"The Glove and the Lions" by James Leigh Hunt (Leigh Hunt was born as James Leigh Hunt) tells the story of a king, who for pleasure, has gathered a bunch of people to watch lions fight in an arena. The author goes to great lengths to describe the fighting lions, their roars, paws, their vicious and bloody battle. Then, there is a lady in the crowd who wants her love, a Count, to prove that he truly loves her. She decides "I'll drop my glove, to prove my love." She then "dropped her glove...then looked at him and smiled." So there is this lady's glove, lying in the pit with these violent lions, and she expects the Count, her love, to prove that he really loves her by jumping in with them and getting it. Well, "he bowed, and in a moment leaped among the lions wild," and quickly retrieves her glove. After he is returned, he "threw the glove, but not with love, right in the lady's face." He tells her that "No love...but vanity, sets love a task like that." I think the ending is quite funny; instead of gallantly giving her glove back and pining at her feet, he throws it in her face, and calls her a vain airhead in front of everyone. It is a great way to mock the entire concept of courtly love, and what the ladies of the courts did to try to make their loves prove that they truly did love them, when in reality they were just spoiled, vain, materialistic girls with no concept of what real love was.
I hope that I got the poem right, and that the explanation helped. Good luck!
But what is a role of a king in it can you tell me
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