# LXXXVII explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by John Keats.

## What happens

A poet, riding on the back of the Court-Clown, rushes to the Princess and recites a wedding poem, causing her to faint from distress. The crowd laughs at her weakness, and the speaker frantically searches for the King, determined to find him or die.

## Themes in this chapter

### Social Critique and Mortality

The poet's cruel performance and the crowd's laughter at the Princess's fainting highlight the harshness and absurdity of courtly life.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker who witnesses the poet's antics and rushes into the crowd to find the King.

### Princess

The Princess who faints after the poet recites a Prothalamion in her face.

### Elfinan

The King being sought by the speaker after the incident.

## Key lines

> A Poet, mounted on the Court-Clown’s back, Rode to the Princess swift with spurring heels, And close into her face, with rhyming clack, Began a Prothalamion;⁠—she reels, She falls, she faints!⁠—while laughter peals Over her woman’s weakness.

A poet, riding on the jester's back, hurried to the Princess and recited a wedding poem right in her face, causing her to stagger, collapse, and faint as the crowd laughed at her fragility.

_The poet's cruel act and the crowd's mocking laughter underscore the chapter's critique of courtly cruelty._

> ‘Where!’ cried I, ‘Where is his Majesty?’ No person feels Inclined to answer; wherefore instantly I plunged into the crowd to find him or to die.

I shouted, 'Where is the King?' but no one answered, so I immediately pushed through the crowd to find him, even if it meant dying.

_The speaker's desperate search for the King amid the chaos reflects his determination and the urgency of the situation._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/lxxxvii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_14_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters