The Elected Knight
Sir Oluf he rideth over the plain,Full seven miles broad and seven miles wide,But never, ah never can meet with the manA tilt with him dare ride.
He saw under the hillsideA Knight full well equipped;His steed was black, his helm was barred;He was riding at full speed.
He wore upon his spursTwelve little golden birds;Anon he spurred his steed with a clang,And there sat all the birds and sang.
He wore upon his mailTwelve little golden wheels;Anon in eddies the wild wind blew,And round and round the wheels they flew.
He wore before his breastA lance that was poised in rest;And it was sharper than diamond-stone,It made Sir Oluf's heart to groan.
He wore upon his helmA wreath of ruddy gold;And that gave him the Maidens Three,The youngest was fair to behold.
Sir Oluf questioned the Knight eftsoonIf he were come from heaven down;"Art thou Christ of Heaven," quoth he,"So will I yield me unto thee."
"I am not Christ the Great,Thou shalt not yield thee yet;I am an Unknown Knight,Three modest Maidens have me bedight."
"Art thou a Knight elected,And have three Maidens thee bedightSo shalt thou ride a tilt this day,For all the Maidens' honor!"
The first tilt they together rodeThey put their steeds to the test,The second tilt they together rode,They proved their manhood best.
The third tilt they together rode,Neither of them would yield;The fourth tilt they together rode,They both fell on the field.
Now lie the lords upon the plain,And their blood runs unto death;Now sit the Maidens in the high tower,The youngest sorrows till death.
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.]
- anon adv.
- Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
- clang v. t.
- To strike together so as to produce a ringing metallic sound. [L. clangere; akin to Gr. clank.]
- eftsoon adv.
- Again; anew; a second time; at once; speedily. [OE. eftsone, eftsones; AS. eft + s soon. See Eft, and Soon.]
- quoth v. t.
- Said; spoke; uttered; -- used only in the first and third persons in the past tenses, and always followed by its nominative, the word or words said being the object; as, quoth I. quoth he. [AS.cweedhan, imp cwæedh, pl. cwædon; akin to OS. queedhan, OHG. quethan, quedan, Icel. kveedha, Goth. qiþan. sq. root22. Cf. Bequeath.]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- bedight v. t.
- To bedeck; to array or equip; to adorn.
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Elected 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 Elected Knight, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/the-elected-knight.html, id L18050.
Form and metre
The Elected Knight is 48 lines in 12 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 -A-A plain · wideA · man · rideA
- 3 --AA spurs · birds · clangA · sangA
- 4 --AA mail · wheels · blewA · flewA
- 5 AABB breastA · restA · stoneB · groanB
- 6 -A-A helm · goldA · three · beholdA
- 7 --AA eftsoon · down · heA · theeA
- 8 --AA great · yet · knightA · bedightA
- 10 ABAB rodeA · testB · rodeA · bestB
- 11 ABAB rodeA · yieldB · rodeA · fieldB
- 12 -A-A plain · deathA · tower · deathA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sir Oluf he rideth over the plain, | 9 | ········· |
| Full seven miles broad and seven miles wide, | 8 | ·/···/·· |
| But never, ah never can meet with the man | 9 | ·/·/····· |
| A tilt with him dare ride. | 6 | ······ |
| He saw under the hillside | 7 | ·····/· |
| A Knight full well equipped; | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| His steed was black, his helm was barred; | 8 | ········ |
| He was riding at full speed. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| He wore upon his spurs | 6 | ······ |
| Twelve little golden birds; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Anon he spurred his steed with a clang, | 9 | ˘/······· |
| And there sat all the birds and sang. | 8 | ········ |
| He wore upon his mail | 6 | ······ |
| Twelve little golden wheels; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Anon in eddies the wild wind blew, | 9 | ˘/·/˘···· |
| And round and round the wheels they flew. | 8 | ········ |
| He wore before his breast | 6 | ······ |
| A lance that was poised in rest; | 8 | ·····˘·· |
| And it was sharper than diamond-stone, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| It made Sir Oluf's heart to groan. | 8 | ········ |
| He wore upon his helm | 6 | ······ |
| A wreath of ruddy gold; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And that gave him the Maidens Three, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The youngest was fair to behold. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Sir Oluf questioned the Knight eftsoon | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| If he were come from heaven down; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| "Art thou Christ of Heaven," quoth he, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| "So will I yield me unto thee." | 8 | ········ |
| "I am not Christ the Great, | 6 | ······ |
| Thou shalt not yield thee yet; | 6 | ······ |
| I am an Unknown Knight, | 6 | ···˘/· |
| Three modest Maidens have me bedight." | 9 | ·/˘/˘··˘/ |
| "Art thou a Knight elected, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| And have three Maidens thee bedight | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| So shalt thou ride a tilt this day, | 8 | ········ |
| For all the Maidens' honor!" | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| The first tilt they together rode | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| They put their steeds to the test, | 7 | ······· |
| The second tilt they together rode, | 9 | ·/˘··˘/˘· |
| They proved their manhood best. | 7 | ··˘·/·· |
| The third tilt they together rode, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Neither of them would yield; | 6 | /˘···· |
| The fourth tilt they together rode, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| They both fell on the field. | 6 | ······ |
| Now lie the lords upon the plain, | 8 | ········ |
| And their blood runs unto death; | 7 | ······· |
| Now sit the Maidens in the high tower, | 9 | ···/˘···/ |
| The youngest sorrows till death. | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
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