The Knight
Our good knight, Ted, girds his broadsword on(And he wields it well, I ween);He 's on his steed, and away has goneTo the fight for king and queen.What tho' no edge the broadsword hath?What tho' the blade be made of lath?'T is a valiant handThat wields the brand,So, foeman, clear the path!
He prances off at a goodly pace;'T is a noble steed he rides,That bears as well in the speedy raceAs he bears in battle-tides.What tho' 't is but a rocking-chairThat prances with this stately air?'T is a warrior boldThe reins doth hold,Who bids all foes beware!
Words in this poem
- broadsword n.
- A sword with a broad blade and a cutting edge; a claymore.
- ween v. i.
- To think; to imagine; to fancy. [OE. wenen, AS. w, fr. w hope, expectation, opinion; akin to D. waan, OFries. w, OS. & OHG. wan, G. wahn delusion, Icel. van hope, expectation, Goth. w, and D. w]
- 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.]
- valiant a.
- Vigorous in body; strong; powerful; as, a valiant fencer. [OE. valiant, F. vaillant, OF. vaillant, valant, originally p. pr. of OF. & F. valoir to be worth, L. valere to be strong. See Wield, and cf. Avail, Convalesce, ]
- foeman n.
- An enemy in war. [AS. fhman.]
- goodly a.
- Pleasant; agreeable; desirable. [OE. godlich, AS. g. See Good, and Like.]
- beware v. t.
- To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Knight is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar, Project Gutenberg ebook #18338; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Paul Laurence Dunbar, The Knight, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/the-knight.html, id L00629.
Form and metre
The Knight is 18 lines in 2 stanzas of 9 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCCDDC. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.3 syllables. 33% 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 ABABCCDDC onA · weenB · goneA · queenB · hathC · lathC · handD · brandD · pathC
- 2 ABABCCDDC paceA · ridesB · raceA · tidesB · chairC · airC · boldD · holdD · bewareC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Our good knight, Ted, girds his broadsword on | 9 | /·····/·· |
| (And he wields it well, I ween); | 7 | ······· |
| He 's on his steed, and away has gone | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| To the fight for king and queen. | 7 | ······· |
| What tho' no edge the broadsword hath? | 8 | ·····/·· |
| What tho' the blade be made of lath? | 8 | ········ |
| 'T is a valiant hand | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That wields the brand, | 4 | ···· |
| So, foeman, clear the path! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| He prances off at a goodly pace; | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| 'T is a noble steed he rides, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That bears as well in the speedy race | 9 | ······/˘· |
| As he bears in battle-tides. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| What tho' 't is but a rocking-chair | 9 | ······/˘· |
| That prances with this stately air? | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| 'T is a warrior bold | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| The reins doth hold, | 4 | ···· |
| Who bids all foes beware! | 6 | ····˘/ |
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.