The Affront of Corpes CXXIII
Out spake the Heir Ferrándo when all the word was said:"Glory to the Creator, and, noble Cid, to thee.We have so many riches that numberless they be.Through you we have much honor, and we have fought for you;We conquered the Moriscos in the battle, and we slewKing Búcar, proven traitor, so pray you have a careNow for some other matter; well marcheth our affair."
My lord the Cid his henchmen spake smiling round aboutOf whoso fought most fiercely or best pursued the rout.
But Diégo and Ferrándo mid such men they did not find.And now in all the japing the henchmen had designedBoth day and night together they mocked sore the Heirs again.A very evil counsel together took the twain.Verily they are brothers, forthwith apart they turnTo the thing that they have spoken, let us have no concern."Let us return to Carrión. Here overlong we wait.The riches we have gathered are excellent and great.We cannot hope to spend them in the mountance of our lives.
Words in this poem
- numberless a.
- Innumerable; countless.
- whoso pron.
- Whosoever. Piers Plowman.
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- forthwith adv.
- Immediately; without delay; directly.
- mountance n.
- Amount; sum; quantity; extent. [OF. montance.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Affront of Corpes CXXIII is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Lay of the Cid, Project Gutenberg ebook #6088, the R. Selden Rose and Leonard Bacon 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: Anonymous, The Affront of Corpes CXXIII, in The Lay of the Cid (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6088, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lay-of-the-cid/the-affront-of-corpes-cxxiii.html, id L15127.
Form and metre
The Affront of Corpes CXXIII is 18 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 89% of the lines. The metre is iambic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 71%). 77% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 13.3 syllables. 28% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in iambic hexameter.
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 -AABBCC said · theeA · beA · youB · slewB · careC · affairC
- 2 AA aboutA · routA
- 3 AABBCCDD- findA · designedA · againB · twainB · turnC · concernC · waitD · greatD · lives
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 hexameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Out spake the Heir Ferrándo when all the word was said: | 13 | ············· |
| "Glory to the Creator, and, noble Cid, to thee. | 13 | /˘··˘/˘·/˘··· |
| We have so many riches that numberless they be. | 13 | ···/˘/˘·/˘˘·· |
| Through you we have much honor, and we have fought for you; | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| We conquered the Moriscos in the battle, and we slew | 14 | ·/˘······/˘··· |
| King Búcar, proven traitor, so pray you have a care | 13 | ···/˘/˘······ |
| Now for some other matter; well marcheth our affair." | 13 | ···/˘/˘·/˘/˘/ |
| My lord the Cid his henchmen spake smiling round about | 13 | ·····/˘·/˘··· |
| Of whoso fought most fiercely or best pursued the rout. | 13 | ·/˘··/˘··˘/·· |
| But Diégo and Ferrándo mid such men they did not find. | 14 | ·············· |
| And now in all the japing the henchmen had designed | 13 | ········/˘·˘/ |
| Both day and night together they mocked sore the Heirs again. | 14 | ····˘/˘·····˘/ |
| A very evil counsel together took the twain. | 13 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘/˘··· |
| Verily they are brothers, forthwith apart they turn | 13 | /˘˘··/˘//˘/·· |
| To the thing that they have spoken, let us have no concern. | 14 | ······/˘····˘/ |
| "Let us return to Carrión. Here overlong we wait. | 13 | ··˘/····/˘˘·· |
| The riches we have gathered are excellent and great. | 13 | ·/˘··/˘·/˘˘·· |
| We cannot hope to spend them in the mountance of our lives. | 14 | ·/˘······/˘·/· |
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