(_A ballad for God_)
_A. D._ 909
Three kings with naught of a care
To a hunting went;
Three kings of stirrup fair
And of yew-bow bent.
Away they rode with a song
On the summer tide;
Away from thrid and throng
By the blue lake side.
And “Ho!” they vaunted aloud
To the morning hills.
And “Ha!”–What reck the proud
For the God of Ills?
Naught! so they swagged thro the glade
Where the roe-buck rose:
She nosed the wind, affrayed
By the blod “Ho, hos!”
“Three arrows now to her heart!”
They shouted, and sped,
Each king, an evil dart
With a flinten head.
And O she staggered down–
O unpitied, slain!
But in her dreadful swoun
There was more than pain!
For Horror sprang from her blood,
A Spectre of Death!
It drew them thro the wood–
Where a Chapel saith
Masses for souls that are lost
In the wilds of sin–
There mumbled, “Ye’ll pay cost
Ere to shrift ye win!”
Then led them to a bay tree
By an open grave,
Where three ghost-kings in three
Stony coffins clave.
Which spake, “Lo, we too were fair!”–
“Unto this ye’ll come!”–
“Ay ye, who of naught beware!”–
So spake–and were dumb.
Then of fright and dread the kings flung
Away yew-tree bow
(The Chapel bell slow rung
With the bleak wind’s blow).
And fast they fled thro the glade
To the castle hall.
_But God had not been stayed–
They were lepers, all!_
Woe then to kings! to the pelf
That men call pride!
Christ shrive us all from self,
From the Death-sprite hide!
(Cale Young Rice)
More Poetry from Cale Young Rice:
Cale Young Rice Poems based on Topics: God, Death & Dying, Pain, Summer, Fairness, Sin, Christianity, Jesus Christ, Kings & Queens, Morning, Pride- Brude (Cale Young Rice Poems)
- Nirvana Days (Cale Young Rice Poems)
- Quest And Requital (Cale Young Rice Poems)
- The Colonel's Story (Cale Young Rice Poems)
- O-Shichi And Moto (Cale Young Rice Poems)
- The Shore's Song To The Sea (Cale Young Rice Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: God Poems, Death & Dying Poems, Fairness Poems, Christianity Poems, Kings & Queens Poems, Pain Poems, Jesus Christ Poems, Morning Poems, Summer Poems, Sin Poems, Pride PoemsBased on Keywords: shrift, lepers, clave, thrid, shrive, yew-tree, affrayed, nosed, hos, roe-buck, swoun