Analysis of Cavalier Tunes
Robert Browning 1812 (Camberwell) – 1889 (Venice)
. MARCHING ALONG.
Kentish Sir Byng stood for his King,
Bidding the crop-headed Parliament swing:
And, pressing a troop unable to stoop
And see the rogues flourish and honest folk droop,
Marched them along, fifty-score strong,
Great-hearted gentlemen, singing this song.
God for King Charles! Pym and such carles
To the Devil that prompts 'em their treasonous parles!
Cavaliers, up! Lips from the cup,
Hands from the pasty, nor bite take nor sup
Till you're---
CHORUS.---Marching along, fifty-score strong,
Great-hearted gentlemen, singing this song.
Hampden to hell, and his obsequies' knell
Serve Hazelrig, Fiennes, and young Harry as well!
England, good cheer! Rupert is near!
Kentish and loyalists, keep we not here
CHORUS.---Marching along, fifty-score strong,
Great-hearted gentlemen, singing this song?
Then, God for King Charles! Pym and his snarls
To the Devil that pricks on such pestilent carles!
Hold by the right, you double your might;
So, onward to Nottingham, fresh for the fight,
CHORUS.---March we along, fifty-score strong,
Great-hearted gentlemen, singing this song!
II. GIVE A ROUSE.
King Charles, and who'll do him right now?
King Charles, and who's ripe for fight now?
Give a rouse: here's, in hell's despite now,
King Charles!
Who gave me the goods that went since?
Who raised me the house that sank once?
Who helped me to gold I spent since?
Who found me in wine you drank once?
CHORUS.---King Charles, and who'll do him right now?
King Charles, and who's ripe for fight now?
Give a rouse: here's, in hell's despite now,
King Charles!
To whom used my boy George quaff else,
By the old fool's side that begot him?
For whom did he cheer and laugh else,
While Noll's damned troopers shot him?
CHORUS.---King Charles, and who'll do him right now?
King Charles, and who's ripe for fight now?
Give a rouse: here's, in hell's despite now,
King Charles!
III. BOOT AND SADDLE.
Boot, saddle, to horse, and away!
Rescue my castle before the hot day
Brightens to blue from its silvery grey,
CHORUS.---Boot, saddle, to horse, and away!
Ride past the suburbs, asleep as you'd say;
Many's the friend there, will listen and pray
``God's luck to gallants that strike up the lay---
CHORUS.---``Boot, saddle, to horse, and away!''
Forty miles off, like a roebuck at bay,
Flouts Castle Brancepeth the Roundheads' array:
Who laughs, ``Good fellows ere this, by my fay,
CHORUS.---``Boot, saddle, to horse, and away!''
Who? My wife Gertrude; that, honest and gay,
Laughs when you talk of surrendering, ``Nay!
``I've better counsellors; what counsel they?
CHORUS.---``Boot, saddle, to horse, and away!''
Scheme | a bbccaA ddeex AA ffxx AA ddgg aA x hHHD ijij HHHD klkl HHHD x mmm m mmm M mmm M mhm M |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1001 1111111 1001101001 0100101011 01011001011 11011011 1101001011 11111011 1010111111 0111101 110111111 11 1010011011 1101001011 1110111 11010011011 10111011 101001111 1010011011 1101001011 111111011 1010111111 110111011 1101101101 1011011011 1101001011 1101 11011111 11011111 101101011 11 11101111 11101111 11111111 11101111 1011011111 11011111 101101011 11 11111111 101111011 11111011 1111011 1011011111 11011111 101101011 11 11010 11011001 1011001011 1011111001 1011011001 1101001111 101111001 111111101 1011011001 101110111 11010101 1111011111 1011011001 1111011001 1111101001 1101001101 1011011001 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,693 |
Words | 451 |
Sentences | 61 |
Stanzas | 23 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 6, 5, 2, 4, 2, 4, 2, 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 1, 3, 1, 3, 1, 3, 1, 3, 1 |
Lines Amount | 64 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 86 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 19 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 14, 2023
- 2:20 min read
- 119 Views
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"Cavalier Tunes" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/30330/cavalier-tunes>.
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