"The King and the Beggar-maid" is a 16th-century broadside ballad[1] that tells of an African king, Cophetua, and his love for the beggar Penelophon (Shakespearean Zenelophon). 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".[2]
- ^ Thelma G. James (1933), "The English and Scottish Popular Ballads of Francis J. Child", The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 46 (No. 179), pp. 51–68.
- ^ Andrew Delahunty and Sheila Dignen, eds. (2010), "Cophetua, King", The Oxford Dictionary of Reference and Allusion (Oxford University Press). Retrieved 22 December 2018.