The Elected Knight by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Seeking an opponent, Sir Oluf encounters an unknown knight adorned by three maidens and challenges him to joust for their honor. After four tilts, both knights fall and bleed to death on the plain, while the youngest maiden sorrows until death in a high tower.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Ballad, Tragic Poetry · 458 words
First lines
Sir Oluf he rideth over the plain, / Full seven miles broad and seven miles wide, / But never, ah never can meet with the man / A tilt with him dare ride.
He saw under the hillside / A Knight full well equipped; / His steed was black, his helm was barred; / He was riding at full speed.
Genres
- Ballad — Short stanzas, direct dialogue, and repeated descriptions of successive tilts tell the story of a fatal joust.
- Tragic Poetry — Neither knight will yield, their contest ends in both deaths, and the youngest maiden sorrows until death.
Tags
jousting · knighthood · honor · fatal combat · mourning · ballad
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The Elected Knight 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, Tragic Poetry
- Length: 458 words
- Structure: 1 section, 12 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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