ShmoopTube

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Here's your shmoop du jour, brought to you by Iambic Pentameter. Because poems should

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have a beat you can dance to.

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Lines 17-18 imply that the speaker's greatest concern is... what?

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And here are the potential answers...

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Okay, so this question is implying that the speaker might have a great many concerns...

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...maybe he left the oven on... maybe he needs to find someone to pick up his kid from school...

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maybe he's afraid he won't be in time to DVR Duck Dynasty...

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...but we are looking for his greatest concern. The one thing that weighs most heavily on

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his mind. All right -- what do lines 17 through 18 say?

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Goddess, allow this aged man his right To be your beadsman now that was your knight.

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So... he's asking the queen... something.

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He was her knight, but now, even though he's retiring, he'd like to continue to be her...

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beadsman.

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Whatever that is. Perhaps the queen is seriously into charm bracelets.

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Regardless... he's not trying to teach others to praise the queen, that's for sure.

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It's not about receiving the benefits of retirement... it's more about the queen than it is about himself.

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It's not about returning to service as a knight, now that his... bead business is taking off.

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And it's not about worshipping the queen. He respects the bejeezus out of her, but this

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guy knows where to draw the line. So it can only be E -- his greatest concern

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is being able to continue serving the queen.

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But still... the "Duck Dynasty" thing is REALLY starting to bug him.

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