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The Knight's Battle - A Sestina!
| Open Poetry #2 |
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The Knight's Battle - A Sestina! |
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Poet deVine
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-26
Posts 22612Hurricane Alley |
In darkness led by a glowing moon, we find a brave young knight Sworn to wear the colors of his King into a mighty battle He rides upon a powerful steed; at his side, his father’s sword Boldly charging forth seeking the enemy in the forest He espies a river, running red with many a man’s blood Though brave the site chills him with coldness to his heart Once he held a lady fair and gave to her his heart Then the King summoned him to become a royal knight He promised to give his life, mayhap his very blood And join the fight for freedom to claim victory in his battle Now he found himself, engulfed in primeval forest His wits became his battle plan; his weapon is his sword A cry rang out and hero sworn, raises up his trusty sword A wretched screaming fills the air and weakens his warrior heart Rustling sounds abound within the heart of medieval forest Time to test the bravery of this youngest of King’s knight Kicking heels upon steed’s flanks, he rushes into battle Caring not if forest soil soaks up his gallant blood Faster now he rides, feeling the coursing of his horse’s blood Slicing through the dark of night, brandishing his sword He finds his enemy beginning a final round of battle An arrow flies from nowhere, piercing his horse’s heart Without his steed he runs on foot, all daring is this fair knight Charging forth, his battle cry is heard throughout the forest Deeper does he run until, a silence engulfs the forest Alone, bemused, no enemy there to take his errant blood Turning slowly ‘round, he sees no other knight Hesitantly, lowering his warrior’s mighty sword Stillness envelops him quieting the pounding in his heart Alone, he stands and wonders where how did he leave the battle Raging in his mind he wonders should he rejoin the battle Should he trace his steps to find the teeming forest? If he stayed in this glen, would they question the bravery in his heart? Clearly now, he considers the value of his unshed blood Slowly now he doth relax and lower his mighty sword And through the stillness of the glen, falls dead our royal knight From his heart poured bravery’s blood And in the forest lay the sword As the battle took the life of this young knight |
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| © Copyright 1999 Poet deVine - All Rights Reserved | |||
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
Certainly no one will scoff at this work. Beautifully executed, DeVine one. Extremely worthy. ------------------ Great minds discuss ideals. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people. |
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Denise
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-08-22
Posts 22648 |
WOW! I'll say it again, WOW! Very well done! ------------------ Denise |
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Nan
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-20
Posts 21191Cape Cod Massachusetts USA |
I do believe these are difficult - You're right - A sestina is different from other formats in that the lines aren't repeated - only the final words - That means you have to have a theme that will carry through 39 lines of poetry - and develop that theme - as well as pay some attention to both rhyme scheme and meter - It's no small task - You've pulled it off nicely as the true bardess that you are.....  |
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Poet deVine
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-26
Posts 22612Hurricane Alley |
You are all very kind. But do you know the hell I went through with this? First I made a table in a word document..chose my 6 words.. put each of my words down the right side of my paper...then using the form instructions of which words end which lines, I wrote out the end words until the page was full..then I wrote..then I rewrote! It was one of the hardest things I've done! I appreciate you sitting through the laborous lines....thanks.  |
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Denise
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-08-22
Posts 22648 |
But none of the lines were laborous! The whole piece was totally captivating. I'm truly glad you didn't say you did this on your lunch break! Then I would be really depressed! Again, WOW! ------------------ Denise |
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Christopher
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-02
Posts 8296Purgatorial Incarceration |
The labor wasn't on our part... I had every intention of jokingly scorning this...but there's no way I can, you did too awesome of a job! |
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hoot_owl_rn Member Patricius
since 1999-07-05
Posts 10750Glen Hope, PA USA |
Beautifully written. I don't profess to knowing anything about this particular format, but even that aside, this was a well written piece. ------------------ Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints in our heart and we are never ever the same. Thank you all for leaving footprints!! |
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