The Banishment of the Cid XXII
"Feed all the horses early, so may our God you speed.Let him eat who will; who will not, let him get upon the steed.
We shall pass the mountain ranges rough and of dreadful height.The land of King Alfonso we can leave behind tonight.And whosoe'er will seek us shall find us ready then."
By night the mountain ranges he traversed with his men.Morn came. From the hills downward they were about to fare.In a marvelous great forest the Cid bade halt them there,And to feed the horses early; and he told them all arightIn what way he was desirous that they should march by night.They all were faithful vassals and gave assent thereto;The behests of their great captain it behooved them all to do.Ere night, was every man of them unto the riding fit.So did the Cid that no man might perchance get wind of it.They marched all through the night-tide and rested not at all.Near Henáres a town standeth that Castejón men call.There the Cid went into ambush with the men of his array.
Words in this poem
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- 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,]
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- tonight adv.
- On this present or coming night. [Prep. to+night]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- aright adv.
- Rightly; correctly; in a right way or form; without mistake or crime; as, to worship God aright. [Pref. a- + right.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Banishment of the Cid XXII 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 XXII, 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-xxii.html, id L15033.
Form and metre
The Banishment of the Cid XXII is 17 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 71% of the lines. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 13.9 syllables. 6% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, 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 AA speedA · steedA
- 2 AA- heightA · tonightA · then
- 3 -AABB--CCDD- men · fareA · thereA · arightB · nightB · thereto · do · fitC · itC · allD · callD · array
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 |
|---|---|---|
| "Feed all the horses early, so may our God you speed. | 14 | ···/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Let him eat who will; who will not, let him get upon the steed. | 15 | ··············· |
| We shall pass the mountain ranges rough and of dreadful height. | 14 | ····/˘/˘···/˘· |
| The land of King Alfonso we can leave behind tonight. | 14 | ············˘/ |
| And whosoe'er will seek us shall find us ready then." | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| By night the mountain ranges he traversed with his men. | 13 | ···/˘/˘·/˘··· |
| Morn came. From the hills downward they were about to fare. | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| In a marvelous great forest the Cid bade halt them there, | 14 | ··/˘˘·/˘······ |
| And to feed the horses early; and he told them all aright | 15 | ····/˘/˘·····˘/ |
| In what way he was desirous that they should march by night. | 14 | ·····˘/˘······ |
| They all were faithful vassals and gave assent thereto; | 13 | ···/˘/˘··˘/˘/ |
| The behests of their great captain it behooved them all to do. | 15 | ·˘/···/˘·˘/···· |
| Ere night, was every man of them unto the riding fit. | 15 | ···/˘˘······/˘· |
| So did the Cid that no man might perchance get wind of it. | 14 | ········˘/···· |
| They marched all through the night-tide and rested not at all. | 13 | ········/˘··· |
| Near Henáres a town standeth that Castejón men call. | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| There the Cid went into ambush with the men of his array. | 15 | ······/······˘/ |
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.