ESPANSIONI DI TESTO

MODULE B - Robin Hood (p. 75)

TASK
Answer the questions below.

1 Who was Robin Hood?
2 Where and when did he live?
3 How do we know about him?
4 What words have been chosen by the poet to represent Robin Hood's world?
5 What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?

Robin Hood was a legendary English hero who lived as an outlaw in Sherwood Forest, in Nottingham, in the Middle Ages (1100-1200). There are many ballads and tales about him, although there is no evidence that he really existed.
He was a rebel who robbed and killed representatives of authority, such as the Sheriff of Nottingham, and wealthy landowners. However he helped women, the poor and people of humble means and treated them with courtesy. He was a gentlemanly outlaw. He attacked rich people, stole their money and gave it to the needy. His followers included Maid Marian, Friar Tuck, Little John and a jolly band of 'merry men'.

Robin Hood
[ … ]
So it is: yet let us sing,
Honour to the old bow-string!
Honour to the bugle-horn! (1)
Honour to the woods unshorn! (2)
Honour to the Lincoln green! (3)
Honour to the archer keen!
Honour to tight (4) little John,
And the horse he rode upon!
Honour to bold Robin Hood,
Sleeping in the underwood!
Honour to maid Marian,
And to all the Sherwood-clan!
Though their days have hurried by
Let us two (5) a burden (6) try.

(From Robin Hood by John Keats, 1820.)

(1) a kind of trumpet
(2) not cut
(3 ) a type of green cloth originally made in Lincoln
(4) wearing tight clothes because he was 'oversize'
(5) the poem is dedicated to his friend J.H.Reynolds
(6) (refrain of a) song