Sir Richard's Song (A.D. 1066)
I followed my Duke ere I was a lover,To take from England fief and fee;But now this game is the other way over--But now England hath taken me!
I had my horse, my shield and banner,And a boy's heart, so whole and free;But now I sing in another manner--But now England hath taken me!
As for my Father in his tower,Asking news of my ship at sea;He will remember his own hour--Tell him England hath taken me!
As for my Mother in her bower,That rules my Father so cunningly,She will remember a maiden's power--Tell her England hath taken me!
As for my Brother in Rouen City,A nimble and naughty page is he,But he will come to suffer and pity--Tell him England hath taken me!
As for my little Sister waitingIn the pleasant orchards of Normandie,Tell her youth is the time for mating--Tell her England hath taken me!
As for my Comrades in camp and highway,That lift their eyebrows scornfully,Tell them their way is not my way--Tell them England hath taken me!
Kings and Princes and Barons famed,Knights and Captains in your degree;Hear me a little before I am blamed--Seeing England hath taken me!
Howso great man's strength be reckoned,There are two things he cannot flee;Love is the first, and Death is the second--And Love in England hath taken me!
Words in this poem
- duke n.
- A leader; a chief; a prince. [F. duc, fr. L. dux, ducis, leader, commander, fr. ducere to lead; akin to AS. teón to draw; cf. AS. heretoga (here army) an army leader, general, G. herzog duke]
- naughty a.
- Having little or nothing.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sir Richard's Song (A.D. 1066) is in the public domain. This text is taken from Songs from Books, Project Gutenberg ebook #15529; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Rudyard Kipling, Sir Richard's Song (A.D. 1066), in Songs from Books (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15529, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-songs-from-books/sir-richard-s-song-a-d-1066.html, id L20285.
Form and metre
Sir Richard's Song (A.D. 1066) is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 -A-A lover · feeA · over · meA
- 2 ABAB bannerA · freeB · mannerA · meB
- 3 ABAB towerA · seaB · hourA · meB
- 4 A-A- bowerA · cunningly · powerA · me
- 5 ABAB cityA · heB · pityA · meB
- 6 A-A- waitingA · normandie · matingA · me
- 7 A-A- highwayA · scornfully · wayA · me
- 8 ABAB famedA · degreeB · blamedA · meB
- 9 ABAB reckonedA · fleeB · secondA · meB
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I followed my Duke ere I was a lover, | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| To take from England fief and fee; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But now this game is the other way over-- | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| But now England hath taken me! | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| I had my horse, my shield and banner, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And a boy's heart, so whole and free; | 8 | ········ |
| But now I sing in another manner-- | 10 | ·····˘/˘/˘ |
| But now England hath taken me! | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| As for my Father in his tower, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Asking news of my ship at sea; | 8 | /˘······ |
| He will remember his own hour-- | 9 | ··˘/˘··/˘ |
| Tell him England hath taken me! | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| As for my Mother in her bower, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| That rules my Father so cunningly, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘˘ |
| She will remember a maiden's power-- | 9 | ··˘/˘·/˘/ |
| Tell her England hath taken me! | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| As for my Brother in Rouen City, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| A nimble and naughty page is he, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| But he will come to suffer and pity-- | 10 | ·····/˘·/˘ |
| Tell him England hath taken me! | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| As for my little Sister waiting | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| In the pleasant orchards of Normandie, | 9 | ··/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Tell her youth is the time for mating-- | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Tell her England hath taken me! | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| As for my Comrades in camp and highway, | 10 | ···/····/· |
| That lift their eyebrows scornfully, | 8 | ···/···· |
| Tell them their way is not my way-- | 8 | ········ |
| Tell them England hath taken me! | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Kings and Princes and Barons famed, | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Knights and Captains in your degree; | 8 | ··/˘··˘/ |
| Hear me a little before I am blamed-- | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Seeing England hath taken me! | 8 | /˘/˘·/˘· |
| Howso great man's strength be reckoned, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| There are two things he cannot flee; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Love is the first, and Death is the second-- | 10 | ········/˘ |
| And Love in England hath taken me! | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
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.