Don Rodrigo
Unto the chase Rodrigo's gone,With neither lance nor buckler;A baleful light his eyes outshone--To pity he's no truckler.
He follows not the royal stag,But, full of fiery hating,Beside the way one sees him lag,Impatient at the waiting.
He longs his nephew's blood to spill,Who 'scaped (the young Mudarra)That trap he made and laid to killThe seven sons of Lara.
Along the road--at last, no balk--A youth looms on a jennet;He rises like a sparrow-hawkAbout to seize a linnet.
"What ho!" "Who calls?" "Art Christian knight,Or basely born and boorish,Or yet that thing I still more slight--The spawn of some dog Moorish?
"I seek the by-born spawn of oneI e'er renounce as brother--Who chose to make his latest sonCaress a Moor as mother.
"I've sought that cub in every hole,'Midland, and coast, and islet,For he's the thief who came and stoleOur sheathless jewelled stilet."
"If you well know the poniard wornWithout edge-dulling cover--Look on it now--here, plain, upborne!And further be no rover.
"Tis I--as sure as you're abhorredRodrigo--cruel slayer,'Tis I am Vengeance, and your lord,Who bids you crouch in prayer!
"I shall not grant the least delay--Use what you have, defending,I'll send you on that darksome wayYour victims late were wending.
"And if I wore this, with its crest--Our seal with gems enwreathing--In open air--'twas in your breastTo seek its fated sheathing!"
Words in this poem
- truckler n.
- One who truckles, or yields servilely to the will of another.
- spill n.
- A bit of wood split off; a splinter. [sq. root170. Cf. Spell a splinter.]
- jennet n.
- A small Spanish horse; a genet. [F. genet, Sp. jinete, orig., a mounted soldier, Ar. zenata a tribe of Barbary celebrated for its cavalry.]
- basely adv.
- In a base manner; with despicable meanness; dishonorably; shamefully.
- boorish a.
- Like a boor; clownish; uncultured; unmannerly.
- caress n.
- An act of endearment; any act or expression of affection; an embracing, or touching, with tenderness. [F. caresse, It. carezza, LL. caritia dearness, fr. L. carus dear. See Charity.]
- islet n.
- A little island. [OF. islette (cf. F. îlot), dim. of isle.]
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- sheathless a.
- Without a sheath or case for covering; unsheathed.
- rover n.
- One who practices robbery on the seas; a pirate. [D. roover a robber. See Rove, v. i.]
- slayer n.
- One who slays; a killer; a murderer; a destrroyer of life.
- 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,]
- darksome a.
- Dark; gloomy; obscure; shaded; cheerless.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Don Rodrigo is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, the various hands translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Victor Hugo, Don Rodrigo, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/don-rodrigo.html, id L26731.
Form and metre
Don Rodrigo is 44 lines in 11 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 ABAB goneA · bucklerB · outshoneA · trucklerB
- 2 ABAB stagA · hatingB · lagA · waitingB
- 3 ABAB spillA · mudarraB · killA · laraB
- 4 ABAB balkA · jennetB · hawkA · linnetB
- 5 ABAB knightA · boorishB · slightA · moorishB
- 6 ABAB oneA · brotherB · sonA · motherB
- 7 ABAB holeA · isletB · stoleA · stiletB
- 8 ABAB wornA · coverB · upborneA · roverB
- 9 ABAB abhorredA · slayerB · lordA · prayerB
- 10 ABAB delayA · defendingB · wayA · wendingB
- 11 ABAB crestA · enwreathingB · breastA · sheathingB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Unto the chase Rodrigo's gone, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| With neither lance nor buckler; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| A baleful light his eyes outshone-- | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| To pity he's no truckler. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| He follows not the royal stag, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But, full of fiery hating, | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| Beside the way one sees him lag, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Impatient at the waiting. | 7 | ˘/˘··/˘ |
| He longs his nephew's blood to spill, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Who 'scaped (the young Mudarra) | 8 | ··˘····· |
| That trap he made and laid to kill | 8 | ········ |
| The seven sons of Lara. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Along the road--at last, no balk-- | 8 | ˘/······ |
| A youth looms on a jennet; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| He rises like a sparrow-hawk | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| About to seize a linnet. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| "What ho!" "Who calls?" "Art Christian knight, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or basely born and boorish, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Or yet that thing I still more slight-- | 8 | ········ |
| The spawn of some dog Moorish? | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| "I seek the by-born spawn of one | 8 | ········ |
| I e'er renounce as brother-- | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| Who chose to make his latest son | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Caress a Moor as mother. | 7 | ˘/···/˘ |
| "I've sought that cub in every hole, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| 'Midland, and coast, and islet, | 7 | /····/˘ |
| For he's the thief who came and stole | 8 | ········ |
| Our sheathless jewelled stilet." | 8 | /˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| "If you well know the poniard worn | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Without edge-dulling cover-- | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Look on it now--here, plain, upborne! | 8 | ········ |
| And further be no rover. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| "Tis I--as sure as you're abhorred | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Rodrigo--cruel slayer, | 7 | ˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| 'Tis I am Vengeance, and your lord, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Who bids you crouch in prayer! | 6 | ······ |
| "I shall not grant the least delay-- | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Use what you have, defending, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| I'll send you on that darksome way | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Your victims late were wending. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| "And if I wore this, with its crest-- | 8 | ········ |
| Our seal with gems enwreathing-- | 8 | /˘······ |
| In open air--'twas in your breast | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To seek its fated sheathing!" | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
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.