A Homeric Journey in 12 Poems
I, Paganus Akritas, Baron of Marinus in the Kingdom of Atlantia, ruled by the just and wise Echehard and Jane, do humbly submit this entry for the Drachenwald Arts Challenge, AS 56. The intended category of submission is All the Forms by Dame Arianhwy Wen.
These 12 original poems were themed after the Iliad and the Odyssey. Τhey are not meant to tell the whole story but to be inspirations from these two epic tales.
For reading ease, I have an index in the beginning listing the titles and poetry forms. I then divided the poems into a prologue and four acts to help with theme changes.
As an aspiring poet, I would be grateful for any feedback from the challenge creators as well as anyone else who reads these words.
Prologue
Gods Love (Sestina)
Act 1
Helen (Ballade: 8-line)
Greatest Beauty (Chaucerian Roundel)
Agamemnon (Shakespeare Sonnet)
Act 2
Gods of War (Petrarchan Sonnet)
Athena (The Rispetto)
Act 3
Poseidon (Villanelle)
Calypso (Tuscan Strambotto)
Cyclops (Ballade: 7-line stanza)
Act 4
Menelaus (Triolet)
Aphrodite (Rondeau)
Helen’s Lament (Spenserian Sonnet)
Prologue
Gods Love (Sestina)
I look across immortal page for love,
And there the gods appear for all to see;
When men set sail under great vows they hold
The gods extend their gifts near everywhere;
A thousand narrow ships for one delight,
While twelve glanced down upon with goodly care.
How Artemis doth mind her deer with care
The hart who blessed by mother’s tender love;
Till mortal King doth end her breath’s delight
So royal blood must spill, if west will see;
For godly love springs almost everywhere
From bird to sea and even feast you hold.
Apollo came with music grand to hold,
With lyre strung and ballad sung with care;
From ancient halls to camps laid everywhere
It matter not the melody its love;
So treasure all his song you hear and see
For only with his call doth come delight.
When Aries robs the land of day’s delight,
And little but some grain the men doth hold,
How doth a sense of hope in darkness see,
Why suffer for her custody and care?
Because the god doth give another love,
A bond of brothers bound near everywhere.
Hephaestus works are found near everywhere
Like webs of wonder dancing on delight;
He sparks the minds of men who mold his love,
From weapons wielded to a horse’s hold;
So battle not the god who builds with care
For gifts he gives are greater than you see.
O Aphrodite how your eyes do see,
The burning blaze that men feel everywhere;
To light the world aflame for those they care,
It matter not to seek their true delight;
O goddess of the heart you ever hold
The spark to start the fabled flames of love.
Across the page a love is what I see,
For gods do hold their mortals everywhere,
No greater gained delight then in their care.
Act 1
Helen (Ballade: 8-line)
Of all the love in history
No beauty bound to mortal plane
Could rivel such a rose as she;
The only course that could explain
The fare white face she doth ordain
Is one who gained from godly hips;
To witness her divine domain
They launched for love a thousand ships.
The kingly father did decree
Her hand would go to he who reign
The greatest land across the sea,
The rulers of each held terrain;
They left from home their own domain
For chance to grace her perfect lips,
To marry her and riches gain,
They launched for love a thousand ships.
So many came to fight for she
That tensions never could restrain,
To stop the blood they did agree
That battle always would abstain;
If any suitor did sustain
A foreign foe who try eclipse
A friend in need they all retain
They launched for love a thousand ships.
In name of beauty an alliance gain,
No bribe or greed could cause the bond to rip;
They bound to her with duty on their lip;
They launched for love a thousand ships.
Greatest Beauty (Chaucerian Roundel)
The greatest beauty we have ever known
Doth grace the distant shores of foreign land;
Shall fight until the beauty on our sand
So plan a voyage long to end their throne.
A throne that full of gold and riches grand;
The greatest beauty we have ever known
Doth grace the distant shores of foreign land,
A treasure which cannot be left alone;
And so we sail for she that shines so grand
Until the beauty rests within our hand;
The greatest beauty we have ever known
Doth grace the distant shores of foreign land;
Shall fight until the beauty on our sand.
Agamemnon (Shakespeare Sonnet)
What greater gift could ever come to me?
Beloved sight, a daughter of my blood;
To hold her ever close until I see,
A prince to pluck my first begotten bud;
Such beauty doth abound across her face
And words of wisdom brush her gentle lips;
To see my precious there in honors place,
And know a son could hang upon her hips.
But stead from out the woods of branch and rock,
The queen of bucks and bows descends in haste,
Demands a sacrifice to leave the dock,
Or journey set will ever rot in waste.
