Sir Guy the Crusader
SIR GUY was a doughty crusader,A muscular knight,Ever ready to fight,A very determined invader,And DICKEY DE LION’S delight.
LENORE was a Saracen maiden,Brunette, statuesque,The reverse of grotesque,Her pa was a bagman from Aden,Her mother she played in burlesque.
A coryphée, pretty and loyal,In amber and redThe ballet she led;Her mother performed at the Royal,LENORE at the Saracen’s Head.
Of face and of figure majestic,She dazzled the cits—Ecstaticised pits;—Her troubles were only domestic,But drove her half out of her wits.
Her father incessantly lashed her,On water and breadShe was grudgingly fed;Whenever her father he thrashed herHer mother sat down on her head.
GUY saw her, and loved her, with reason,For beauty so brightSent him mad with delight;He purchased a stall for the season,And sat in it every night.
His views were exceedingly proper,He wanted to wed,So he called at her shedAnd saw her progenitor whop her—Her mother sit down on her head.
“So pretty,” said he, “and so trusting!You brute of a dad,You unprincipled cad,Your conduct is really disgusting,Come, come, now admit it’s too bad!
“You’re a turbaned old Turk, and malignant—Your daughter LENOREI intensely adore,And I cannot help feeling indignant,A fact that I hinted before;
“To see a fond father employingA deuce of a knoutFor to bang her about,To a sensitive lover’s annoying.”Said the bagman, “Crusader, get out.”
Says GUY, “Shall a warrior ladenWith a big spiky knob,Sit in peace on his cobWhile a beautiful Saracen maidenIs whipped by a Saracen snob?
“To London I’ll go from my charmer.”Which he did, with his loot(Seven hats and a flute),And was nabbed for his Sydenham armourAt MR. BEN-SAMUEL’S suit.
SIR GUY he was lodged in the Compter,Her pa, in a rage,Died (don’t know his age),His daughter, she married the prompter,Grew bulky and quitted the stage.
Words in this poem 25
- doughty a.
- Able; strong; valiant; redoubtable; as, a doughty hero.
- crusader n.
- One engaged in a crusade; as, the crusaders of the Middle Ages.
- invader n.
- One who invades; an assailant; an encroacher; an intruder.
- dickey n.
- A seat behind a carriage, for a servant.
- brunette n.
- A girl or woman with a somewhat brown or dark complexion. [F. brunet, brunette, brownish, dim. of brun, brune, brown, fr. OHG. br. See Brown, a.]
- statuesque a.
- Partaking of, or exemplifying, the characteristics of a statue; having the symmetry, or other excellence, of a statue artistically made; as, statuesquelimbs; a statuesque attitude.
- bagman n.
- A commercial traveler; one employed to solicit orders for manufacturers and tradesmen. Thackeray.
- ballet n.
- An artistic dance performed as a theatrical entertainment, or an interlude, by a number of persons, usually women. Sometimes, a scene accompanied by pantomime and dancing. [F., a dim. of bal dance. See 2d Ball, n.]
- 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.]
- incessantly adv.
- Unceasingly; continually.
- grudgingly adv.
- In a grudging manner.
- whop v. i.
- To throw one's self quickly, or by an abrupt motion; to turn suddenly; as, she whapped down on the floor; the fish whapped over. [Cf. OE. quappen to palpitate, E. quob, quaver, wabble, awhape, wap.]
- turbaned a.
- Wearing a turban.
- turk n.
- A member of any of numerous Tartar tribes of Central Asia, etc.; esp., one of the dominant race in Turkey. [Per. Turk; probably of Tartar origin: cf. F. Turc.]
- intensely adv.
- Intently. J. Spencer.
- 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]
- indignant a.
- Affected with indignation; wrathful; passionate; irate; feeling wrath, as when a person is exasperated by unworthy or unjust treatment, by a mean action, or by a degrading accusation. [L. indignans, -antis, p. pr. of indignari to be indignant, disdain. See Indign.]
- knout n.
- A kind of whip for flogging criminals, formerly much used in Russia. The last is a tapering bundle of leather thongs twisted with wire and hardened, so that it mangles the flesh. [Russ. knut'; prob. of Scand. origin; cf. Sw. knut knot, knout, Icel. kn knot: cf. F. knout. See Knot.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- spiky a.
- Like a spike; spikelike.
- snob n.
- A vulgar person who affects to be better, richer, or more fashionable, than he really is; a vulgar upstart; one who apes his superiors. Thackeray. [Icel. snapr a dolt, impostor, charlatan. Cf. Snub.]
- charmer n.
- One who charms, or has power to charm; one who uses the power of enchantment; a magician. Deut. xviii. 11.
- loot n.
- The act of plundering. [Hind. l, Skr. l, l, booty, lup to break, spoil; prob. akin to E. rob.]
- armour n.
