Observations On Studying The Great War

The inhabitants of these British Isles
Are the descendants of berserker invaders,
and mad hillmen known never to yield the field of battle.

Only the mightiest survived those bitter clashes.
Their offspring have proven unquenchable heroes
on red European fields.

I have seen the great tree
Yggdrasil, bearer of worlds
glorious, dew-drenched
by green Urth's well.

Lo, the rune-maker
Lo, the thunderer
Lo, the namer of nations
Lo, the bright son
Lo, the just hand
Lo, giant's trickster
Lo, plentiful lord
Lo, fecund lady
Lo, gatekeeper
Lo, disir
Lo, vanir
Lo, aesir, elder kin
Hail!

I have seen the fangs
that devour the moon
and herald the grey
of winter never-ending.

Lo, the rune-maker
Lo, the thunderer
Lo, the namer of nations
Lo, the bright son
Lo, the just hand
Lo, giant's trickster
Lo, plentiful lord
Lo, fecund lady
Lo, gatekeeper
Lo, disir
Lo, vanir
Lo, aesir, elder kin
Hail!

I have seen the great battle
I have seen the hammer strike
I have seen the frost shatter
I have seen the world end.

And be reborn.

I have seen the great tree
Yggdrasil, bearer of worlds
glorious, dew-drenched
by green Urth's well.

All these things I have seen,
For I have seen the great tree.

[reprint of today's entry at Parenthetically Speaking]


It's poetry night here at Parenthetically Speaking.

There's a lovely poem by Hsu Kan called A Wife's Thoughts, of which the second stanza has been the basis for several others. (This is not uncommon in Chinese poetry, to write something "in the style of X".)

Since you, sir, went away,
My bright mirror is dim and untended.
My thoughts of you are like flowing water;
Will they ever have an end.

And the same volume of Chinese poetry I have that this is found in, has several of its homages in it as well.

For example,

Wang Jung,
In imitation of Hsu Kan

Since you, sir, went away,
My golden burner has had no incense,
For thinking of you I am like the bright candle,
At midnight vainly burning itself away.


So, I planted tongue in cheek and wrote one of my own.

Since you, sir, went away,
My computer has lost all free memory,
My thoughts of you are like the overworked application,
An hourglass turning constantly.


*bows to audience*