Wesselenyi: A Hungarian Tale Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCBDEDE FEEEGHGH EEIEEJEJ AECEEGKG LCLCMNON EPEPECEC CQCQECEC EEEHCPRP EHLHHPSP TTTTEERE PQPQEUEU EVEVCTCT CWCXYZA2Z CPCPECEC CECEHEA2E EB2EB2GEGE UEUEPEPE ETETC2EC2E D2CD2CGCGC EEEEEE2EE2 PF2PF2EEEE A2UA2UG2CG2C EEEEWhen madly raged religious war | A |
O'er all the Magyar land | B |
And royal archer and hussar | C |
Met foemen hand to hand | B |
A princess fair in castle strong | D |
The royal troops defied | E |
And bravely held her fortress long | D |
Though help was all denied | E |
- | |
Princess Maria was her name | F |
Brave daughter nobly sired | E |
She caught her father's trusty sword | E |
When bleeding he expired | E |
And bravely rallied warders all | G |
To meet the storming foe | H |
And hurled them from the rampart wall | G |
Upon the crags below | H |
- | |
Prince Casimir her father built | E |
Murana high and wide | E |
It sat among the mountain cliffs | I |
The Magyars' boast and pride | E |
Bold Wesselenyi stalwart knight | E |
Young famed and wondrous fair | J |
With a thousand men besieged the height | E |
And led the bravest there | J |
- | |
And long he tried the arts of war | A |
To take that castle hold | E |
Till many a proud and plumed hussar | C |
Was lying stiff and cold | E |
And still the frowning castle stood | E |
A grim unbroken wall | G |
Like some lone rock in stormy seas | K |
That braves the billows all | G |
- | |
Bold Wesselenyi's cheeks grew thin | L |
A solemn oath he sware | C |
That if he failed the prize to win | L |
His bones should molder there | C |
Two toilsome months had worn away | M |
Two hundred men were slain | N |
His bold assaults were baffled still | O |
And all his arts were vain | N |
- | |
But love is mightier than the sword | E |
He clad him in disguise | P |
In the dress of an inferior lord | E |
To win the noble prize | P |
He bade his armed men to wait | E |
To cease the battle blare | C |
And sought alone the castle gate | E |
To hold a parley there | C |
- | |
Aloft a flag of truce he bore | C |
Her warders bade him pass | Q |
Within he met the princess fair | C |
All clad in steel and brass | Q |
Her bright black eyes and queenly art | E |
Sweet lips and raven hair | C |
Smote bold young Wesselenyi's heart | E |
While he held parley there | C |
- | |
Cunning he talked of great reward | E |
And royal favor too | E |
If she would yield her father's sword | E |
She sternly answered No | H |
But even while they parleyed there | C |
Maria's lustrous eyes | P |
Looked tenderly and lovingly | R |
On the chieftain in disguise | P |
- | |
Go tell your gallant chief she said | E |
To keep his paltry pelf | H |
The knight who would my castle win | L |
Must dare to come himself | H |
And forth she sternly bade him go | H |
But followed with her eyes | P |
I ween she knew the brave knight well | S |
Through all his fair disguise | P |
- | |
But when had dawned another morn | T |
He bade his bugleman | T |
To sound again the parley horn | T |
Ere yet the fray began | T |
And forth he sent a trusty knight | E |
To seek the castle gate | E |
And to the princess privately | R |
His message to relate | E |
- | |
That he it was who in disguise | P |
Her warders bade to pass | Q |
And while he parleyed there her eyes | P |
Had pierced his plates of brass | Q |
His heart he offered and his hand | E |
And pledged a signet ring | U |
If she would yield her brave command | E |
Unto his gracious king | U |
- | |
Go tell your chief Maria cried | E |
Audacious as he is | V |
If he be worthy such a bride | E |
My castle and hand are his | V |
But he should know that lady fair | C |
By faint heart ne'er was won | T |
So let your gallant chieftain sir | C |
Come undisguised alone | T |
- | |
And he may see in the northern tower | C |
Over yonder precipice | W |
A lone dim light at the midnight hour | C |
Shine down the dark abyss | X |
And over the chasm's dungeon gloom | Y |
Shall a slender ladder hang | Z |
And if alone he dare to come | A2 |
Unarmed without a clang | Z |
- | |
More of his suit your chief shall hear | C |
Perhaps may win the prize | P |
Tell him the way is hedged with fear | C |
One misstep and he dies | P |
Nor will I pledge him safe retreat | E |
From out yon guarded tower | C |
My watchful warders all to cheat | E |
May be beyond my power | C |
- | |
At midnight's dark and silent hour | C |
The tall and gallant knight | E |
Sought on the cliff the northern tower | C |
And saw the promised light | E |
With toil he climbed the cragged cliff | H |
And there the ladder found | E |
And o'er the yawning gulf he clomb | A2 |
The ladder round by round | E |
- | |
And as he climbed the ladder bent | E |
Above the yawning deep | B2 |
But bravely to the port he went | E |
And entered at a leap | B2 |
Full twenty warders thronged the hall | G |
Each with his blade in hand | E |
They caught the brave knight like a thrall | G |
And bound him foot and hand | E |
- | |
They tied him fast to an iron ring | U |
At Maria's stern command | E |
And then they jeered God save the king | U |
And all his knightly band | E |
They bound a bandage o'er his eyes | P |
Then the haughty princess said | E |
Audacious knight I hold a prize | P |
My castle or your head | E |
- | |
Now mark desert the king's command | E |
And join your sword with mine | T |
And thine shall be my heart and hand | E |
This castle shall be thine | T |
I grant one hour for thee to choose | C2 |
My bold and gallant lord | E |
And if my offer you refuse | C2 |
You perish by the sword | E |
- | |
He spoke not a word but his face was pale | D2 |
And he prayed a silent prayer | C |
But his heart was oak and it could not quail | D2 |
And a secret oath he sware | C |
And grim stood the warders armed all | G |
In the torches' flicker and flare | C |
As they watch for an hour in the gloomy hall | G |
The brave knight pinioned there | C |
- | |
The short the flying hour is past | E |
The warders have bared his breast | E |
The bugler bugles a doleful blast | E |
Will the pale knight stand the test | E |
He has made his choice he will do his part | E |
He has sworn and he cannot lie | E2 |
And he cries with the sword at his beating heart | E |
Betray nay better to die | E2 |
- | |
Suddenly fell from his blue eyes | P |
The silken blinding bands | F2 |
And while he looked in sheer surprise | P |
They freed his feet and hands | F2 |
I give thee my castle Maria cried | E |
And I give thee my heart and hand | E |
And Maria will be the proudest bride | E |
In all this Magyar land | E |
- | |
Grant heaven that thou be true to me | A2 |
As thou art to the king | U |
And I'll bless the day I gave to thee | A2 |
My castle for a ring | U |
The red blood flushed to the brave knight's face | G2 |
As he looked on the lady fair | C |
He sprang to her arms in a fond embrace | G2 |
And he married her then and there | C |
- | |
So the little blind elf with his feathered shaft | E |
Did more than the sword could do | E |
For he conquered and took with his magical craft | E |
Her heart and her castle too | E |
Hanford Lennox Gordon
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