The Banishment of the Cid XXVI
"Nor take it ill, mine utterance. For here we cannot stay.The king will come to seek us, for he is not far away;But to destroy the castle seems in no way good to me.An hundred Moorish women in that place I will set freeAnd of the Moors an hundred. Since there, as it befell,I captured them. Hereafter shall they all speak of me well.Ye all are paid; among you is no man yet to pay.Let us on the morrow morning prepare to ride away,For against my lord AIfonso the strife I would not stir."
What the Cid said was pleasing to his every follower.Rich men they all departed from the hold that they had ta'enAnd the Moors both men and women blessed them o'er and o'er again.
Up the Henáres hastened they and hard they rode and strong.They passed through the Alcárrias, and swift they marched along,By the Caverns of Anquíta they hastened on their way.They crossed the stream. Into Taránz the great plain entered they,And on down through that region as hard as they might fare.Twixt Faríza and Cetína would the Cid seek shelter there.And a great spoil he captured in the country as he went,For the Moors had no inkling whatso'er of his intent.On the next day marched onward the great Cid of Bivár,And he went by Alháma, and down the vale afar.And he passed Bubiérca and Atéca likewise passed,And it was nigh to Alcocér that he would camp at lastUpon a rounded hillock that was both strong and high.They could not rob him of water; the Jalón it flowed hard by.My lord Cid don Rodrigo planned to storm Alcocér.
XXVII. He pitched a strong encampment upon the hillock there,Some men were toward the mountains, some by the stream arrayed.The gallant Cid, who in good hour had girded on the blade,Bade his men near the water dig a trench about the height,That no man might surprise them by day nor yet by night.So might men know that there the Cid had taken up his stand.
Words in this poem
- hereafter adv.
- In time to come; in some future time or state. [AS. hræfter.]
- 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,]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- inkling n.
- A hint; an intimation.
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- encampment n.
- The act of pitching tents or forming huts, as by an army or traveling company, for temporary lodging or rest.
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Banishment of the Cid XXVI 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 XXVI, 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-xxvi.html, id L15037.
Form and metre
The Banishment of the Cid XXVI is 33 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 73% of the lines. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 13.9 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 9% 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 AABBCCAA- stayA · awayA · meB · freeB · befellC · wellC · payA · awayA · stir
- 3 AABBCCDD--EEFF- strongA · alongA · wayB · theyB · fareC · thereC · wentD · intentD · bivár · afar · passedE · lastE · highF · byF · alcocér
- 4 -AABB- there · arrayedA · bladeA · heightB · nightB · stand
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 |
|---|---|---|
| "Nor take it ill, mine utterance. For here we cannot stay. | 14 | ·····/˘˘···/˘· |
| The king will come to seek us, for he is not far away; | 14 | ············˘/ |
| But to destroy the castle seems in no way good to me. | 14 | ··˘/·/˘······· |
| An hundred Moorish women in that place I will set free | 14 | ·/˘/˘/˘······· |
| And of the Moors an hundred. Since there, as it befell, | 14 | ·····/˘˘····˘/ |
| I captured them. Hereafter shall they all speak of me well. | 14 | ·/˘·˘/˘······· |
| Ye all are paid; among you is no man yet to pay. | 13 | ············· |
| Let us on the morrow morning prepare to ride away, | 14 | ····/˘/˘˘/··˘/ |
| For against my lord AIfonso the strife I would not stir." | 14 | ·············· |
| What the Cid said was pleasing to his every follower. | 15 | ·····/˘··/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Rich men they all departed from the hold that they had ta'en | 14 | ····˘/˘······· |
| And the Moors both men and women blessed them o'er and o'er again. | 15 | ······/˘·····˘/ |
| Up the Henáres hastened they and hard they rode and strong. | 14 | ····/˘˘······· |
| They passed through the Alcárrias, and swift they marched along, | 14 | ··˘·········˘/ |
| By the Caverns of Anquíta they hastened on their way. | 14 | ··/˘·····/˘··· |
| They crossed the stream. Into Taránz the great plain entered they, | 14 | ···········/˘· |
| And on down through that region as hard as they might fare. | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| Twixt Faríza and Cetína would the Cid seek shelter there. | 15 | ············/˘· |
| And a great spoil he captured in the country as he went, | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘··· |
| For the Moors had no inkling whatso'er of his intent. | 13 | ·····/˘····˘/ |
| On the next day marched onward the great Cid of Bivár, | 14 | ·····˘/˘······ |
| And he went by Alháma, and down the vale afar. | 13 | ···········˘/ |
| And he passed Bubiérca and Atéca likewise passed, | 14 | ···˘·······/·· |
| And it was nigh to Alcocér that he would camp at last | 14 | ·············· |
| Upon a rounded hillock that was both strong and high. | 13 | ···/˘/˘······ |
| They could not rob him of water; the Jalón it flowed hard by. | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| My lord Cid don Rodrigo planned to storm Alcocér. | 14 | ····˘/˘·˘····· |
| XXVII. He pitched a strong encampment upon the hillock there, | 14 | ·····˘/˘···/˘· |
| Some men were toward the mountains, some by the stream arrayed. | 14 | ······/˘····˘/ |
| The gallant Cid, who in good hour had girded on the blade, | 14 | ·/˘····/·/˘··· |
| Bade his men near the water dig a trench about the height, | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| That no man might surprise them by day nor yet by night. | 13 | ····˘/······· |
| So might men know that there the Cid had taken up his stand. | 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.