The Banishment of the Cid LVI
The Count was a great braggart and an empty word he spake:"Great wrongs he put upon me, he of Bivár, the Cid.Within my very palace much shame to me he did:He gave no satisfaction though he struck my brother's son;And the lands in my keeping now doth he over-run.I challenged him not; our pact of peace I did not overthrow;But since he seeks it of me, to demand it I will go."
He gathered the his powers that were exceeding strong,Great bands of Moors and Christians to his array did throng.After the lord Cid of Bivár they went upon their way,Three nights and days together upon the march were they.At length in Tévar's pine grove the Cid they have o'erta'en.So strong were they that captive to take him were they fain.
My lord Cid don Rodrigo bearing great spoil he went.From the ridge unto the valley he had finished the descent.And in that place they bore him Count don Remónd his word.My lord Cid sent unto him when the message he had heard:
"Say to the Count that it were well his anger now should cease.No goods of his I carry. Let him leave me in peace."
Thereto the Count gave answer: "Not so the matter ends.For what was and is of evil he shall make me full amends.The Exile shall know swiftly whom he has sought to slight."
Back hastened the ambassador as swiftly as he might.And then my lord Cid of Bivár knew how the matter lay,And that without a battle they could not get away.
Words in this poem
- pact n.
- An agreement; a league; a compact; a covenant. [L. pactum, fr. paciscere to make a bargain or contract, fr. pacere to settle, or agree upon; cf. pangere to fasten, Gr. paca bond, and E. fang: cf. F. pacie. Cf]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Banishment of the Cid LVI 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 Banishment of the Cid LVI, in The Lay of the Cid (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6088, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lay-of-the-cid/the-banishment-of-the-cid-lvi.html, id L15064.
Form and metre
The Banishment of the Cid LVI is 25 lines in 6 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 80% of the lines. The metre is iambic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 13.5 syllables.
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 spake · cidA · didA · sonB · runB · overthrowC · goC
- 2 AABB-- strongA · throngA · wayB · theyB · o'erta'en · fain
- 3 AABB wentA · descentA · wordB · heardB
- 4 AA ceaseA · peaceA
- 5 AA- endsA · amendsA · slight
- 6 -AA might · layA · awayA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The Count was a great braggart and an empty word he spake: | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘··· |
| "Great wrongs he put upon me, he of Bivár, the Cid. | 13 | ············· |
| Within my very palace much shame to me he did: | 13 | ···/˘/˘······ |
| He gave no satisfaction though he struck my brother's son; | 14 | ····˘/˘····/˘· |
| And the lands in my keeping now doth he over-run. | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| I challenged him not; our pact of peace I did not overthrow; | 15 | ·/˘··/······/˘· |
| But since he seeks it of me, to demand it I will go." | 14 | ········˘/···· |
| He gathered the his powers that were exceeding strong, | 13 | ·/˘··/˘··˘/˘· |
| Great bands of Moors and Christians to his array did throng. | 13 | ·····/˘··˘/·· |
| After the lord Cid of Bivár they went upon their way, | 14 | ·············· |
| Three nights and days together upon the march were they. | 13 | ····˘/˘······ |
| At length in Tévar's pine grove the Cid they have o'erta'en. | 13 | ············· |
| So strong were they that captive to take him were they fain. | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| My lord Cid don Rodrigo bearing great spoil he went. | 13 | ····˘/˘/˘···· |
| From the ridge unto the valley he had finished the descent. | 15 | ······/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| And in that place they bore him Count don Remónd his word. | 13 | ············· |
| My lord Cid sent unto him when the message he had heard: | 14 | ·········/˘··· |
| "Say to the Count that it were well his anger now should cease. | 14 | ·········/˘··· |
| No goods of his I carry. Let him leave me in peace." | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| Thereto the Count gave answer: "Not so the matter ends. | 13 | ˘/···/˘···/˘· |
| For what was and is of evil he shall make me full amends. | 14 | ······/·····˘/ |
| The Exile shall know swiftly whom he has sought to slight." | 13 | ·/···/˘······ |
| Back hastened the ambassador as swiftly as he might. | 13 | ·/˘·˘/˘·/˘··· |
| And then my lord Cid of Bivár knew how the matter lay, | 14 | ···········/˘· |
| And that without a battle they could not get away. | 13 | ·····/˘····˘/ |
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.