The Morte D'Arthur strikes again!
Let us not go unto Camelot - it is a silly place!
THE FALL OF CAMELOT
Rumour is flying around the Court;
the Queen has taken a lover!
We keep her counsel, as we were taught,
her treacherous footsteps to cover.
Imperious Lady, so haughty and proud,
she sighs so softly, but laughs too loud.
A very gentle and perfect knight,
at each tourney, he gathers her token;
to Guinevere prays before every fight
declaring his love, unspoken.
A courtly song to his lady's eyes
is no longer enough - he must claim his prize.
The chevalier, beloved of King and Queen
has vanquished his foe's defences.
To her chamber he steals, each night, unseen,
to feast with all of his senses.
The impotent King, in his rooms asleep
while Lancelot storms his castle's keep.
And when discovered - the lovers lie -
by knights, who pledged to be loyal,
the kingdom, or Arthur himself, must die.
Prepare for the Battle Royal!
If Camelot fights, then Britain will fall
and ruin will come to King Arthur's hall.
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Wonderfully Mystifying!
Written by Katanga (1229 comments posted) 9th June 2008 | Veronica - love it, but you've lost the naive me!
Is it something to do with Gordon Brown? Oh dear, I feel thick!
I do like 'at each tourney' and the 'chevalier' - invented by you good self?
Is Margaret Thatcher in there at the start?
Please forgive me!
I find the mock-medieval impossible to get to grips with . . .
Cheers!
Ignorant John X |
Written by Phil (6730 comments posted) 9th June 2008 | Funny - I read it as a straight treatment of the story. Am I being dense?
Anyway - I enjoyed it as I perceived it.
Favourite line: she sighs so softly, but laughs too loud
Phil | Rex quondam
Written by patterjack (1194 comments posted) 9th June 2008 | rex futurus ... Not much future in it really !
I prefer to stay with he thought of Arthur as a Saxon Dux Bellorum , and have never been happy with the medieval wrap around. Too many troubadors spoiled the broth of history with too much magic .
Much depends on the author's point of view--Grails, Fisher Kings , Razor Bridges and so on --everyone paid in the end -- and I look to the conflict with the old female religion - the getting of Mordred -- as a base cause.
But this is not about history - your versifying skills are still evident and to be admired .
patterjack
| Que? Patterjack!
Written by Katanga (1229 comments posted) 9th June 2008 | I ache in ignorance . . .
One day I hope to write a poem, steeped in medieval imagery, as cold and passionate as the dawn . . .
W.B. Yeats of course . . .
Yo!
Respect!
John X |
Written by Veronica_Milvus (637 comments posted) 9th June 2008 | | Not mock medieval - the real thing. Stolen from Thomas Mallory. There is no intended allegory, it is the straight retelling of the tale. | hardly plain tales
Written by patterjack (1194 comments posted) 9th June 2008 | If you want to go back past Arthur and his Camelot lot it is possible to interpret the stories in many ways --eg as part of the battles between Old Religion ( including the Druids ) the female/male principles and so on. Uther Pendragon's lust for Ygraine (she of several husbands and a whole load of witch daughters) ,his utilisation of Merlin's Druidic powers etc, was another start point. Sins of the fathers ?
I picture old monks salivating as they rubric the lusts of the past and embroider it with their own sexual fantasies .
But who cares really? The basic principles underlying the tales have little to do with morality except as it is superimposed -- more likely it was a political , gender and racial power struggle -- all put together in great tales.
There is always room for further poetic comment , and you have provided a good example , Veronica.
patterjack |
Written by fellpony (1616 comments posted) 10th June 2008 | I wondered if there were yet another undercurrent, but will refrain from suggesting it in the light of V's statement that it's a straight re-telling of the Malory version. As such it is a fine piece of work.
I too lean toward the 5th C version of Arthur (whom local tradition places at Carlisle) but I must challenge Brian's "Arthur as a Saxon Dux Bellorum" - Dux Bellorum certainly, but I seriously doubt he was a Saxon, more likely Romano-British and resisting the Saxons. | oops -- sorry
Written by patterjack (1194 comments posted) 10th June 2008 | It was all them Angles that got me confused !!
Apologies to the Early Ones .
patterjack |
Written by Veronica_Milvus (637 comments posted) 10th June 2008 | I was trying to get at some of the influences that pj suggests - in particular the idea that the old king gets challenged to make way for the new, in a Sir James Frazer / Golden Bough sort of way, implying that the story is therefore a lot older than any of the extant sources.
Of course, when the King's position versus the Queen (old matriarchal lineage) is questioned, all hell breaks loose in the kingdom, and it is the King who is in danger rather than the Queen. Arthur had no legitimate heir. That was the fulcrum of the tragedy. Why, we don't know, was G infertile, or maybe one of the faery folk? was A gay, old or impotent?... All these things have been sugggested to me by Arthurian types.
Other undercurrents, Fellpony? Don't understand. I think there are enough already in the Arthurian legends. And the one date given in Mallory is late 5th century, I believe, which if it had a shred of credibility would place this in the Romano-british period indeed, with Arthur in the West trying to unite the Britons against the Saxons.
Am also pondering a Merlin and Nimue poem... |
Written by Brett (785 comments posted) 11th June 2008 | Straight telling or undercurrents I enjoyed this very much - then, apart from the dreadful movies made, as far as the Arthurian myth goes I'm a sucker!
Brett |
Written by DaleGorder (46 comments posted) 11th June 2008 | wonderful..simply wonderful  |
Written by Goddess (124 comments posted) 14th June 2008 | Personally I've always admired the legends of King Arthur's England so this touched the right tone for me.
Anyway I particulary liked the last line -
If Camelot fights, then Britain will fall
and ruin will come to King Arthur's hall.
A very nice piece and I particulary liked the rhyme scheme!
Goddess x
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