Foundation first: the tools of this poem
| Term | What it means | In The Glove and the Lions |
|---|---|---|
| Narrative poem | a poem that tells a story | the whole poem |
| Rhyming couplet | two lines that rhyme one after another | sport / court; pride / sighed; show / below |
| Internal rhyme | rhyme inside a line | "love / above"; "glove / love" |
| Alliteration | repeated starting sounds | "Ramped and roared"; "With wallowing" (also "With wallowing might") |
| Simile | comparison with like or as | "blows like beams" |
| Hyperbole | deliberate exaggeration | "a wind went with their paws" |
| Personification | human qualities given to a non-human | "horrid laughing jaws" |
| Visual image / sound image | words that make us see / hear | "bloody foam … whisking"; "stifled roar" |
| Repetition | the same word or phrase again | "brave as brave can be"; "His leap was quick, return was quick" |
| Irony | the opposite of what was expected | "Then threw the glove, but not with love" |
Rhythm. The lines are long, with about seven strong beats each: "King FRAN-cis WAS a HEART-y KING, and LOVED a ROY-al SPORT". Together with the couplets this gives a galloping, story-telling rhythm.
Quick check. Is "gave blows like beams" a simile or a metaphor? Answer: a simile, because of like.
King Francis was a hearty king, and loved a royal sport, And one day as his lions fought, sat looking on the court; The nobles filled the benches, with the ladies in their pride, And 'mong them sat the Count de Lorge, with one for whom he sighed: And truly 'twas a gallant thing to see that crowning show, Valour and love, and a king above, and the royal beasts below.
Ramped and roared the lions, with horrid laughing jaws; They bit, they glared, gave blows like beams, a wind went with their paws; With wallowing might and stifled roar they rolled on one another, Till all the pit with sand and mane was in a thunderous smother; The bloody foam above the bars came whisking through the air; Said Francis then, "Faith, gentlemen, we're better here than there."
De Lorge's love o'erheard the King, a beauteous lively dame With smiling lips and sharp bright eyes, which always seemed the same; She thought, "The Count, my lover, is brave as brave can be; He surely would do wondrous things to show his love of me; King, ladies, lovers, all look on; the occasion is divine; I'll drop my glove, to prove his love; great glory will be mine."
She dropped her glove, to prove his love, then looked at him and smiled; He bowed, and in a moment leaped among the lions wild: His leap was quick, return was quick, he has regained his place, Then threw the glove, but not with love, right in the lady's face. "By God!" said Francis, "rightly done!" and he rose from where he sat: "No love," quoth he, "but vanity, sets love a task like that."
Worked examples
Example 1 (MCQ, 1 mark; ICSE 2025 specimen, Q1(vii) pattern). Which figure of speech is used in "Ramped and roared the lions"? (a) simile (b) personification (c) alliteration (d) hyperbole.
Solution. (c). The sound r repeats in ramped and roared. The board asked students to find another line with the same device, so you must be able to name it quickly.
Example 2 (3 marks; ICSE 2025, Q6(ii)). "Leigh Hunt uses vivid sound and visual images to describe the contest between the royal beasts in the pit." Justify with close reference to the text.
Model answer. Visual images: the lions have "horrid laughing jaws", they "glared", they "gave blows like beams", they "rolled on one another", and "bloody foam" came "whisking through the air". Sound images: the lions "roared", there was a "stifled roar" and a "thunderous smother".
Why this scores: one mark for the visual images with quoted words, one for the sound images with quoted words, and one for keeping the two kinds apart. The 2025 examiner report says many candidates named the images but did not use the poem's own words, or gave a summary of the climax instead.
Example 3 (3 marks). Name two devices in "a wind went with their paws" and say what they show.
Model answer. The line is a hyperbole, because paws cannot really make a wind, and it uses alliteration on the sound w. Together they show how enormous the lions' strength is, so that the reader feels the danger of the pit.
Why this scores: two devices (1 mark each) and the effect (1 mark).
Example 4 (4 marks). How do the rhyme and the rhythm of the poem suit the story it tells?
Model answer. The poem rhymes in couplets (sport / court, pride / sighed) and its long lines have about seven beats, so it moves quickly like a spoken tale. The pace matches the sudden action: the leap is "quick" and the return is "quick". Internal rhymes such as "glove / love" also stress the lady's false idea of love and prepare the ironic ending.
Why this scores: the pattern is named (1 mark), the effect on pace is explained (1 mark), a quoted example is given (1 mark) and the internal rhyme is linked to the meaning (1 mark).
Doubts cleared
Q. How do I tell a visual image from a sound image? Ask: do the words help me see it (glared, bloody foam) or hear it (roared, stifled roar, thunderous smother)? Always quote the actual words.
Q. What is a couplet? Two lines that rhyme with each other, one right after the other.
Q. Is "royal beasts" a metaphor? It means the lions, which are called kings of the animals. In an answer, say that "royal beasts" are the lions in the pit.
Q. Is this poem a ballad? It tells a story in a lively, regular rhythm, as a ballad does. It is best to call it a narrative poem.
Mistakes to avoid
- Naming "imagery" without quoting words. The examiner report says candidates lost marks for not using the poem's own words.
- Putting sound words under visual images and the reverse. Keep the two lists apart.
- Calling "blows like beams" a metaphor. The word like makes it a simile.
Check yourself
- What is the rhyme pattern of the poem?
- Name a sound image from the fight.
- Which device is "brave as brave can be"?
Answers: 1. Rhyming couplets (AABB…): sport / court, pride / sighed. 2. "stifled roar" or "thunderous smother". 3. Repetition, used for emphasis.