The Marriage of the Cid's Daughters XC
"Now thanks to the Creator and the Holy Father's name.All the goods in my possession, I have them here with me.Hardly I took Valencia, but I hold it for my fee;This side death, I cannot yield it. Glory to God againAnd to Holy Mary Mother that my wife and daughters twainAre here with me. From oversea cometh now my delight.Never will I forego it, I will take the arms of fight.My lady and my daughters shall see me lift the brand,They shall see how men build houses here in a foreign land,And how a livelihood is won their eyes shall see it well."
He took his wife and daughters up to the citadel.They raised their eyes and men they saw pitching tents everywhere."Cid, what is this? So may the Lord still keep thee in His care.""Ha, wife, much honored! Therefor prithee be not troubled thus.'Tis wealth most great and wondrous that they gather here for us.Scarce art thou come, when presents they would give thee in thathour.Thy daughters wait for marriage 'tis these that bring the dower.""Unto thee, Cid, and unto God do I give thanks again""My lady in the palace in the citadel remain.When thou seest me in battle, fear not at all for me.By Saint Mary Mother's mercy, by God His charity,That thou art here before me, my heart grows great within.With God His help, this battle I certainly shall win."
Words in this poem
- valencia n.
- A kind of woven fabric for waistcoats, having the weft of wool and the warp of silk or cotton. [Perhaps fr. Valence in France.]
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- oversea a.
- Beyond the sea; foreign.
- forego v. t.
- To quit; to relinquish; to leave. [See Forgo.]
- 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,]
- therefor adv.
- For that, or this; for it. [There + for. Cf. Therefore.]
- prithee interj.
- A corruption of pray thee; as, I prithee; generally used without I.
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Marriage of the Cid's Daughters XC 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 Marriage of the Cid's Daughters XC, in The Lay of the Cid (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6088, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lay-of-the-cid/the-marriage-of-the-cid-s-daughters-xc.html, id L15095.
Form and metre
The Marriage of the Cid's Daughters XC is 24 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 58% of the lines. 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 13.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% 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 -AABBCCDD- name · meA · feeA · againB · twainB · delightC · fightC · brandD · landD · well
- 2 -AABB-CCDD--EE citadel · everywhereA · careA · thusB · usB · that · hourC · dowerC · againD · remainD · me · charity · withinE · winE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| "Now thanks to the Creator and the Holy Father's name. | 14 | ····˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| All the goods in my possession, I have them here with me. | 14 | ·····˘/˘······ |
| Hardly I took Valencia, but I hold it for my fee; | 14 | /˘··˘/˘······· |
| This side death, I cannot yield it. Glory to God again | 14 | ····/˘··/˘··˘/ |
| And to Holy Mary Mother that my wife and daughters twain | 15 | ··/˘/˘/˘····/˘· |
| Are here with me. From oversea cometh now my delight. | 14 | ······˘//˘··˘/ |
| Never will I forego it, I will take the arms of fight. | 14 | /˘··˘/········ |
| My lady and my daughters shall see me lift the brand, | 13 | ·/˘··/˘······ |
| They shall see how men build houses here in a foreign land, | 14 | ······/˘···/˘· |
| And how a livelihood is won their eyes shall see it well." | 14 | ···/˘········· |
| He took his wife and daughters up to the citadel. | 13 | ·····/˘···/˘· |
| They raised their eyes and men they saw pitching tents everywhere. | 14 | ········/˘·/˘· |
| "Cid, what is this? So may the Lord still keep thee in His care." | 14 | ·············· |
| "Ha, wife, much honored! Therefor prithee be not troubled thus. | 14 | ···/˘˘//˘··/˘· |
| 'Tis wealth most great and wondrous that they gather here for us. | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘··· |
| Scarce art thou come, when presents they would give thee in that | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| hour. | 2 | /˘ |
| Thy daughters wait for marriage 'tis these that bring the dower." | 13 | ·/˘··/˘······ |
| "Unto thee, Cid, and unto God do I give thanks again" | 14 | ············˘/ |
| "My lady in the palace in the citadel remain. | 14 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| When thou seest me in battle, fear not at all for me. | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| By Saint Mary Mother's mercy, by God His charity, | 14 | ··/˘/˘/˘···/˘˘ |
| That thou art here before me, my heart grows great within. | 13 | ············· |
| With God His help, this battle I certainly shall win." | 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.