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[Poem 1] [Documentation 1]
[Poem 2] [Documentation 2] [Bio]
Sestina
The land which does encompass all you love,
The ladies fair and those whose gifts you prize,
The skill of craft and beauty of her art!
Fair Florence is well-served when you take arms
With banners bright, for king well-crowned in gold,
Defending that which lives in all your dreams
Of old, sages saw victory in dreams,
Foretold of coming battles and of love.
Now for such skill I’d freely give good gold
To see how I might best achieve the prize.
When victory is lost in feats-of-arms
Perhaps is victory then won by art?
But you’ve been wooed before with skill and art,
And doubtless given gifts beyond your dreams.
My azure flag hangs midst more noble arms
Upon the field, and in the lists of love.
Displayed for all to see – there is the prize,
All crowned with flame more radiant than gold!
No lady could but envy curls of gold
Which owe all to Nature and none to art!
Thought you admit yourself to be the prize.
Not in all ways the best of girlish dreams,
With wit too sharp and strong distaste for love,
Yet clean of limb and powerful of arms.
Most ladies long to hold you in their arms
They seek that treasure that to them is gold.
They seek to capture you in snares of love,
They use guile and wily womanly art.
In trying to fulfill their long-held dreams,
Too quick they press and lose that which they prize.
More dear to you, and thus a greater prize,
Are those for whom you skillfully craft arms,
From bright steel crafting the war-gear of dreams.
And if they paid their weight in solid gold
It might not recompense your skill and art
So it is well you labor out of love.
This prize is not of silver or of gold;
It is not won by skill at arms or art;
So I content myself with dreams, not love.
[Poem 1] [Documentation 1]
[Poem 2] [Documentation 2] [Bio]
Documentation
The sestina is a form that uses six stanzas of six lines each. Six words are chosen, one to end each line (in a specified order) and then the six words are used again in the final triplet (two words per line). This form is particularly challenging because of the difficulty in choosing those six words. Each word must serve in each of the stanzas, so it helps to choose words that have either multiple usages or ones that are both nouns and verbs, so they can serve in different “roles” within the poem.
[Poem 1] [Documentation 1]
[Poem 2] [Documentation 2] [Bio]
Ottava Rima
Too briefly I saw you – unhappy Chance!
Helen was never blest with night-dark hair
Eyes like bright jewels or your piercing glance,
Rich array of raiment, costly and rare,
Each word a song, each step a graceful dance!
Struck dumb was I, I could but gape and stare
At such a vision, told in ancient lore
Love makes men see and long for all the more!
All this makes me assume a nobler stance,
Makes me grow bold and take on all who dare!
As knights of old with sword or pennoned lance
New foeman met at joust or prince’s fair –
Claimed each their lady was the flower of France!
Italia’s treasure you – let all beware!
Now comes a gentleman with skill at war
And heart deep-wounded and spirit full sore.
[Poem 1] [Documentation 1]
[Poem 2] [Documentation 2] [Bio]
Documentation
This poem is an acrostic ottava rima. Ottava rima is an Italian poetic form first documented in the fourteenth century, and used by Boccaccio, Politian and Boiardo. Each stanza is composed of 8 iambic pentameter lines, rhymed abababcc.
As an acrostic, the first letter of each line spells out the name of the lady for whom this was composed (Theresa la Mancina). This poem was part of a mock dialogue between a lusty young man and the much-higher lady whom he loves (or at least aspires to love!)
[Poem 1] [Documentation 1]
[Poem 2] [Documentation 2] [Bio]
About the Author
Baroness Keilyn FitzWarin (OL, OP, etc.) is a fourteenth-century Anglo-Norman lady living on her late husband’s lands in England, near the Barony of Lochmere. She has lived in the East, Atlantia and Drachenwald. She is a former Poeta Atlantiae, and a Fellow of the University of Atlantia where she has been known to teach a poetry class or two (among other things). Her SCA activities include cooking, dance, poetry, brewing, shoemaking, making things from the 14th & 15th centuries, historic tournaments, armoured combat and anything else that strikes her fancy. She is squired to Duke Gyrth Oldcastle of Ravenspur, and has a handful of apprentices, protégées and mentees who keep her busy & excited about the SCA.
Beth Tanner lives in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC with her husband Steve, two cats and a tank of tropical fish. She is a project manager for a company that consults to non-profit organizations, and a freelance writer. Her non-SCA hobbies including genealogy, writing, sea kayaking, computer gaming and endless homeowner projects.
[Poem 1] [Documentation 1]
[Poem 2] [Documentation 2] [Bio] |
