[Sentrytools-announce] oyez

[Jayo <re...@ce...>]

Of you three in plighted troth The kindest will appear. To whom the
eldest thus began; Dear father, mind, quoth she Before your face to do
you good, My blood shall render'd be: And for your sake, my bleeding
heart Shall here be cut in twain Ere that I see your reverend age The
smallest grief sustain. And so wilt I the second said; Dear father for
your sake The worst of all extremities I'll gently undertake. And serve
your highness night and day With diligence and love; That sweet content
and quietness Discomforts may remove. In doing so you glad my soul The
aged king replied: But what sayst thou my youngest girl How is thy love
ally'd? My love quoth young Cordelia then Which to your grace I owe
Shall be the duty of a child And that is all I'll show. This honest
pledge the King despised and banished Cordelia. The ballad accords with
the drama in the catastrophe. Both have the same moral and the same
characters. The ballad is doubtless the earlier form of the story.
Possibly the minstrel and dramatist may have borrowed from a common
source. Good thoughts, good tales and noble deeds, like well-worn coins,
sometimes lose their date and must be estimated by weight. Ballad poetry
is written in various measures and with diverse feet. The rhythm is easy
and flows along trippingly from the tongue with such regular emphasis
and cadence as to lead instinctively to a sort of sing-song in the
recital of it. Ballads are more frequently written in common metre lines
of eight and six syllables alternating. Such is the famous ball