The Black Knight
'T was Pentecost, the Feast of Gladness,When woods and fields put off all sadness.Thus began the King and spake:"So from the hallsOf ancient hofburg's walls,A luxuriant Spring shall break."
Drums and trumpets echo loudly,Wave the crimson banners proudly,From balcony the King looked on;In the play of spears,Fell all the cavaliers,Before the monarch's stalwart son.
To the barrier of the fightRode at last a sable Knight."Sir Knight! your name and scutcheon, say!""Should I speak it here,Ye would stand aghast with fear;I am a Prince of mighty sway!"
When he rode into the lists,The arch of heaven grew black with mists,And the castle 'gan to rock;At the first blow,Fell the youth from saddle-bow,Hardly rises from the shock.
Pipe and viol call the dances,Torch-light through the high halls glances;Waves a mighty shadow in;With manner blandDoth ask the maiden's hand,Doth with her the dance begin.
Danced in sable iron sark,Danced a measure weird and dark,Coldly clasped her limbs around;From breast and hairDown fall from her the fairFlowerets, faded, to the ground.
To the sumptuous banquet cameEvery Knight and every Dame,'Twixt son and daughter all distraught,With mournful mindThe ancient King reclined,Gazed at them in silent thought.
Pale the children both did look,But the guest a beaker took:"Golden wine will make you whole!"The children drank,Gave many a courteous thank:"O, that draught was very cool!"
Each the father's breast embraces,Son and daughter; and their facesColorless grow utterly;Whichever wayLooks the fear-struck father gray,He beholds his children die.
"Woe! the blessed children bothTakest thou in the joy of youth;Take me, too, the joyless father!"Spake the grim Guest,From his hollow, cavernous breast;"Roses in the spring I gather!"
Words in this poem 18
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
- 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,]
- trumpets n.
- A plant (Sarracenia flava) with long, hollow leaves.
- stalwart a.
- Brave; bold; strong; redoubted; daring; vehement; violent. [OE. stalworth, AS. stælwyrth serviceable, probably originally, good at stealing, or worth stealing or taking, and afterwards extended to other causes of estimat]
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- sable n.
- A carnivorous animal of the Weasel family (Mustela zibellina) native of the northern latitudes of Europe, Asia, and America, -- noted for its fine, soft, and valuable fur. [OF. sable, F. zibeline sable (in sense 4), LL. sabellum; cf. D. sabel, Dan. sabel, zobel, Sw. sabel, sobel, G. zobel; all fr. Russ. sóbole.]
- scutcheon n.
- An escutcheon; an emblazoned shield. [Aphetic form of escutcheon.]
- sark v. t.
- To cover with sarking, or thin boards.
- coldly adv.
- In a cold manner; without warmth, animation, or feeling; with indifference; calmly.
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
- distraught p. p.
- Torn asunder; separated. [OE. distract, distrauht. See Distract, a.]
- reclined a.
- Falling or turned downward; reclinate.
- beaker n.
- A large drinking cup, with a wide mouth, supported on a foot or standard. [OE. biker; akin to Icel. bikarr, Sw. bägare, Dan. baeger, G. becher, It. bicchiere; -- all fr. LL. bicarium, prob. fr. Gr. wine jar, or perh. L. bacar wine vess]
- drank n.
- Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [Cf. 3d Drake.]
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
- whichever pron.
- Whether one or another; whether one or the other; which; that one (of two or more) which; as, whichever road you take, it will lead you to town.
- joyless a.
- Not having joy; not causing joy; unenjoyable.
- cavernous a.
- Full of caverns; resembling a cavern or large cavity; hollow. [L. cavernosus: cf. F. caverneux.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Black Knight is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Black Knight, in A Psalm of Life, and Other Poems (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/the-black-knight.html, id L26176.
Form and metre
The Black Knight is 60 lines in 10 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 6 of its 10 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AABCCB gladnessA · sadnessA · spakeB · hallsC · wallsC · breakB
- 2 AA-BB- loudlyA · proudlyA · on · spearsB · cavaliersB · son
- 3 AABCCB fightA · knightA · sayB · hereC · fearC · swayB
- 4 AABCCB listsA · mistsA · rockB · blowC · bowC · shockB
- 5 AABCCB dancesA · glancesA · inB · blandC · handC · beginB
- 6 AABCCB sarkA · darkA · aroundB · hairC · fairC · groundB
- 7 AABCCB cameA · dameA · distraughtB · mindC · reclinedC · thoughtB
- 8 AA-BB- lookA · tookA · whole · drankB · thankB · cool
- 9 AA-BB- embracesA · facesA · utterly · wayB · grayB · die
- 10 ---AA- both · youth · father · guestA · breastA · gather
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| 'T was Pentecost, the Feast of Gladness, | 10 | ··/˘····/˘ |
| When woods and fields put off all sadness. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Thus began the King and spake: | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| "So from the halls | 4 | ···· |
| Of ancient hofburg's walls, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A luxuriant Spring shall break." | 8 | ·˘/˘˘··· |
| Drums and trumpets echo loudly, | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Wave the crimson banners proudly, | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| From balcony the King looked on; | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| In the play of spears, | 5 | ····· |
| Fell all the cavaliers, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Before the monarch's stalwart son. | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| To the barrier of the fight | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Rode at last a sable Knight. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| "Sir Knight! your name and scutcheon, say!" | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| "Should I speak it here, | 5 | ····· |
| Ye would stand aghast with fear; | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| I am a Prince of mighty sway!" | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When he rode into the lists, | 7 | ······· |
| The arch of heaven grew black with mists, | 8 | ···/···· |
| And the castle 'gan to rock; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| At the first blow, | 4 | ···· |
| Fell the youth from saddle-bow, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Hardly rises from the shock. | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Pipe and viol call the dances, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Torch-light through the high halls glances; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Waves a mighty shadow in; | 7 | ··/˘/·· |
| With manner bland | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Doth ask the maiden's hand, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Doth with her the dance begin. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Danced in sable iron sark, | 8 | ·˘·/˘/˘· |
| Danced a measure weird and dark, | 8 | ·˘·/˘··· |
| Coldly clasped her limbs around; | 8 | /˘·˘···· |
| From breast and hair | 4 | ···· |
| Down fall from her the fair | 6 | ······ |
| Flowerets, faded, to the ground. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To the sumptuous banquet came | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Every Knight and every Dame, | 8 | /˘··/˘˘· |
| 'Twixt son and daughter all distraught, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| With mournful mind | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The ancient King reclined, | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Gazed at them in silent thought. | 8 | ·˘···/˘· |
| Pale the children both did look, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| But the guest a beaker took: | 7 | ····/˘· |
| "Golden wine will make you whole!" | 7 | /˘····· |
| The children drank, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Gave many a courteous thank: | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘· |
| "O, that draught was very cool!" | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Each the father's breast embraces, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Son and daughter; and their faces | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Colorless grow utterly; | 7 | /˘˘·/˘˘ |
| Whichever way | 4 | ˘/˘· |
| Looks the fear-struck father gray, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| He beholds his children die. | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| "Woe! the blessed children both | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Takest thou in the joy of youth; | 8 | ········ |
| Take me, too, the joyless father!" | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Spake the grim Guest, | 4 | ···· |
| From his hollow, cavernous breast; | 8 | ··/˘/˘˘· |
| "Roses in the spring I gather!" | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
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.