Son of bards and victor bold
tired of his laurels,
Not content with breaking swords,
did turn to breaking morals.See you how he took the field
smiting all oncomers!
Where did come this wondrous strength?
why, lasts night's search for lovers!Five young maids all in a row
joined in girlish laughter;
His plan: to woo them all that night
and have one join him after.Laura was the first he asked
but she knew him teasing;
The second, Eileen, bid him leave
or else he'd risk a fleecing.Suzanna was the target now
for all this young lord's flirting,
But shadows kept her from his sight
so he went elsewhere skirting.To the fourth he tried a gift,
an apple of dissention,
But Alice, wise beyond her years,
did not return affection.To Elanore he went at last
with open heartache, weeping;
She eased his pain, bade him goodnight
and left him soundly sleeping.Came the dawn, he took the field,
all joined in celebration;
Which goes to show there is more than
One kind of Inspiration.
This piece was written for the Mists Bardic Competition, and was the entry for 'Piece in a Period Style'.
"This is written in the style of the Goliard poets of the 12th century, who were know for writing poems and songs about drinking, wenching and the like; none of which they were supposed to anymore since they consisted of various members of the monastic order. The meter is much like a half-line poem, in that the number of stressed syllables can vary within a certain range while staying within the boundaries of the line. (I learned this from Mistress Siobhan ni Edhousa's class one A&S tourney.) The subject matter was inspired by certain events I had witnessed the previous night, and the tune is one I remembered from a similar Latin song I heard some time ago (it had a similar theme, i.e.: wenching)." -- Margrethe Astrid Ravn
The West Kingdom History Website was created by and is maintained by Hirsch von Henford (mka Ken Mayer).