The Romance Of Britomarte Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: AB CDCDEFEFGG HBHBEGEGGG IGIGJGKGLL MGMGGGGGNN EHEHOPOPQQ GEGEGRGRGG KGKGSPSPTQ NGNGJNKNUU OUOVUWUWCC XQXQYZYZA2A2 NB2NC2D2ND2NGG E2QE2QEGEGNN F2EF2EGG2GG2F2F2 H2GH2GI2OJ2OVV GK2GK2L2NL2NGG GF2GF2GGGGNN K2NK2NGNGNGG GK2GK2K2F2K2F2NN M2GM2GGVGUGG GN2GO2E2NE2NGG EP2EP2NGNGVV GNGNK2GK2GNN NF2NF2F2NF2NNN MGMGNQ2NQ2GG R2S2R2R2UEUEGG T2K2T2K2K2NK2NNN U2GU2GGNGNF2F2 NF2NF2NNNNNN NQNQKVKVGG NNNNF2JF2MGG

As related by Sergeant Leigh on the night he got his	A
captaincy at the Restoration	B
	-
	-
I'll tell you a story but pass the jack	C
And let us make merry to night my men	D
Aye those were the days when my beard was black	C
I like to remember them now and then	D
Then Miles was living and Cuthbert there	E
On his lip was never a sign of down	F
But I carry about some braided hair	E
That has not yet changed from the glossy brown	F
That it showed the day when I broke the heart	G
Of that bravest of destriers Britomarte	G
	-
Sir Hugh was slain may his soul find grace	H
In the fray that was neither lost nor won	B
At Edgehill then to St Hubert's Chase	H
Lord Goring despatched a garrison	B
But men and horses were ill to spare	E
And ere long the soldiers were shifted fast	G
As for me I never was quartered there	E
Till Marston Moor had been lost at last	G
As luck would have it alone and late	G
In the night I rode to the northern gate	G
	-
I thought as I passed through the moonlit park	I
On the boyish days I used to spend	G
In the halls of the knight lying stiff and stark	I
Thought on his lady my father's friend	G
Mine too in spite of my sinister bar	J
But with that my story has naught to do	G
She died the winter before the war	K
Died giving birth to the baby Hugh	G
He pass'd ere the green leaves clothed the bough	L
And the orphan girl was the heiress now	L
	-
When I was a rude and a reckless boy	M
And she a brave and a beautiful child	G
I was her page her playmate her toy	M
I have crown'd her hair with the field flowers wild	G
Cowslip and crow foot and colt's foot bright	G
I have carried her miles when the woods were wet	G
I have read her romances of dame and knight	G
She was my princess my pride my pet	G
There was then this proverb us twain between	N
For the glory of God and of Gwendoline	N
	-
She had grown to a maiden wonderful fair	E
But for years I had scarcely seen her face	H
Now with troopers Holdsworth Huntly and Clare	E
Old Miles kept guard at St Hubert's Chase	H
And the chatelaine was a Mistress Ruth	O
Sir Hugh's half sister an ancient dame	P
But a mettlesome soul had she forsooth	O
As she show'd when the time of her trial came	P
I bore despatches to Miles and to her	Q
To warn them against the bands of Kerr	Q
	-
And mine would have been a perilous ride	G
With the rebel horsemen we knew not where	E
They were scattered over that country side	G
If it had not been for my brave brown mare	E
She was iron sinew'd and satin skinn'd	G
Ribb'd like a drum and limb'd like a deer	R
Fierce as the fire and fleet as the wind	G
There was nothing she couldn't climb or clear	R
Rich lords had vex'd me in vain to part	G
For their gold and silver with Britomarte	G
	-
Next morn we muster'd scarce half a score	K
With the serving men who were poorly arm'd	G
Five soldiers counting myself no more	K
And a culverin which might well have harm'd	G
Us had we used it but not our foes	S
When with horses and foot to our doors they came	P
And a psalm singer summon'd us through his nose	S
And deliver'd This in the people's name	P
Unto whoso holdeth this fortress here	T
Surrender or bide the siege John Kerr	Q
	-
'Twas a mansion built in a style too new	N
A castle by courtesy he lied	G
Who called it a fortress yet 'tis true	N
It had been indifferently fortified	G
We were well provided with bolt and bar	J
And while I hurried to place our men	N
Old Miles was call'd to a council of war	K
With Mistress Ruth and with her and when	N
They had argued loudly and long those three	U
They sent as a last resource for me	U
	-
In the chair of state sat erect Dame Ruth	O
She had cast aside her embroidery	U
She had been a beauty they say in her youth	O
There was much fierce fire in her bold black eye	V
Am I deceived in you both quoth she	U
If one spark of her father's spirit lives	W
In this girl here so this Leigh Ralph Leigh	U
Let us hear what counsel the springald gives	W
Then I stammer'd somewhat taken aback	C
Simon you ale swiller pass the jack	C
	-
The dame wax'd hotter Speak out lad say	X
Must we fall in that canting caitiff's power	Q
Shall we yield to a knave and a turncoat Nay	X
