The poem, “The Glove and the Lions”, by Leigh Hunt is a somewhat comical poem about a fair, young maiden requesting her suitor to prove his love by jumping into a pit of fighting lions to retrieve the glove she drops.  Her coy plan backfires, however, when her lover gets the glove and throws it back in her face because she put him in such danger.

    There are several figures of speech in the poem.  The first one is found in the line, “The nobles filled the benches, and the ladies in their pride.”  Here Hunt is using a “play on words” comparing the ladies watching the fight to a pride of lions.  Hunt is suggesting that the pride of ladies may be as vicious as the pride of lions fighting below them.  The young maiden shows this savagery when she drops her glove in the pit.

    In addition, Hunt uses a simile when she says, “They bit, they glared, gave blows like beams, a wind went with their paws.”  Here Hunt is comparing the powerful blows of the lions as if one is hit by a beam or large piece of lumber.