Wednesday, March 16, 2011

The Ballad of the Knight

I sit in the armchair

Twirling my hair
Reading a book 
And out the window I sometimes look
I’m hoping, wishing and longing to see
The beautiful palace by the sea
Where on the beach horses prance 
And in the courtyard children dance
And in the tower a maiden waits 
For the men who draw the castle gates 
To open the door for the man
Who will lovingly take her by the hand
But sadly all she sees is that knight 
The on that she must marry tonight
But please, dear child, do not wail
There is a happy ending to this tale
For here he comes, the good knight
Riding a gallant horse so white
“No!” screams the maiden, very scared 
The evil knight lets loose a wolf whose teeth are barred
The wolf lunges forward ready to kill
As the girl’s knuckles turn white as she grips the window sill
Off his horse the good knight jumps 
While the dark knight laughs, sitting on a stump
The good knight makes a slash 
And the girl covers her eyes with her sash
But with one strike the wolf was slain 
Yelping out in great pain
The dark knight stands and draws his sword
He declares, “Of this manor I will be lord!”
“To cocky,” says the good knight
“No matter, for now I will show you the light.”
And with that being now said 
They started to fight and wouldn’t stop till one was dead
With clashing swords and clanking feet
They both were sure they would be the elite
The maiden leaped up “My love will be killed!”
And with great sorrow her heart was filled
For no matter how cocky the dark knight may be
He was still the best knight in the palace by the sea
Then she said “I must stop this now!”
But sadly she thought “Oh, but how?”
Then an idea came into her head
“Why would they fight if I was dead?”
And so she climbed out of the window and hung on the sill
She waited and hung there perfectly still
And finally she yelled “Someone help me!”
Hoping the fighting men would see
The good knight ran fast 
The girl thought “At last!”
But as he came near 
Her eyes filled with fear
For she lost her tight grip 
And she started to slip
“No!” he cried out
She would die no doubt
He reached out his arms 
To keep her from harm
He caught her and held her tight 
Then he whispered “Are you alright?”
But she answered not a word as her eyes grew wide 
“My love! Look out!” she cried
He turned to see he needed to duck
While the dark knight missed and in a tree his sword got stuck
The good knight stood to end the fight
He said “I will be the groom tonight!”
“No!” yelled the other knight angrily
“I will marry the girl from the castle by the sea!”
And with that they were at it again
To this fight there seemed no end
Until suddenly the dark knight slashed with an angry yell
The good knight moaned and to the ground he fell
The maiden ran to him and bowed her head
She wept very much for he was dead
The dark knight asked “Why do you cry?”
So she answered “You know why!”
Then he lifted his helmet so she could see
That to her surprise it was he
“My love!” she cried
“I thought you had died!”
She wept in his arms and he held her tight
She looked at the corpse but turned her sight
And she looked at him and asked “How can it be?”
She wept some more then asked “Who is he?”
He looked very puzzled and said “I thought you knew.”
“No!” she cried “I thought it was you!”
He smiled at her and kissed her cheek
“Shh,” he said “you don’t have to speak.”
Then they kissed for a while with a passionate love 
While raindrops started to fall from above
And that very night their marriage took place
For their love for each other was vaster than space
Suddenly I woke up, sitting in the chair
 I looked out the window but there was nothing there
Nothing but raindrops falling to the ground
But then I uttered not a sound
For out the window I thought I could see
That beautiful palace by the sea
Where on the beach horses prance 
And in the courtyard children dance
And in the tower a maiden waits
For her love to come through the gates
The one who will hold her tight
Because now everything was alright

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