Yelp and kick
The gadfly pokes and prods the hound
Beast of bellowing booming cry
Left whimpering by a speck
Descendent of wolf
Turned his yellowtail and ran
Bark left useless
Against his opponent’s bite
Just a little poetry to break up the week guys, I’m going to try getting a few more of these out when I can. As always, thanks for reading
-Peter
Commissioned by Imperator Horace, composed by the poet Quintus in the year 67 2E to commemorate his late father and ruler, Hadrian I, who had died just a year before.
A Lion born across the sea
Upon his mother’s shoulder he did flee
From burning flame and dying kin
From the palace of endless sin
He fought with sword
He fought with word
Bravest of all from
Last of his father’s mighty line
O Blood of Eln and Erastrius
Together now for all time
Like a fountain
A source of mercy for all
Like a bard at the string
He composed our country
The Lion of Nacia!
A traditional song of the Duxy of Freven, whose sigil is the tower Gelgeth (Star-Tower) upon a blue sky of white stars and two laurel wreaths.
Fair light upon stars
Burning like cold and endless flames
White as bone, falling like tears
Glistening like ice upon a sunny day
Gracing the height of the world
Ceaseless in their dance
Gelgeth (Star-Tower) will wane and fall,
Yet from the sky,
Be never dimmed in light,
You flame for the world, to see
Fair light upon the stars
Of gods and men, you shine equal on
The world content to sleep another night
Beneath your every burning gaze
Fair light upon the stars
Burn ye forever bright
For without your light
A world of dark and endless night
Weep not for the dead
For they are ones who cannot
Weep instead
For the living who still bear this mortal toil
Let rather your prayer to the dead
Be in your actions
In the strain of the hand against the plow
The eye against dim light of candle
The mind in the whirlwind of thought
Let your life be the prayer to the dead
-Poem by Justinian the Younger
This is the first in a new series of poems done to promote the second book I am currently working on, I hope you all enjoy
-Peter
A toast to the guard of the hearth!
A toast to the one that makes his mark
On the fields so ripe
And press so full
A toast to the god of wine!
The little man
So clever and so drunk
With unkempt beard
And locks of gold
Let’s raise our glass to him
So that our glass might always brim!
The castle of Hearth Keep, the largest castle in the Kingdom of Lorine, built with a burning hearth that stretches the distance of the main hall.
Hewn of stone and brick
Placed along the mountainside
Hearth Keep makes it watch
Over the green rolling hills of Lorine
The red towers
Scaling tall through the sky
The yellow hearth
Burning bright through the hall
The Green Mountains, composed by Forrin, King of the Dweor, as his folk caught sight of the Green Mountains on their long march to the south, fleeing from the upheaval of Usham.
Hark my Brothers!
For what is that upon the light of the horizon?
A land filled with milk and honey
A land to carve halls and brew beer
Where the furthest peak is ornate with green growing grass
Here we make our fortune once more
Safe from the chilling sorrow of Usham
Here upon the Green Mountains
Shall the Dweor be sung of again
The ominous poem composed for the dread and fear of Crassus Baal the Rat. A demon who gambles and seduces. He makes his victims destroy themselves, rather than by sheer force.
By the gods
The rat comes to scratch at the door again
He comes in red silk clothes
With feet of hooves
And head of vermin
To dance and deal
To wreck and cheat
His power is truest deceit
For it is not the bellowing and thundering storm
But the precise and silent chisel
That brings down towers and kingdoms
So hold fast the doorframe
And do not let him in
For once his whisper is eared
None can withstand
The seduction of the rat
Lest you hear the rat’s true name
Crassus Baal
Common shanty sung by the sailors of Tanaria, constantly on watch for pirates, most of all, the Sea Lord of Nazir
Be wary you sailor
Be wary you trader
Of the Sea Lord of Nazir
The cleverest pirate of here
He comes on the good wind
He comes on the bad wind
He comes all the same
On sails furled and whited
Like the pearls of the deep
With tongue of honey
And blade of sharp steel
He comes on the good wind
He comes on the bad wind
He comes all the same
Be wary you sailor
Be wary you trader
Of the Sea Lord of Nazir
A traditional drinking song of the Deangli, the folk from across the Sea of Stars. Invokes the name of their chief god, Welund the Smith, and his son their first king, Pwyll.
Hammer (Welund)! Hammer (Welund)! Call down your son!
Who sailed cross the Sea of Stars
Hammer (Welund)! Hammer (Welund)! You came once before!
To the brave and fair one
The good maid Gweneth
Pwyll you did father
Us you did shelter
Hammer (Welund)! Hammer (Welund)! Now come once more!
Upon the Moonshore
You beat and you hammered
The foulest of demons, away from our hearths
Now brave hammer, bless us once more
Hammer (Welund)! Hammer (Welund)! Call down your son!
King Pwyll the Wisest of All!
The Sword to Unite 