | 8 | ········ |
| Cladd poorlye on a beere; | 6 | ······ |
| And afterward I past Mount-Joye | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| The next approaching yeere. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Then I came to Rome, where I was mett | 9 | ········· |
| Right as a conquerour, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| And by all the cardinalls solempnelye | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| I was crowned an emperour. | 8 | ···˘·/˘˘ |
| One winter there I made abode, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Then word to mee was brought, | 6 | ······ |
| Howe Mordred had oppressed the crowne, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| What treason he had wrought | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Att home in Brittaine with my queene: | 8 | ········ |
| Therfore I came with speede | 6 | ······ |
| To Brittaine backe, with all my power, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| To quitt that traitorous deede; | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| And soone at Sandwiche I arrivde, | 8 | ········ |
| Where Mordred me withstoode: | 7 | ···˘··· |
| But yett at last I landed there, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With effusion of much blood. | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| For there my nephew Sir Gawaine dyed, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Being wounded in that sore | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| The whiche Sir Lancelot in fight | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Had given him before. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Thence chased I Mordered away, | 8 | ··˘···˘/ |
| Who fledd to London right, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| From London to Winchester, and | 8 | ·/˘·/·˘· |
| To Cornewalle tooke his flyght. | 8 | ········ |
| And still I him pursued with speed, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Till at last wee mett; | 5 | ····· |
| Wherby an appointed day of fight | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
| Was there agreed and sett: | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Where we did fight, of mortal life | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Eche other to deprive, | 7 | /˘/˘·˘/ |
| Till of a hundred thousand men | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Scarce one was left alive. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| There all the noble chivalrye | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of Brittaine tooke their end: | 6 | ······ |
| O see how fickle is their state | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| There all the traiterous men were slaine, | 9 | ········· |
| Not one escapte away; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And there dyed all my vallyant knightes | 8 | ········ |
| Alas! that woefull day! | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Two and twenty yeere I ware the crowne | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| In honor and great fame, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And thus by death was suddenlye | 8 | ········ |
| Deprived of the same. | 5 | ˘/··· |
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