4.1 Word bank
| Word / phrase | Meaning in the poem |
|---|---|
| hearty | jovial, vigorous, full of life |
| royal sport | entertainment fit for a king (here, a lion fight) |
| court | the King's nobles and ladies |
| pride | finery, splendid dress and dignity |
| 'mong | among |
| sighed | longed (for someone loved) |
| gallant | splendid, brave, noble |
| crowning show | the finest, supreme spectacle |
| valour | courage, bravery |
| royal beasts | lions, the "kings of beasts" |
| ramped | reared up on the hind legs |
| horrid | dreadful |
| glared | stared fiercely |
| beams | heavy wooden bars |
| wallowing | rolling heavily |
| stifled | muffled, suppressed |
| mane | the long hair on a lion's neck |
| smother | a thick, choking cloud (of dust) |
| foam | froth (here, bloody saliva) |
| whisking | moving quickly through the air |
| faith | truly (a mild oath) |
| o'erheard | overheard |
| beauteous | beautiful |
| lively | spirited |
| dame | a lady |
| wondrous | wonderful |
| divine | (here) perfect, excellent |
| glory | fame, admiration |
| bowed | bent politely |
| regained | got back to |
| quoth | said |
| vanity | excessive pride in oneself and desire for admiration |
| task | a duty, a test |
4.2 Phrases and expressions
| Expression | Meaning |
|---|---|
| one for whom he sighed | the lady he loved |
| a crowning show | the best spectacle of all |
| better here than there | safer up here than down in the pit |
| brave as brave can be | extremely brave |
| the occasion is divine | the moment is perfect |
| to prove his love | to test whether he truly loves her |
| not with love | without affection; with contempt |
| rightly done | well and justly done |
| sets love a task | demands a proof from a lover |
4.3 Figures of speech
| Line | Figure of speech |
|---|---|
| "Valour and love, and a king above, and the royal beasts below" | internal rhyme; alliteration (b) |
| "Ramped and roared the lions" | alliteration; inversion |
| "horrid laughing jaws" | personification |
| "gave blows like beams" | simile; alliteration |
| "a wind went with their paws" | hyperbole; alliteration (w) |
| "With wallowing might" | alliteration |
| "stifled roar"; "thunderous smother" | sound imagery (auditory) |
| "The bloody foam … came whisking through the air" | visual imagery; onomatopoeia (whisking) |
| "brave as brave can be" | repetition for emphasis |
| "I'll drop my glove, to prove his love" | internal rhyme |
| "His leap was quick, return was quick" | repetition; parallelism |
| "Then threw the glove, but not with love" | internal rhyme; irony |
4.4 Form and sound
| Feature | In the poem |
|---|---|
| length | 24 lines (usually printed as four six-line stanzas) |
| rhyme | rhyming couplets (AABB…): sport/court, pride/sighed, show/below |
| metre | long lines of about seven stresses (heptameter, "fourteeners"), giving a galloping ballad rhythm |
| internal rhyme | love/above; glove/love (three times) |
| type | narrative poem — tells a story with a beginning, climax and moral |
| ending | a moral stated by the King |