The Marriage of the Cid's Daughters XCI
Now pitched are the pavilions. Apace the morning comes.And furiously the heathen beat loud upon the drums."'Tis a great day," with a glad heart so now the lord Cid spake.But his lady was sore frighted, her heart was like to break;The ladies and his daughters were likewise all forlorn.Never had they heard such a din since the day when they were born.
Therewith the great Cid Campeador with his hand he plucked hisbeard."This shall all be to your vantage. Therefore be not afeard.Ere fifteen days are over, if so God's will it be,We shall take those drums and show them you. What they are thenshall you see.And then unto the Bishop don Jerome they shall be given;They will hang them in Saint Mary's, Mother of the Lord inHeaven."
It was a vow most solemn that my lord the Cid had made.Now merry were the ladies and not so much afraid.Those Moors out of Morocco in mighty haste they sped,And on into the gardens they entered without dread.
Words in this poem
- apace adv.
- With a quick pace; quick; fast; speedily. [Pref. a- + pace. OE. a pas at a walk, in which a is the article. See Pace.]
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- therewith adv.
- With that or this.
- 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,]
- vantage v. t.
- To profit; to aid.
- morocco n.
- A fine kind of leather, prepared commonly from goatskin (though an inferior kind is made of sheepskin), and tanned with sumac and dyed of various colors; -- said to have been first made by the Moors. [Named from Morocco, the country. Cf. Morris the dance.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Marriage of the Cid's Daughters XCI 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 XCI, 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-xci.html, id L15096.
Form and metre
The Marriage of the Cid's Daughters XCI is 19 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 74% of the lines. 84% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.8 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 16% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets.
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 comesA · drumsA · spakeB · breakB · forlornC · bornC
- 2 -AABCBCCC his · beardA · afeardA · beB · thenC · seeB · givenC · inC · heavenC
- 3 AABB madeA · afraidA · spedB · dreadB
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Now pitched are the pavilions. Apace the morning comes. | 13 | ····˘/˘˘/·/˘· |
| And furiously the heathen beat loud upon the drums. | 14 | ·/˘˘˘·/˘······ |
| "'Tis a great day," with a glad heart so now the lord Cid spake. | 14 | ·············· |
| But his lady was sore frighted, her heart was like to break; | 14 | ··/˘··/˘······ |
| The ladies and his daughters were likewise all forlorn. | 13 | ·/˘··/˘·/··˘/ |
| Never had they heard such a din since the day when they were born. | 15 | /˘············· |
| Therewith the great Cid Campeador with his hand he plucked his | 14 | ˘/············ |
| beard. | 1 | · |
| "This shall all be to your vantage. Therefore be not afeard. | 14 | ······/˘····˘/ |
| Ere fifteen days are over, if so God's will it be, | 13 | ·˘/·········· |
| We shall take those drums and show them you. What they are then | 13 | ············· |
| shall you see. | 3 | ··· |
| And then unto the Bishop don Jerome they shall be given; | 15 | ·····/˘·˘/···/˘ |
| They will hang them in Saint Mary's, Mother of the Lord in | 14 | ······/˘/˘···· |
| Heaven." | 2 | /˘ |
| It was a vow most solemn that my lord the Cid had made. | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| Now merry were the ladies and not so much afraid. | 13 | ·/˘··/˘····˘/ |
| Those Moors out of Morocco in mighty haste they sped, | 13 | ····˘/˘·/˘··· |
| And on into the gardens they entered without dread. | 13 | ·····/˘·/˘··· |
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