Don Nuno, Count of Lara
King Alfonso the Eighth proposes taxing the Castilian nobles to fund a journey after war has exhausted his treasury. Don Nuno rejects the levy and leads all but three of three thousand knights to Glera's plain, where they raise the tribute on their spears and challenge the king to take it by force, declaring that liberty cannot be bought or sold.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Ballad, Narrative Poetry · 292 words
First lines
"King Alfonso the Eighth, having exhausted his treasury in war, wishes to lay a tax of five farthings upon each of the Castillan hidalgos, in order to defray the expenses of a journey from Burgos to Cuenca. This proposition of the king was met with disdain by the noblemen who had been assembled on the occasion. "
Don Nuno, Count of Lara, / In anger and in pride, / Forgot all reverence for the king, / And thus in wrath replied:
"Our noble ancestors," quoth he, / "Ne'er such a tribute paid; / Nor shall the king receive of us / What they have once gainsaid.
"The base-born soul who deems it just / May here with thee remain; / But follow me, ye cavaliers, / Ye noblemen of Spain."
Genres
- Ballad — Rhymed four-line stanzas tell of a nobleman's refusal of a royal tax through direct speech and collective action.
- Narrative Poetry — The verses follow the tax dispute from Don Nuno's reply to the knights' departure and their challenge to the king.
Tags
taxation · nobility · royal authority · liberty · resistance · ballad
What this Textopian page supports
Don Nuno, Count of Lara is listed on Textopian as a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, dated Date unknown.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Ballad, Narrative Poetry
- Length: 292 words
- Structure: 1 section, 7 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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