The Song Of The Little Baltung: A.d. 395 Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCB AADA EFGH AIJ IKJ LHFH FIA IFMF NAA AIII AAI IBNH AFF COLO LKLK LBAB CFAF ILLL FF F LAL LPAH ALAL BAI LHL Q L Q H RFL LHSH LHL LFLF AAHA N IB TAAA ABBB AFLF LHL LHAH FALA LFLF AFLF FALA UFAF HA harper came over the Danube so wide | A |
And he came into Alaric's hall | B |
And he sang the song of the little Baltung | C |
To him and his heroes all | B |
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How the old old Balt and the young young Balt | A |
Rode out of Caucaland | A |
With the royal elephant's trunk on helm | D |
And the royal lance in hand | A |
- | |
Thuringer heroes counts and knights | E |
Pricked proud in their meinie | F |
For they were away to the great Kaiser | G |
In Byzant beside the sea | H |
- | |
And when they came to the Danube so wide | A |
They shouted from off the shore | I |
'Come over come over ye Roman slaves | J |
And ferry your masters o'er ' | - |
- | |
And when they came to Adrian's burgh | I |
With its towers so smooth and high | K |
'Come out come out ye Roman knaves | J |
And see your lords ride by ' | - |
- | |
But when they came lo the long long walls | L |
That stretch from sea to sea | H |
That old old Balt let down his chin | F |
And a thoughtful man grew he | H |
- | |
'Oh oft have I scoffed at brave Fridigern | F |
But never will I scoff more | I |
If these be the walls which kept him out | A |
From the Micklegard there on the shore ' | - |
- | |
Then out there came the great Kaiser | I |
With twice ten thousand men | F |
But never a Thuring was coward enough | M |
To wish himself home again | F |
- | |
'Bow down thou rebel old Athanarich | N |
And beg thy life this day | A |
The Kaiser is lord of all the world | A |
And who dare say him nay ' | - |
- | |
'I never came out of Caucaland | A |
To beg for less nor more | I |
But to see the pride of the great Kaiser | I |
In his Micklegard here by the shore | I |
- | |
'I never came out of Caucaland | A |
To bow to mortal wight | A |
But to shake the hand of the great Kaiser | I |
And God defend my right ' | - |
- | |
He shook his hand that cunning Kaiser | I |
And he kissed him courteouslie | B |
And he has ridden with Athanarich | N |
That wonder town to see | H |
- | |
He showed him his walls of marble white | A |
A mile o'erhead they shone | F |
Quoth the Balt 'Who would leap into that garden | F |
King Siegfried's boots must own ' | - |
- | |
He showed him his engines of arsmetrick | C |
And his wells of quenchless flame | O |
And his flying rocks that guarded his walls | L |
From all that against him came | O |
- | |
He showed him his temples and pillared halls | L |
And his streets of houses high | K |
And his watch towers tall where his star gazers | L |
Sit reading the signs of the sky | K |
- | |
He showed him his ships with their hundred oars | L |
And their sides like a castle wall | B |
That fetch home the plunder of all the world | A |
At the Kaiser's beck and call | B |
- | |
He showed him all nations of every tongue | C |
That are bred beneath the sun | F |
How they flowed together in Micklegard street | A |
As the brooks flow all into one | F |
- | |
He showed him the shops of the china ware | I |
And of silk and sendal also | L |
And he showed him the baths and the waterpipes | L |
On arches aloft that go | L |
- | |
He showed him ostrich and unicorn | F |
Ape lion and tiger keen | F |
And elephants wise roared 'Hail Kaiser ' | - |
As though they had Christians been | F |
- | |
He showed him the hoards of the dragons and trolls | L |
Rare jewels and heaps of gold | A |
'Hast thou seen in all thy hundred years | L |
Such as these thou king so old ' | - |
- | |
Now that cunning Kaiser was a scholar wise | L |
And could of gramarye | P |
And he cast a spell on that old old Balt | A |
Till lowly and meek spake he | H |
- | |
'Oh oft have I heard of the Micklegard | A |
What I held for chapmen's lies | L |
But now do I know of the Micklegard | A |
By the sight of mine own eyes | L |
- | |
'Woden in Valhalla | B |
But thou on earth art God | A |
And he that dare withstand thee Kaiser | I |
On his own head lies his blood ' | - |
- | |
Then out and spake that little Baltung | L |
Rode at the king's right knee | H |
Quoth 'Fridigern slew false Kaiser Valens | L |
And he died like you or me ' | - |
- | |
'And who art thou thou pretty bold boy | Q |
Rides at the king's right knee ' | - |
'Oh I am the Baltung boy Alaric | L |
And as good a man as thee ' | - |
- | |
'As good as me thou pretty bold boy | Q |
With down upon thy chin ' | - |
'Oh a spae wife laid a doom on me | H |
The best of thy realm to win ' | - |
- | |
'If thou be so fierce thou little wolf cub | R |
Or ever thy teeth be grown | F |
Then I must guard my two young sons | L |
Lest they should lose their own ' | - |
- | |
'Oh it's I will guard your two lither lads | L |
In their burgh beside the sea | H |
And it's I will prove true man to them | S |
If they will prove true to me | H |
- | |
'But it's you must warn your two lither lads | L |
And warn them bitterly | H |
That if I shall find them two false Kaisers | L |
High hanged they both shall be ' | - |
- | |
Now they are gone into the Kaiser's palace | L |
To eat the peacock fine | F |
And they are gone into the Kaiser's palace | L |
To drink the good Greek wine | F |
- | |
The Kaiser alone and the old old Balt | A |
They sat at the cedar board | A |
And round them served on the bended knee | H |
Full many a Roman lord | A |
- | |
'What ails thee what ails thee friend Athanarich | N |
What makes thee look so pale ' | - |
'I fear I am poisoned thou cunning Kaiser | I |
For I feel my heart strings fail | B |
- | |
'Oh would I had kept that great great oath | T |
I swore by the horse's head | A |
I would never set foot on Roman ground | A |
Till the day that I lay dead | A |
- | |
'Oh would I were home in Caucaland | A |
To hear my harpers play | B |
And to drink my last of the nut brown ale | B |
While I gave the gold rings away | B |
- | |
'Oh would I were home in Caucaland | A |
To hear the Gothmen's horn | F |
And watch the waggons and brown brood mares | L |
And the tents where I was born | F |
- | |
'But now I must die between four stone walls | L |
In Byzant beside the sea | H |
And as thou shalt deal with my little Baltung | L |
So God shall deal with thee ' | - |
- | |
The Kaiser he purged himself with oaths | L |
And he buried him royally | H |
And he set on his barrow an idol of gold | A |
Where all Romans must bow the knee | H |
- | |
And now the Goths are the Kaiser's men | F |
And guard him with lance and sword | A |
And the little Baltung is his sworn son at arms | L |
And eats at the Kaiser's board | A |
- | |
And the Kaiser's two sons are two false white lads | L |
That a clerk may beat with cane | F |
The clerk that should beat that little Baltung | L |
Would never sing mass again | F |
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Oh the gates of Rome they are steel without | A |
And beaten gold within | F |
But they shall fly wide to the little Baltung | L |
With the down upon his chin | F |
- | |
Oh the fairest flower in the Kaiser's garden | F |
Is Rome and Italian land | A |
But it all shall fall to the little Baltung | L |
When he shall take lance in hand | A |
- | |
And when he is parting the plunder of Rome | U |
He shall pay for this song of mine | F |
Neither maiden nor land neither jewel nor gold | A |
But one cup of Italian wine | F |
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Eversley | H |
Charles Kingsley
(1)
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