The Banishment of the Cid XII
They spake these words and straightaway the tent upgathered then,My lord the Cid rode swiftly with all his host of men.And forth unto Saint Mary's the horse's head turned he,And with his right hand crossed himself: "God, I give thanks totheeHeaven and Earth that rulest. And thy favor be my wealHoly Saint Mary, for forthright must I now quit Castile.For I look on the King with anger, and I know not if once moreI shall dwell there in my life-days. But may thy grace watch o'erMy parting, Blessed Virgin, and guard me night and day.If thou do so and good fortune come once more in my way,I will offer rich oblations at thine altar, and I swearMost solemnly that I will chant a thousand masses there."
Words in this poem
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- forthright adv.
- Straight forward; in a straight direction. Sir P. [Forth, adv. + right, adv.]
- 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,]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Banishment of the Cid XII 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 XII, 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-xii.html, id L15023.
Form and metre
The Banishment of the Cid XII is 13 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%). 84% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.9 syllables. 46% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic heptameter.
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 AAB-B----CCDD thenA · menA · heB · to · theeB · weal · castile · more · o'er · dayC · wayC · swearD · thereD
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 heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| They spake these words and straightaway the tent upgathered then, | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| My lord the Cid rode swiftly with all his host of men. | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| And forth unto Saint Mary's the horse's head turned he, | 13 | ·····/˘·/˘··· |
| And with his right hand crossed himself: "God, I give thanks to | 13 | ······˘/····· |
| thee | 1 | · |
| Heaven and Earth that rulest. And thy favor be my weal | 14 | /˘·······/˘··· |
| Holy Saint Mary, for forthright must I now quit Castile. | 15 | /˘·/˘·//······· |
| For I look on the King with anger, and I know not if once more | 16 | ·······/˘······· |
| I shall dwell there in my life-days. But may thy grace watch o'er | 14 | ·············· |
| My parting, Blessed Virgin, and guard me night and day. | 12 | ·/˘·/˘······ |
| If thou do so and good fortune come once more in my way, | 14 | ······/˘······ |
| I will offer rich oblations at thine altar, and I swear | 15 | ··/˘······/˘··· |
| Most solemnly that I will chant a thousand masses there." | 14 | ·/˘˘·····/˘/˘· |
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.