«the king and the beggar-maid»

🗽 🧺 leighton
🧺

«the king and the beggar-maid» is a 16th-century broadside ballad that tells of an african king, Cophetua, and his love for the beggar Penelophon. artists and writers have referenced the story, and King Cophetua has become a byword for «a man who falls in love with a woman instantly and proposes marriage immediately» 🤩