The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

“In haste I smote thee, but grieve I sore at leisure!” 

The 18-year-old Robin describes his feelings after having killed the forester, the crime that (along with shooting the king’s deer) made him an outlaw. This impulsive action is a decisive event, marking Robin for the rest of his life. 

“Thou pratest like an ass […] for I could send this shaft clean through thy proud heart before a curtal friar could say grace over a roast goose at Michaelmastide.” 

This quote offers good example of Pyle’s extravagant and fanciful medievalesque dialogue, which often references religion, food, and holidays. Pyle carefully constructs the colorful language and sometimes it’s just as much a central focus as the plot. Often-used words include “merry,” “lusty,” “jolly,” “buxom,” and “stout.”

“I will be mine own, and no man in all merry England shall be my master.” 

This quote is spoken to the Sheriff of Nottingham after the latter invites Robin to become one of his servants. It is a strong statement of Robin’s independent and democratic nature, which he lives out in Sherwood Forest with the Merry Men.