Sir Hugh the Palmer II
It was an idle company--Ladies and lordings fine--Idly under the wild-wood treeTheir laughter ran like wine.Yet as they laughed a voice they heard--A voice where none was seen,--Singing blithe as a hidden birdAmong the forest green.
"Mark ye, mark ye, a lonely knightRiding the green forest:Pardì! for one so poorly dightHe lifts a haughty crest!
Azure and white is all his wear,He hath no gold, I trow!Wanderer, thou in the wild-wood there,Tell us why sing ye so!"
"Noble ladies and lordings gay,God have you all in guard:Since ye are pleased with me to play,My riddle it is not hard.I sing because, of all that ride,I am the least of worth:I sing because, to match my pride,Never was pride on earth.
"But, an ye ask what that may mean,Thus do I answer then:I bear with me the heart of a Queen--I that am least of men:--I bear her heart till the end of all,Yea! by her own commandI bear the heart of a Queen royalUnto the Holy Land."
Humbly there his crest he bent,--Azure it waved and white,--Haughtily there he turned and wentSinging, out of their sight.Long, long but his voice they heard,--A voice where none was seen,--Singing blithe as a hidden bird,Among the forest green.
Words in this poem
- blithe a.
- Gay; merry; sprightly; joyous; glad; cheerful; as, a blithe spirit. [AS. bli blithe, kind; akin to Goth. blei kind, Icel. bli mild, gentle, Dan. & Sw. blid gentle, D. blijd blithe, OHG. blidi kind, blithe.]
- pard n.
- A leopard; a panther. [L. pardus, Gr. p tiger, panther.]
- dight v. t.
- To prepare; to put in order; hence, to dress, or put on; to array; to adorn. [OF. dihten, AS. dihtan to dictate, command, dispose, arrange, fr. L. dictare to say often, dictate, order; cf. G. dichten to write poetry, fr. L. dictare. See D]
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
- trow v. i.
- To believe; to trust; to think or suppose. [OE. trowen, AS.treówan to trust, believe, fr. treów trust, treówe true, faithful. See True.]
- humbly adv.
- With humility; lowly.
- haughtily adv.
- In a haughty manner; arrogantly. [From Haughty.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sir Hugh the Palmer II is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems: New and Old, Project Gutenberg ebook #24405; 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 John Newbolt, Sir Hugh the Palmer II, in Poems: New and Old (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #24405, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/newbolt-poems/sir-hugh-the-palmer-ii.html, id L11462.
Form and metre
Sir Hugh the Palmer II is 40 lines in 6 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 3 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 18% 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-ABCBC company · fineA · tree · wineA · heardB · seenC · birdB · greenC
- 2 ABAB knightA · forestB · dightA · crestB
- 3 ABAB wearA · trowB · thereA · soB
- 4 ABABCDCD gayA · guardB · playA · hardB · rideC · worthD · prideC · earthD
- 5 ABABCDCD meanA · thenB · queenA · menB · allC · commandD · royalC · landD
- 6 ABABCDCD bentA · whiteB · wentA · sightB · heardC · seenD · birdC · greenD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| It was an idle company-- | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Ladies and lordings fine-- | 6 | /˘···· |
| Idly under the wild-wood tree | 8 | /˘······ |
| Their laughter ran like wine. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Yet as they laughed a voice they heard-- | 9 | ····˘···· |
| A voice where none was seen,-- | 6 | ······ |
| Singing blithe as a hidden bird | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Among the forest green. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| "Mark ye, mark ye, a lonely knight | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Riding the green forest: | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Pardì! for one so poorly dight | 7 | ····/˘· |
| He lifts a haughty crest! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Azure and white is all his wear, | 8 | /˘······ |
| He hath no gold, I trow! | 6 | ······ |
| Wanderer, thou in the wild-wood there, | 9 | /˘˘······ |
| Tell us why sing ye so!" | 6 | ······ |
| "Noble ladies and lordings gay, | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| God have you all in guard: | 6 | ······ |
| Since ye are pleased with me to play, | 9 | ····˘···· |
| My riddle it is not hard. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| I sing because, of all that ride, | 8 | ········ |
| I am the least of worth: | 6 | ······ |
| I sing because, to match my pride, | 8 | ········ |
| Never was pride on earth. | 6 | /˘···· |
| "But, an ye ask what that may mean, | 8 | ········ |
| Thus do I answer then: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I bear with me the heart of a Queen-- | 9 | ········· |
| I that am least of men:-- | 6 | ······ |
| I bear her heart till the end of all, | 9 | ········· |
| Yea! by her own command | 6 | ····˘/ |
| I bear the heart of a Queen royal | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Unto the Holy Land." | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Humbly there his crest he bent,-- | 7 | /˘····· |
| Azure it waved and white,-- | 6 | /˘···· |
| Haughtily there he turned and went | 9 | /˘˘···˘·· |
| Singing, out of their sight. | 6 | /˘···· |
| Long, long but his voice they heard,-- | 7 | ······· |
| A voice where none was seen,-- | 6 | ······ |
| Singing blithe as a hidden bird, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Among the forest green. | 6 | ···/˘· |
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.