I had liever leap from our topmost tower	Q
For a while we can surely await relief	Y
Our walls are high and our doors are strong	Z
This Kerr was indeed a canting thief	Y
I know not rightly some private wrong	Z
He had done Sir Hugh but I know this much	A2
Traitor or turncoat he suffer'd as such	A2
	-
Quoth Miles Enough your will shall be done	N
Relief may arrive by the merest chance	B2
But your house ere dusk will be lost and won	N
They have got three pieces of ordnance	C2
Then I cried Lord Guy with four troops of horse	D2
Even now is biding at Westbrooke town	N
If a rider could break through the rebel force	D2
He would bring relief ere the sun goes down	N
Through the postern door could I make one dart	G
I could baffle them all upon Britomarte	G
	-
Miles mutter'd Madness Dame Ruth look'd grave	E2
Said True though we cannot keep one hour	Q
The courtyard no nor the stables save	E2
They will have to batter piecemeal the tower	Q
And thus But suddenly she halted there	E
With a shining hand on my shoulder laid	G
Stood Gwendoline She had left her chair	E
And Nay if it needs must be done she said	G
Ralph Leigh will gladly do it I ween	N
For the glory of God and of Gwendoline	N
	-
I had undertaken a heavier task	F2
For a lighter word I saddled with care	E
Nor cumber'd myself with corselet nor casque	F2
Being loth to burden the brave brown mare	E
Young Clare kept watch on the wall he cried	G
Now haste Ralph this is the time to seize	G2
The rebels are round us on every side	G
But here they straggle by twos and threes	G2
Then out I led her and up I sprung	F2
And the postern door on its hinges swung	F2
	-
I had drawn this sword you may draw it and feel	H2
For this is the blade that I bore that day	G
There's a notch even now on the long grey steel	H2
A nick that has never been rasp'd away	G
I bow'd my head and I buried my spurs	I2
One bound brought the gliding green beneath	O
I could tell by her back flung flatten'd ears	J2
She had fairly taken the bit in her teeth	O
What Jack have you drain'd your namesake dry	V
Left nothing to quench the thirst of a fly	V
	-
These things are done and are done with lad	G
In far less time than your talker tells	K2
The sward with their hoof strokes shook like mad	G
And rang with their carbines and petronels	K2
And they shouted Cross him and cut him off	L2
Surround him Seize him Capture the clown	N
Or kill him Shall he escape to scoff	L2
In your faces Shoot him or cut him down	N
And their bullets whistled on every side	G
Many were near us and more were wide	G
	-
Not a bullet told upon Britomarte	G
Suddenly snorting she launched along	F2
So the osprey dives where the seagulls dart	G
So the falcon swoops where the kestrels throng	F2
And full in my front one pistol flash'd	G
And right in my path their sergeant got	G
How are jack boots jarr'd how are stirrups clash'd	G
While the mare like a meteor past him shot	G
But I clove his skull with a backstroke clean	N
For the glory of God and of Gwendoline	N
	-
And as one whom the fierce wind storms in the face	K2
With spikes of hail and with splinters of rain	N
I while we fled through St Hubert's Chase	K2
Bent till my cheek was amongst her mane	N
To the north full a league of the deer park lay	G
Smooth springy turf and she fairly flew	N
And the sound of their hoof strokes died away	G
And their far shots faint in the distance grew	N
Loudly I laughed having won the start	G
At the folly of following Britomarte	G
	-
They had posted a guard at the northern gate	G
Some dozen of pikemen and musketeers	K2
To the tall park palings I turn'd her straight	G
She veer'd in her flight as the swallow veers	K2
And some blew matches and some drew swords	K2
And one of them wildly hurl'd his pike	F2
But she clear'd by inches the oaken boards	K2
And she carried me yards beyond the dyke	F2
Then gaily over the long green down	N
We gallop'd heading for Westbrooke town	N
	-
The green down slopes to the great grey moor	M2
The grey moor sinks to the gleaming Skelt	G
Sudden and sullen and swift and sure	M2
The whirling water was round my belt	G
She breasted the bank with a savage snort	G
And a backward glance of her bloodshot eye	V
And Our Lady of Andover's flash'd like thought	G
And flitted St Agatha's nunnery	U
And the firs at The Ferngrove fled on the right	G
And Falconer's Tower on the left took flight	G
	-
And over The Ravenswold we raced	G
We rounded the hill by The Hermit's Well	N2
We burst on the Westbrooke Bridge What haste	G
What errand shouted the sentinel	O2
To Beelzebub with the Brewer's knave	E2
Carolus Rex and he of the Rhine	N
Galloping past him I got and gave	E2
