This poem is an allegory. In reading it try to get
a clear picture of the scene described, and at the
same time remember that everything in it has a
hidden meaning; to understand it fully, you must
find out what the pictures represent. The title
gives you the necessary key.
This I beheld, or dreamed it in a dream:--
There spread a cloud of dust along a plain;
And underneath the cloud, or in it, raged
A furious battle, and men yelled, and swords
Shocked upon swords and shields. A prince's banner 5
Wavered, then staggered backward, hemmed by foes.
A craven hung along the battle's edge,
And thought, "Had I a sword of keener steel--
That blue blade that the king's son bears,--but this
Blunt thing!" He snapped and flung it from his hand, 10
And lowering crept away and left the field.
Then came the king's son, wounded, sore bestead,
And weaponless, and saw the broken sword,
Hilt-buried in the dry and trodden sand,
And ran and snatched it, and with battle shout 15
Lifted afresh, he hewed his enemy down,
And saved a great cause that heroic day.
1. What do the following represent: the battle; the
swords; the craven; the king's son; the broken
sword buried in the sand? Express the meaning of
the allegory in a sentence of your own.
2. Define an allegory, a fable; a parable. Most
allegories are long. Bunyan's _Pilgrim's Progress_
is a very famous one.