I kiss my daughter, sweetest life could be;
And tell the men prepare themselves for sea.
Act 2
Gods of War (Petrarchan Sonnet)
Though gods accompanied the men aboard
And brought them safe from Thebes to distant shore,
They still had not convince the god of war,
The King of battle fought, the bloody lord.
And so despite the power of their horde
They still would not defeat the mighty door,
For none dispose the god who founded war
When shield doth counter spear or iron sword.
However there is more to war then force,
A goddess who is wiser the rage,
And those that sailed were blessed by her sharp wit
So by her hand they set a counter-course.
And this is how they landed on our page
For sometimes perfect strike, comes while you sit.
Athena (The Rispetto)
On sandy shores across the sea,
Of shinning pillars, temples old,
The goddess of the olive tree
Does stand on high with crest of gold.
But low within the city gates
She walks among in ease; the fates
Alone do see her forms embrace,
The sailor to the maiden’s face.
Act 3
Poseidon (Villanelle)
More wealth he holds then any one before,
Of precious stone and coins of shinning gold,
A treasure won from spoils gained in war.
He started as a sailor on the oar
And looked upon the captain wise and old,
More wealth he holds then any one before.
To gain his share he sailed from shore to shore
And conquered both the temple and the hold,
A treasure won from spoils gained in war.
As time went on the sailor craved but more
And stole the ruby crown of legends told,
More wealth he holds then any one before.
But this disturbed the god on ocean’s floor;
Who looked upon his people who had lost
A treasure won from spoils gained in war;
The god of sea enraged with mighty roar
Struck down the sailing ship, reclaimed his gold;
More wealth he holds then any one before,
A treasure won from spoils gained in war.
Calypso (Tuscan Strambotto)
The lady fare doth sooth me with her sight,
Her trap is set and I am none the wise;
A single kiss that fills me with delight
Doth spring the catch of her own sweet devise,
So down I go into the very night
But struggle not for with me doth she lies,
Beheld a captive of her own demand,
And yet these walls remain on my command.
Cyclops (Ballade: 7-line stanza)
Upon the emerald island grand of green
Reside a simple shepherd with his flock;
Each morning he would feast on fine cuisine
Of honey dipped in milk of finest stock,
And when his hunger cease remove the rock
To lead his supple sheep to grassy strait,
For this is how the gods have forged his fate.
The simple shepherd careful to be keen
To keep away from those who came a knock;
For prophesy foretold of the obscene,
A man who comes to kill, a hunting hawk;
So on the eve the shepherd felt no shock
When heading home he met a man in wait;
For this is how the gods have forged his fate.
The sudden stranger miserly and mean
Demands a dairy drink from out his crock,
The finest mutton meat that’s strong and lean
And further favored gifts he’d surely hock;
And all the while with his words he mock,
While standing there as tall a dinning plate;
For this is how the gods have forged his fate.
The simple shepherd set to right the scene
Devours every man who dares to bock,
When dinners done and barren bones are seen
He lays his heavy head upon the rock;
For in this cave these sudden strangers locked,
Tomorrow more be served upon a plate,
For this is how the gods have forged his fate.
Act 4
Menelaus (Triolet)
When I look deep into your eyes
I know your heart will never sway,
A tender love to idolize
When I look deep into your eyes;
But these I hold my only prize
For overseas your heart doth lay,
When I look deep into your eyes
I know your heart will never sway.
Aphrodite (Rondeau)
No greater love, a blessing ever be
To she who sailed across the open sea
To rest within the ample arms of Troy;
Though doing so a marriage did destroy,
And launch a thousand ships to come for she.
O never from her lover would she flee,
A Trojan princess ten years would she be;
For tender love becomes the finest joy,
No greater love.
Until she found herself across the sea
Surrounded by the Greeks who set her free,
But this was not the ending of her ploy;
To make the plot as suiting as a toy
Declared the Grecian husband best for she,
No greater love.
Helen’s Lament (Spenserian Sonnet)
O gods above, why have you chosen me,
To be your pawn of mortal pain since birth?
Is it my face that all did long to see
Or father’s gold and hand that bore my worth?
O goddess love, why did you cast your mirth?
I had no strength in which to challenge you;
All hearts do heed your call across the earth,
My soul’s a slave until your work is through.
And now I stand upon the steps I knew
And look upon a man with broken heart;
The fire shows but shadows of his crew,
And words cannot express your chosen part.
O gods above, why did you bare the hips,
To make a face, that sunk a thousand ships.