A FAIRY STORY
By Peter Woodgate
In
times of old when knights were bold
There
is a story I’ve been told
About
a maiden slim and fair
With
ruby lips and golden hair.
She’d
sit all day incarcerated
Within
her room and so frustrated
Her
father did not trust her virtue
Outside
the palace there formed a large queue
Of
red-blooded males from all walks of life
And
eager to make the fair maiden their wife.
But
the king didn’t want any Tom Dick or Harry
Wooing
his daughter, he was in no hurry
To
give her away in an ordinary marriage
And
see her depart by horse and carriage.
He
wanted a knight, dashing and bold
To
carry her over the castle threshold.
So he
sent his servants to search the land
And
bring him the names of knights brave and grand.
But
although they searched the whole land through
The
names of such knights were incredibly few
In
fact after years of searching, it’s true,
The
servants brought news and names of but two.
One
was a youth both handsome and tall
Who
went by the name of Sir Busterball,
The
other was shorter but built like a tank
And
known through the land as Mighty Cruickshank.
Both
were fearless with passion and pride
And
each had good men who rode by their side.
The
king got the news and summoned each knight
To
appear at the court in order to fight.
They
would duel to the death for the hand of his daughter
Each
one did not want to but knew that they oughta.
The
day of the tournament arrived with great joy
To
those who would watch them try to destroy
The
life of the other, but was for good cause
And
into the arena, they rode and did pause.
The
horses they snorted, the crowds they did sing
as
each gallant knight saluted the king.
They
lifted their visors in chivalrous style,
Gazed
at each other, broke into a smile,
They
looked at the king, his daughter, her mother
Then,
arms interlocked, they rode off together.
Copyright Peter Woodgate
Not sure I totally understand this but as it is a fairy tale maybe I'm not meant to.
ReplyDeleteIs there a name for poems that are written sometimes with four lines and sometimes with six?
Hi Janet. Yes, there is a word for it, actually two,"Poetic Licence". Groups of lines (stanza's) are what para's are to prose which can,of course, be of different lengths. Because I chose "rhyming couplets any stanza within the poem would consist of an even number of lines but could consisted of anything from 2 to 22.However poems like Sonnets, villanelles and others do have strict constructions. As far as understanding is concerned, it is a link between the "Title" and the "last line" (which is "The Hit")
DeleteThanks Peter. I think this is why I have never attempted poetry - far too complicated for a simple soul like me.
ReplyDeleteWell! I think it was a Gay Story, never could resist the obvious; it's a failing of mine. Nicely written, tried hard not to smile at the ending (he chortled)...
ReplyDeleteAnd they galloped off into the sunset.You know I love a happy ending
ReplyDelete