SONNET. This form utilized either six or eight hendeca-
syllable lines (11 syllable lines of alternating stress),
with a standard rhyme scheme of ababccdd. English
examples include SIR THOMAS WYATT’s “VULCAN BEGAT
ME” and EDMUND SPENSER’s The Ruins of Rome.
STROPHE From the Greek for “act of turning,”
strophe refers to the movement of an ancient Greek
dramatic chorus to the left while reciting the lines
assigned; movement to the right was labeled antistro-
phe. The Greek poet Pindar adapted this idea into the
performance of his odes, and in the regular Pindaric
ode, the sections of strophe and antistrophe are pre-
sented in the same meter, while the epode (fi nal sec-
tion) uses another.
The term strophe is also used interchangeably with
STANZA to identify a distinct unit within a poem. When
the two are differentiated, the stanza will usually refer
to rhymed, identically structured, repeated groupings,
while the strophe is irregular and either unrhymed or
using varied rhymes. A number of the Middle English
ROMANCEs are written using a strophic format.
FURTHER READING
Duggan, Hoyt N. “Strophic Patterns in Middle English
Alliterative Poetry.” Modern Philology 74, no. 3 (1977):
223–247.
Carol E. Harding
SULTAN OF BABYLONE, THE ANONYMOUS
(before 1450) The Sultan of Babylone is a 15th-cen-
tury ROMANCE concerned with the exploits of the Frank-
ish king Charlemagne and his 12 Peers of the Realm.
Stories of these fi gures, and especially their battles with
the SARACENs, were immensely popular throughout
Europe.
This poem opens with the sultan Laban hunting in
Spain. Stopping to rest, he discovers that a ship, meant
for him, has been pillaged in Rome. Swearing ven-
geance, Laban attacks Rome. The pope retaliates, and
so it continues.
The pope enlists Charlemagne’s help. Laban instructs
Ferumbras, his son, to kill all the Christians save Char-
lemagne, to whom he wishes to teach courtesy, and the
knights Roland and Oliver, if they will convert to the
heathen faith. Ferumbras approaches Charlemagne
and requests a fi ght, but he is defeated. He agrees to be
baptized as his gods have proved false, but hidden Sar-
acen forces rush out, capturing Roland and Oliver.
Floripas, Laban’s daughter, persuades her father to
imprison the knights, including Roland, Oliver, and
Guy of Burgundy, instead of executing them. They are
held in appalling conditions. Floripas, moved by their
plight, determines to help them. She pushes Mara-
gound, her governess, out of a window and murders
the jailer, thus gaining responsibility for the prisoners.
Meanwhile, Laban sends messengers to Charlemagne
seeking Ferumbras’s release. The Christians instead
chop off their heads and send them to Laban. Enraged,
Laban wants to take revenge on his prisoners, but Flo-
ripas intervenes. She is in love with Guy of Burgundy,
so Roland and Oliver persuade Guy to agree to marry
her. Floripas helps them escape. They capture a castle,
and hold out until Charlemagne arrives. Laban is cap-
tured, and at Ferumbras’s behest, he is offered bap-
tism. The sultan refuses and is executed. Floripas
marries Guy, and Spain is divided between Guy and
Ferumbras.
Most of the critical attention this romance has
received has focused on the relationships between the
extant versions of the story, particularly the French
and English, and their sources. As well, this text is
interesting for its attitudes toward Saracens. It places
more emphasis on the emotions, motivation, and char-
acterization of Saracens than most other contemporary
texts.FURTHER READING
Crane, Susan. Insular Romance: Politics, Faith, and Culture in
Anglo-Norman and Middle English Literature. Berkeley: Uni-
versity of California Press, 1986.
Lupack, Alan, ed. Three Middle English Charlemagne
Romances. Kalamazoo, Mich.: Medieval Institute Publica-
tions, 1990.
Millar-Heggie, Bonnie. “The Performance of Masculinity and
Femininity: Gender Transformation in The Sowdone of
Babylone.” Mirator (2004). Available online. URL: http://
http://www.ccjyu.fi /mirator/artikkelit.htm. Downloaded on July
10, 2005.
Bonnie S. MillarSULTAN OF BABYLONE, THE 427