The Glove and the Lions
King Francis was a hearty king, and loved a royal sport,And one day as his lions fought, sat looking on the court;The nobles filled the benches, with the ladies in their pride,And ’mong them sat the Count de Lorge with one for whom he sighed:And truly ’twas a gallant thing to see that crowning show,Valour, and love, and a king above, and the royal beasts below.
Ramp’d and roar’d the lions, with horrid laughing jaws;They bit, they glared, gave blows like beams, a windwent with their paws;With wallowing might and stifled roar they rolled on one another,Till all the pit with sand and mane was in a thunderous smother;The bloody foam above the bars came whisking through the air;Said Francis then, “Faith, gentlemen, we’re better here than there.”
De Lorge’s love o’erheard the King,--a beauteous lively dameWith smiling lips and sharp, bright eyes, which always seem’d the same:She thought, “The Count, my lover, is brave as brave can be;He surely would do wondrous things to show his love of me;King, ladies, lovers, all look on; the occasion is divine;I’ll drop my glove, to prove his love; great glory will be mine.”
She dropped her glove, to prove his love, then look’dat him and smiled;He bowed, and in a moment leapt among the lions wild:His leap was quick, return was quick, he has regain’d his place,Then threw the glove, but not with love, right in the lady’s face.“Well done!” cried Francis, “bravely done!” and he rosefrom where he sat:“No love,” quoth he, “but vanity, sets love a task like that.”
Words in this poem
- horrid a.
- Rough; rugged; bristling. [L. horridus. See Horror, and cf. Ordure.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- thunderous a.
- Producing thunder. [Written also thundrous.]
- whisking a.
- Sweeping along lightly.
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
- 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]
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- bravely adv.
- In a brave manner; courageously; gallantly; valiantly; splendidly; nobly.
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Glove and the Lions is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Every Child Should Know The What-Every-Child-Should-Know-Library, Project Gutenberg ebook #16436; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Mary E. Burt, The Glove and the Lions, in Poems Every Child Should Know (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16436, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poems-every-child/the-glove-and-the-lions.html, id L25265.
Form and metre
The Glove and the Lions is 27 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABBCC, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See other poems in iambic heptameter.
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 sportA · courtA · prideB · sighedB · showC · belowC
- 2 A-ABBCC jawsA · wind · pawsA · anotherB · smotherB · airC · thereC
- 3 AABBCC dameA · sameA · beB · meB · divineC · mineC
- 4 -AABB-CC look'd · smiledA · wildA · placeB · faceB · rose · satC · thatC
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 heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| King Francis was a hearty king, and loved a royal sport, | 14 | ·/˘··/˘····/˘· |
| And one day as his lions fought, sat looking on the court; | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘··· |
| The nobles filled the benches, with the ladies in their pride, | 14 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| And ’mong them sat the Count de Lorge with one for whom he sighed: | 14 | ·············· |
| And truly ’twas a gallant thing to see that crowning show, | 14 | ·/˘··/˘····/˘· |
| Valour, and love, and a king above, and the royal beasts below. | 16 | /˘·········/˘··· |
| Ramp’d and roar’d the lions, with horrid laughing jaws; | 12 | ····/˘·/˘/˘· |
| They bit, they glared, gave blows like beams, a wind | 10 | ·········· |
| went with their paws; | 4 | ···· |
| With wallowing might and stifled roar they rolled on one another, | 15 | ·/˘··/˘·····˘/˘ |
| Till all the pit with sand and mane was in a thunderous smother; | 15 | ···········/˘/˘ |
| The bloody foam above the bars came whisking through the air; | 14 | ·/˘······/˘··· |
| Said Francis then, “Faith, gentlemen, we’re better here than there.” | 14 | ·/˘··/˘˘·/˘··· |
| De Lorge’s love o’erheard the King,--a beauteous lively dame | 15 | ·/˘······/˘˘/˘· |
| With smiling lips and sharp, bright eyes, which always seem’d the same: | 14 | ·/˘······/···· |
| She thought, “The Count, my lover, is brave as brave can be; | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| He surely would do wondrous things to show his love of me; | 14 | ·/˘··/˘······· |
| King, ladies, lovers, all look on; the occasion is divine; | 15 | ·/˘/˘····˘/˘·˘/ |
| I’ll drop my glove, to prove his love; great glory will be mine.” | 14 | ·········/˘··· |
| She dropped her glove, to prove his love, then look’d | 10 | ·········· |
| at him and smiled; | 4 | ···· |
| He bowed, and in a moment leapt among the lions wild: | 14 | ·····/˘····/˘· |
| His leap was quick, return was quick, he has regain’d his place, | 14 | ····˘/····˘/·· |
| Then threw the glove, but not with love, right in the lady’s face. | 14 | ···········/˘· |
| “Well done!” cried Francis, “bravely done!” and he rose | 11 | ···/˘/˘···· |
| from where he sat: | 4 | ···· |
| “No love,” quoth he, “but vanity, sets love a task like that.” | 14 | ·····/˘˘······ |
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