In the gallop password and countersign	N
All soak'd with water and soil'd with mud	G
With the sleeve of my jerkin half drench'd in blood	G
	-
Now Heaven be praised that I found him there	E
Lord Guy He said having heard my tale	P2
Leigh let my own man look to your mare	E
Rest and recruit with our wine and ale	P2
But first must our surgeon attend to you	N
You are somewhat shrewdly stricken no doubt	G
Then he snatched a horn from the wall and blew	N
Making Boot and Saddle ring sharply out	G
Have I done good service this day quoth I	V
Then I will ride back in your troop Lord Guy	V
	-
In the street I heard how the trumpets peal'd	G
And I caught the gleam of a morion	N
From the window then to the door I reel'd	G
I had lost more blood than I reckon'd upon	N
He eyed me calmly with keen grey eyes	K2
Stern grey eyes of a steel blue grey	G
Said The wilful man can never be wise	K2
Nathless the wilful must have his way	G
And he pour'd from a flagon some fiery wine	N
I drain'd it and straightway strength was mine	N
	-
	-
	-
I was with them all the way on the brown	N
Guy to the rescue God and the king	F2
We were just in time for the doors were down	N
And didn't our sword blades rasp and ring	F2
And didn't we hew and didn't we hack	F2
The sport scarce lasted minutes ten	N
Aye those were the days when my beard was black	F2
I like to remember them now and then	N
Though they fought like fiends we were four to one	N
And we captured those that refused to run	N
	-
We have not forgotten it Cuthbert boy	M
That supper scene when the lamps were lit	G
How the women some of them sobb'd for joy	M
How the soldiers drank the deeper for it	G
How the dame did honours and Gwendoline	N
How grandly she glided into the hall	Q2
How she stoop'd with the grace of a girlish queen	N
And kiss'd me gravely before them all	Q2
And the stern Lord Guy how gaily he laugh'd	G
Till more of his cup was spilt than quaff'd	G
	-
Brown Britomarte lay dead in her straw	R2
Next morn we buried her brave old girl	S2
John Kerr we tried him by martial law	R2
And we twisted some hemp for the trait'rous churl	R2
And she I met her alone said she	U
You have risk'd your life you have lost your mare	E
And what can I give in return Ralph Leigh	U
I replied One braid of that bright brown hair	E
And with that she bow'd her beautiful head	G
You can take as much as you choose she said	G
	-
And I took it it may be more than enough	T2
And I shore it rudely close to the roots	K2
The wine or wounds may have made me rough	T2
And men at the bottom are merely brutes	K2
Three weeks I slept at St Hubert's Chase	K2
When I woke from the fever of wounds and wine	N
I could scarce believe that the ghastly face	K2
That the glass reflected was really mine	N
I sought the hall where a wedding had been	N
The wedding of Guy and of Gwendoline	N
	-
The romance of a grizzled old trooper's life	U2
May make you laugh in your sleeves laugh out	G
Lads we have most of us seen some strife	U2
We have all of us had some sport no doubt	G
I have won some honour and gain'd some gold	G
Now that our king returns to his own	N
If the pulses beat slow if the blood runs cold	G
And if friends have faded and loves have flown	N
Then the greater reason is ours to drink	F2
And the more we swallow the less we shall think	F2
	-
At the battle of Naseby Miles was slain	N
And Huntly sank from his wounds that week	F2
We left young Clare upon Worcester plain	N
How the Ironside gash'd his girlish cheek	F2
Aye strut and swagger and ruffle anew	N
Gay gallants now that the war is done	N
They fought like fiends give the fiend his due	N
We fought like fops it was thus they won	N
Holdsworth is living for aught I know	N
At least he was living two years ago	N
	-
And Guy Lord Guy so stately and stern	N
He is changed I met him at Winchester	Q
He has grown quite gloomy and taciturn	N
Gwendoline why do you ask for her	Q
Died as her mother had died before	K
Died giving birth to the baby Guy	V
Did my voice shake Then am I fool the more	K
Sooner or later we all must die	V
But at least let us live while we live to night	G
The days may be dark but the lamps are bright	G
	-
For to me the sunlight seems worn and wan	N
The sun he is losing his splendour now	N
He can never shine as of old he shone	N
On her glorious hair and glittering brow	N
Ah those days that were when my beard was black	F2
now I have only the nights that are	J
What landlord ho bring in haste burnt sack	F2
And a flask of your fiercest usquebaugh	M
You Cuthbert surely you know by heart	G
The story of her and of Britomarte	G

Adam Lindsay Gordon

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