A Ride for the Queen
Queen of queens, oh lady mine,You who say you love me,Here's a cup of crimson wineTo the stars above me;Here's a cup of blood and gallFor a soldier's quaffing!What's the prize to crown it all?Death? I'll take it laughing!I ride for the Queen to-night!
Though I find no knightly feeWaiting on my lealty,High upon the gallows-treeFaithful to my fealty,What had I but love and youth,Hope and fame in season?She has proved that more than truthGlorifies her treason!
Would that other do as much?Ah, but if in sorrowSome forgotten look or touchPierce her heart to-morrowShe might love me yet, I think;So her lie befriends me,Though I know there's darker drinkDown the road she sends me.
Ay, one more great chance is mine(Can I faint or falter?)She shall pour my blood like wine,Make my heart her altar,Burn it to the dust! For, there,What if o'er the embersShe should stoop and--I should hear--"Hush! Thy love remembers!"
One more chance for every wordWhispered to betray me,While she buckled on my swordSmiling to allay me;One more chance; ah, let me notMar her perfect pleasure;Love shall pay me, jot by jot,Measure for her measure.
Faith shall think I never knew,I will be so fervent!Doubt shall dream I dreamed her trueAs her war-worn servant!Whoso flouts her spotless name(Love, I wear thy token!)He shall face one sword of flameEre the lie be spoken!
All the world's a-foam with may,(Fragrant as her bosom!)Could I find a sweeter wayThrough the year's young blossom,Where her warm red mouth on mineWoke my soul's desire?...Hey! The cup of crimson wine,Blood and gall and fire!
Castle Doom or Gates of Death?(Smile again for pity!)"Boot and horse," my lady saith,"Spur against the City,Bear this message!" God and sheStill forget the guerdon;Nay, the rope is on the tree!That shall bear the burden!I ride for the Queen to-night!
Words in this poem
- knightly a.
- Of or pertaining to a knight; becoming a knight; chivalrous; as, a knightly combat; a knightly spirit. [AS. cnihtlic boyish.]
- falter v. t.
- To thrash in the chaff; also, to cleanse or sift, as barley.
- 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,]
- fervent a.
- Hot; glowing; boiling; burning; as, a fervent summer. [F. fervent, L. fervens, -entis. p.pr. of fervere o the boiling hot, to boil, glow.]
- whoso pron.
- Whosoever. Piers Plowman.
- saith
- 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
- guerdon n.
- A reward; requital; recompense; -- used in both a good and a bad sense. [OF. guerdon, guerredon, LL. widerdonum (influenced by L. donum gift, cf. Donation ), fr. OHG. widarl; widar again, against (G. wider wieder) + lon reward, G. lo]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Ride for the Queen is in the public domain. This text is taken from Collected Poems: Volume One, Project Gutenberg ebook #30501; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Alfred Noyes, A Ride for the Queen, in Collected Poems, Volume One (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #30501, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/noyes-collected/a-ride-for-the-queen.html, id L21466.
Form and metre
A Ride for the Queen is 66 lines in 8 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 4 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABABCDCD- mineA · meB · wineA · meB · gallC · quaffingD · allC · laughingD · night
- 2 ABABCDCD feeA · lealtyB · treeA · fealtyB · youthC · seasonD · truthC · treasonD
- 3 ABABCDCD muchA · sorrowB · touchA · morrowB · thinkC · meD · drinkC · meD
- 4 ABABCDCD mineA · falterB · wineA · altarB · thereC · embersD · hearC · remembersD
- 5 -A-ABCBC word · meA · sword · meA · notB · pleasureC · jotB · measureC
- 6 ABABCDCD knewA · ferventB · trueA · servantB · nameC · tokenD · flameC · spokenD
- 7 A-A-BCBC mayA · bosom · wayA · blossom · mineB · desireC · wineB · fireC
- 8 ABABCDCD- deathA · pityB · saithA · cityB · sheC · guerdonD · treeC · burdenD · night
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Queen of queens, oh lady mine, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| You who say you love me, | 6 | ······ |
| Here's a cup of crimson wine | 7 | ····/˘· |
| To the stars above me; | 6 | ······ |
| Here's a cup of blood and gall | 7 | ······· |
| For a soldier's quaffing! | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| What's the prize to crown it all? | 7 | ······· |
| Death? I'll take it laughing! | 6 | ····/˘ |
| I ride for the Queen to-night! | 7 | ······· |
| Though I find no knightly fee | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Waiting on my lealty, | 6 | /˘···· |
| High upon the gallows-tree | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Faithful to my fealty, | 7 | /˘··/˘˘ |
| What had I but love and youth, | 7 | ······· |
| Hope and fame in season? | 6 | ····/˘ |
| She has proved that more than truth | 7 | ······· |
| Glorifies her treason! | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Would that other do as much? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Ah, but if in sorrow | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Some forgotten look or touch | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Pierce her heart to-morrow | 6 | ····/˘ |
| She might love me yet, I think; | 7 | ······· |
| So her lie befriends me, | 6 | ···˘/· |
| Though I know there's darker drink | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Down the road she sends me. | 6 | ······ |
| Ay, one more great chance is mine | 7 | ······· |
| (Can I faint or falter?) | 6 | ····/˘ |
| She shall pour my blood like wine, | 7 | ······· |
| Make my heart her altar, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Burn it to the dust! For, there, | 7 | ······· |
| What if o'er the embers | 6 | ····/˘ |
| She should stoop and--I should hear-- | 7 | ······· |
| "Hush! Thy love remembers!" | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| One more chance for every word | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Whispered to betray me, | 7 | /˘˘·˘/· |
| While she buckled on my sword | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Smiling to allay me; | 6 | /˘·˘/· |
| One more chance; ah, let me not | 7 | ······· |
| Mar her perfect pleasure; | 6 | ··/·/˘ |
| Love shall pay me, jot by jot, | 7 | ······· |
| Measure for her measure. | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Faith shall think I never knew, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| I will be so fervent! | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Doubt shall dream I dreamed her true | 7 | ······· |
| As her war-worn servant! | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Whoso flouts her spotless name | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| (Love, I wear thy token!) | 6 | ····/˘ |
| He shall face one sword of flame | 7 | ······· |
| Ere the lie be spoken! | 6 | ····/˘ |
| All the world's a-foam with may, | 7 | ······· |
| (Fragrant as her bosom!) | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Could I find a sweeter way | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Through the year's young blossom, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Where her warm red mouth on mine | 7 | ······· |
| Woke my soul's desire?... | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Hey! The cup of crimson wine, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Blood and gall and fire! | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Castle Doom or Gates of Death? | 7 | /˘····· |
| (Smile again for pity!) | 6 | ·˘/·/˘ |
| "Boot and horse," my lady saith, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| "Spur against the City, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Bear this message!" God and she | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Still forget the guerdon; | 6 | ·˘/·/˘ |
| Nay, the rope is on the tree! | 7 | ······· |
| That shall bear the burden! | 6 | ····/˘ |
| I ride for the Queen to-night! | 7 | ······· |
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.