Famous Jousts Poems by Famous Poets

These are examples of famous Jousts poems written by some of the greatest and most-well-known modern and classical poets. PoetrySoup is a great educational poetry resource of famous jousts poems. These examples illustrate what a famous jousts poem looks like and its form, scheme, or style (where appropriate).

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A proper trewe idyll of camelot

...s and passing merrie cheere,
And eke a deale of dismal dole, as you shall quickly heare.

It so befell upon a daye when jousts ben had and while
Sir Launcelot did ramp around ye ring in gallaunt style,
There came an horseman shriking sore and rashing wildly home,--
A mediaeval horseman with ye usual flecks of foame;
And he did brast into ye ring, wherein his horse did drop,
Upon ye which ye rider did with like abruptness stop,
And with fatigue and fearfulness continued in a s...Read more of this...
by Field, Eugene


Balin and Balan

...ave easily overthrown.' 
'I too,' said Arthur, 'am of Arthur's hall, 
But rather proven in his Paynim wars 
Than famous jousts; but see, or proven or not, 
Whether me likewise ye can overthrow.' 
And Arthur lightly smote the brethren down, 
And lightly so returned, and no man knew. 

Then Balin rose, and Balan, and beside 
The carolling water set themselves again, 
And spake no word until the shadow turned; 
When from the fringe of coppice round them burst 
A spangled pursuiv...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

Couplets on the Death of His Father

...the tidings?
Of him, whose courtly graces schooled us,
Whom song and wisdom smiled upon,
Where the abidings?

The jousts and tourneys where vaunted
With trappings, and caparison,
And armor sheathing,—
Were they but phantasies that taunted,—
But blades of grass that vanished on
A summer's breathing?

What of the dames of birth and station,
Their head-attire, their sweeping trains,
Their vesture scented?
What of that gallant conflagration
They made of lovers' h...Read more of this...
by Manrique, Jorge

Gareth And Lynette

...feel for thee, nor worthy such a love: 
Stay therefore thou; red berries charm the bird, 
And thee, mine innocent, the jousts, the wars, 
Who never knewest finger-ache, nor pang 
Of wrenched or broken limb--an often chance 
In those brain-stunning shocks, and tourney-falls, 
Frights to my heart; but stay: follow the deer 
By these tall firs and our fast-falling burns; 
So make thy manhood mightier day by day; 
Sweet is the chase: and I will seek thee out 
Some comfortable br...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

Geraint And Enid

...rself, I schemed and wrought 
Until I overturned him; then set up 
(With one main purpose ever at my heart) 
My haughty jousts, and took a paramour; 
Did her mock-honour as the fairest fair, 
And, toppling over all antagonism, 
So waxed in pride, that I believed myself 
Unconquerable, for I was wellnigh mad: 
And, but for my main purpose in these jousts, 
I should have slain your father, seized yourself. 
I lived in hope that sometime you would come 
To these my lists with hi...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord


Idylls of the King: The Last Tournament (excerpt)

...hall, with harp in hand,
And from the crown thereof a carcanet
Of ruby swaying to and fro, the prize
Of Tristram in the jousts of yesterday,
Came Tristram, saying, "Why skip ye so, Sir Fool?"

For Arthur and Sir Lancelot riding once
Far down beneath a winding wall of rock
Heard a child wail. A stump of oak half-dead.
From roots like some black coil of carven snakes,
Clutch'd at the crag, and started thro' mid air
Bearing an eagle's nest: and thro' the tree
Rush'd ever a rainy...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

Mazeppa

...his poets, all but one,
Who, being unpensioned, made a satire,
And boasted that he could not flatterI
It was a court of jousts and mimes,
Where every courtier tried at rhymes;
Even I for once produced some verses,
And signed my odes "Despairing Thyrsis."
There was a certain Palatine,
A Count of far and high descent,
Rich as a salt or silver mine;
And he was proud, ye may divine, 
As if from heaven he had been sent:
He had such wealth in blood and ore
As few could match beneat...Read more of this...
by Byron, George (Lord)

Nero's Incendiary Song

...who love me most,— 
 For ne'er were seen such arch delights from Greek or Roman host; 
 Nor at the free, control-less jousts, where, spite of cynic vaunts, 
 Austere but lenient Seneca no "Ercles" bumper daunts; 
 
 Nor where upon the Tiber floats Aglae in galley gay, 
 'Neath Asian tent of brilliant stripes, in gorgeous array; 
 Nor when to lutes and tambourines the wealthy prefect flings 
 A score of slaves, their fetters wreathed, to feed grim, greedy 
 things. 
...Read more of this...
by Hugo, Victor

Pelleas And Ettarre

...e lightest whisper moved him more 
Than all the rangd reasons of the world. 

Then blushed and brake the morning of the jousts, 
And this was called `The Tournament of Youth:' 
For Arthur, loving his young knight, withheld 
His older and his mightier from the lists, 
That Pelleas might obtain his lady's love, 
According to her promise, and remain 
Lord of the tourney. And Arthur had the jousts 
Down in the flat field by the shore of Usk 
Holden: the gilded parapets were crown...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

The Cooks Tale

...nd swived* for her sustenance. *prostituted herself
 . . . . . . . 


Notes to the Cook's Tale


1. Cheapside, where jousts were sometimes held, and which
was the great scene of city revels and processions.

2. His paper: his certificate of completion of his apprenticeship.

3. Louke: The precise meaning of the word is unknown, but it
is doubtless included in the cant term "pal".

4. The Cook's Tale is unfinished in all the manuscripts; but in
some, of minor authority, the...Read more of this...
by Chaucer, Geoffrey

The Holy Grail

...e Holy Grail 
Drove me from all vainglories, rivalries, 
And earthly heats that spring and sparkle out 
Among us in the jousts, while women watch 
Who wins, who falls; and waste the spiritual strength 
Within us, better offered up to Heaven.' 

To whom the monk: `The Holy Grail!--I trust 
We are green in Heaven's eyes; but here too much 
We moulder--as to things without I mean-- 
Yet one of your own knights, a guest of ours, 
Told us of this in our refectory, 
But spake with ...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

The Last Tournament

...l, with harp in hand, 
And from the crown thereof a carcanet 
Of ruby swaying to and fro, the prize 
Of Tristram in the jousts of yesterday, 
Came Tristram, saying, `Why skip ye so, Sir Fool?' 

For Arthur and Sir Lancelot riding once 
Far down beneath a winding wall of rock 
Heard a child wail. A stump of oak half-dead, 
From roots like some black coil of carven snakes, 
Clutched at the crag, and started through mid air 
Bearing an eagle's nest: and through the tree 
Rushed ...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

The Marriage Of Geraint

...an 
To quicken to the sun, arose, and raised 
Her mother too, and hand in hand they moved 
Down to the meadow where the jousts were held, 
And waited there for Yniol and Geraint. 

And thither came the twain, and when Geraint 
Beheld her first in field, awaiting him, 
He felt, were she the prize of bodily force, 
Himself beyond the rest pushing could move 
The chair of Idris. Yniol's rusted arms 
Were on his princely person, but through these 
Princelike his bearing shone; an...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

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