Unfortunately not my hometown. Sorry if it's not one of the best poems, but I've not written anything for too long a time.
A small town behind the dunes:
Lined with tall, narrow houses,
The Old Rhine flows through its heart.
It feeds numerous canals,
Flows under many bridges,
On through history itself.
Border of the Empire,
Frontier of the Roman world.
Here the Habsburg tide was turned,
The Spaniards defeated.
The Pilgrim Fathers lived here
Before they went across the sea.
In Napoleonic times
A great tragedy occurred.
Yet good old Leiden still stands,
A quiet, romantic town,
Lugdunum Batavorum.
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Written by Phil (6730 comments posted) 15th April 2008 |
I like the half rhyme at the end - works well. I reckon it's the type of piece that would go down well on a twilight tour of the place.
Phil |
Written by mia_ms_kim (1019 comments posted) 15th April 2008 |
I thought this was good. To me, who is ignorant of European history, this sounds like a nondescript little town today, but its history is deep and magnificent and colourful. I thought the image of the river set the mood for what was to follow. The image of the humble town at the beginning and the end, bracketed the piece well, I thought. This is a little like, say an old person whom we might dismiss, but who hides a wealth of knowledge and history most people couldn't imagine. (Don't judge the book by its cover?) That's how I read this.
Mia  |
Written by Fledermaus (3307 comments posted) 15th April 2008 |
Thanks Phil and Mia,
I'll probably write more about Leiden, for it's certainly a very nice place. I used to think of it as the most typically Dutch town, with its canals and windmills, but somehow the university and the long history seem to give it something unique. |
Hi Fledermaus
Written by jean.day (2283 comments posted) 16th April 2008 |
| I, too, liked this. It sounds like a very pleasant place, and would like to hear more about it. |
Written by NedWilson (26 comments posted) 16th April 2008 |
| A nice, gentle and evocative stroll through the town and its history. Does the Latin name show connections with Indonesia? |
Written by Lizzy (800 comments posted) 16th April 2008 |
You've given just a taster of the place, makes me want to visit.
Lizzy |
Written by Bottleblondesurfer (3362 comments posted) 16th April 2008 |
I thougth this started a bit tenatively and read like a tourist leaflet but after the first 5 lines it got into it's stride and had real atmosphere, full of great imagery, legend and historical colour, and took us into the heart of the city. I'd happily have read more of that.
jane |
Written by fellpony (1617 comments posted) 16th April 2008 |
Fledermaus - is Lugdunum Batavorum really related to modern Leiden? I thought it was uncertain where Lugdunum was?
The piece seems rather abstract - a wrapper rather than the food it contains  I'm sure there is more you could write that would give us a fuller flavour (excuse the metaphor)!
Ned - Batavia was the Roman name for the region close to the mouth of the Rhine, in the south of the Netherlands. Nothing to do with Indonesia. |
Written by Josie (2785 comments posted) 16th April 2008 |
| Fledermaus, What you had to say about the old town was indeed interesting, but I didn't like it in double line spacing with no paragraphs to break it up. I actually think you could do a much more wonderful job on this particular subject as a non fiction piece. Why don't you try it? I'd love to learn more. |
Written by Fledermaus (3307 comments posted) 16th April 2008 |
Thanks everyone! I hadn't expected so many comments on this 
Jean - More will certainly come. Maybe I'll use it as a background to something (already did so twice on this site I think).
Ned - It's what Sue said; The Bataves were a tribe that lived in the Netherlands when the Romans came, hence the 'Latin name' of the Netherlands is Batavia (although I'm not sure if the Romans themselves used it). When they conquered Jakarta, the East-India company named Batavia as a sign that it was Dutch from then on.
Lizzy - Thanks. It's really a nice quiet town. Not really spectacular, but a friendly place and there are a number of well known museums too, although they are of course small compared to those in big cities.
Jane - Thanks. It was intended to be a bit like a tourist leaflet, so I did well there
Sue - The best known Lugdunum is present day Lyon, but when the Romans conquered Germania they founded Lugdunum Batavorum. It was actually near Katwijk, but Leiden adopted the name (as Katwijk nowadays is almost a suburb of it).
Josie - O, there'll certainly be something in prose, but recently I'm a bit lazy with respect to writing and I don't know how to get my thoughts on this town across in the same way you write about Ilkey. |
Bataves
Written by Fledermaus (3307 comments posted) 16th April 2008 |
O, am I being silly?
Of course the Romans used it. Lugdunum Batavorum of course and it still lives on in the name Betuwe, then named Insula Batavorum or simply Batavia... |
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