- Defensive arms for the body; any clothing or covering worn to protect one's person in battle. [OE. armure, fr. F. armure, OF. armeure, fr. L. armatura. See Armature.]
- prompter n.
- One who, or that which, prompts; one who admonishes or incites to action.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sir Guy the Crusader is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Bab Ballads, Project Gutenberg ebook #931; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: W. S. Gilbert, Sir Guy the Crusader, in The Bab Ballads (1869), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #931, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gilbert-bab-ballads/sir-guy-the-crusader.html, id L02366.
Form and metre
Sir Guy the Crusader is 65 lines in 13 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBAB, complete in 12 of its 13 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 82% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.4 syllables. 23 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in anapaestic trimeter.
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 ABBAB crusaderA · knightB · fightB · invaderA · delightB
- 2 ABBAB maidenA · statuesqueB · grotesqueB · adenA · burlesqueB
- 3 ABBAB loyalA · redB · ledB · royalA · headB
- 4 ABBAB majesticA · citsB · pitsB · domesticA · witsB
- 5 ABBAB herA · breadB · fedB · herA · headB
- 6 ABBAB reasonA · brightB · delightB · seasonA · nightB
- 7 -AA-A proper · wedA · shedA · her · headA
- 8 ABBAB trustingA · dadB · cadB · disgustingA · badB
- 9 ABBAB malignantA · lenoreB · adoreB · indignantA · beforeB
- 10 ABBAB employingA · knoutB · aboutB · annoyingA · outB
- 11 ABBAB ladenA · knobB · cobB · maidenA · snobB
- 12 ABBAB charmerA · lootB · fluteB · armourA · suitB
- 13 ABBAB compterA · rageB · ageB · prompterA · stageB
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 anapaestic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| SIR GUY was a doughty crusader, | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| A muscular knight, | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| Ever ready to fight, | 6 | /˘/˘·· |
| A very determined invader, | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘˘/˘ |
| And DICKEY DE LION’S delight. | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘/ |
| LENORE was a Saracen maiden, | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| Brunette, statuesque, | 5 | ˘/·˘/ |
| The reverse of grotesque, | 6 | ·˘/·˘/ |
| Her pa was a bagman from Aden, | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| Her mother she played in burlesque. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| A coryphée, pretty and loyal, | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| In amber and red | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| The ballet she led; | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| Her mother performed at the Royal, | 9 | ·/˘˘/··/˘ |
| LENORE at the Saracen’s Head. | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| Of face and of figure majestic, | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| She dazzled the cits— | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Ecstaticised pits;— | 5 | ····· |
| Her troubles were only domestic, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| But drove her half out of her wits. | 8 | ········ |
| Her father incessantly lashed her, | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘·· |
| On water and bread | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| She was grudgingly fed; | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| Whenever her father he thrashed her | 9 | ˘/˘·/˘··· |
| Her mother sat down on her head. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| GUY saw her, and loved her, with reason, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| For beauty so bright | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Sent him mad with delight; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| He purchased a stall for the season, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| And sat in it every night. | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| His views were exceedingly proper, | 9 | ···˘/˘˘/˘ |
| He wanted to wed, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| So he called at her shed | 7 | ···˘··· |
| And saw her progenitor whop her— | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| Her mother sit down on her head. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| “So pretty,” said he, “and so trusting! | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| You brute of a dad, | 5 | ····· |
| You unprincipled cad, | 7 | ·˘/˘˘˘· |
| Your conduct is really disgusting, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| Come, come, now admit it’s too bad! | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| “You’re a turbaned old Turk, and malignant— | 10 | ··/˘···˘/˘ |
| Your daughter LENORE | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| I intensely adore, | 6 | ·˘/˘˘/ |
| And I cannot help feeling indignant, | 10 | ··/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| A fact that I hinted before; | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| “To see a fond father employing | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| A deuce of a knout | 5 | ····· |
| For to bang her about, | 6 | ······ |
| To a sensitive lover’s annoying.” | 9 | ··/˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Said the bagman, “Crusader, get out.” | 9 | ··/˘˘/˘·· |
| Says GUY, “Shall a warrior laden | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| With a big spiky knob, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Sit in peace on his cob | 6 | ······ |
| While a beautiful Saracen maiden | 9 | ··/˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Is whipped by a Saracen snob? | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| “To London I’ll go from my charmer.” | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Which he did, with his loot | 6 | ······ |
| (Seven hats and a flute), | 6 | /˘···· |
| And was nabbed for his Sydenham armour | 10 | ········/˘ |
| At MR. BEN-SAMUEL’S suit. | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| SIR GUY he was lodged in the Compter, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Her pa, in a rage, | 5 | ····· |
| Died (don’t know his age), | 5 | ····· |
| His daughter, she married the prompter, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Grew bulky and quitted the stage. | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
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