Post by Anemone on Nov 17, 2006 17:33:16 GMT -5
(I don't know if anyone has the time to read this, but... Part 1 and most of Part 2 of the epic poem I'm writing. Not Dinotopian. I'm not quite sure where it's going, but I can't give up on it yet after five months of labor. So... opinions? Does it have potential?)
Part 1 – A Song of the Stars
She looked beyond the veil to see
A sea of starlight glimmering
With foamy sprays of diamonds, brought
To life by an immortal thought.
So bright and shining was this field
She thought that she might bend and yield
And give to all this majesty
All she was and still might be.
But something held her heart at bay.
Was it fear? She could not say.
All she knew of it was this:
Long years would pass ‘till she found bliss.
A darkness clawed inside her soul,
And carving trenches, found a hole
To make its own, and went to sleep,
A starlit shadow, hidden deep.
But she could never feel this thing,
And life went on in everything,
The sun came up, and so forgot
The sleeping dark—and what she sought.
But every now and then she sighs
And turns her gaze up to the skies.
A girl, not yet nineteen years old,
She never let her heart grow cold,
And though some yearning nagged at her,
She never let it bother her—
As it would seem to those outside.
But on the inside, still she cried
To satisfy an anguished thirst
And throw away her hidden curse,
For never had she felt so small
As when she felt that cryptic call
That sang to her from other stars,
And echoed in the silent halls
Within her heart. And here she knew
Some dark and looming shadow grew,
And filled the space with smoky gloom
That heralded some far-off doom.
Oh, how she yearned for sunlit air
To blast away the darkness there!
But still she felt the the shadow grow
Whenever starlight chanced to show.
Lost and lone, now, she would wander
Through the gardens, and would ponder
All the stars had given her—
That strange enchantment was a lure—
And though she knew the danger there,
Still she sought the answer: “Where?
Your song a shadow, beckoning,
And yet beyond the reckoning
Of mortal men to ever know
Where you wish for me to go?”
And those who watched her sighed and said,
“The maiden fears things in her head.”
But had they known the truth of it,
They’d hold their tongues, for want of wit,
For in her head were shadows deep
Through which no warmth or light could seep.
The sun would roll on towards the earth,
And still would bring no warmth or mirth
To melt away the layered ice
Around her soul that, like a vice,
Would tighten on her heart and maul
The visage of her pillared hall,
That now in shattered ruins lay.
She’s losing hope that still, one day,
The light will pierce the gloom at last,
And throw her sorrow to the past.
But as her courage starts to brim,
The stars come, and she hides from them.
She flees into her lofty tower,
And draws the veil around her bower.
She does not look. She doesn’t dare!
There are too many voices there,
And now they cry a banshee’s song,
Shrieking, speaking, seeking long
For her. And now she dares a glimpse.
Below the sky the land is mist,
And up above, the dazzled shards
So bright, so brilliant, still so far!
Without, within, the singing goes,
And here she stops, for now she knows!
The stars will haunt her evermore!
She dares to look at them once more,
And like a soul from Heaven sent,
A star falls from the firmament.
Part 2 – The Death of a Phoenix
A burning streak across the sky,
The flames reflected in her eyes,
Flashes from the greatest height
And screams its fury in the night,
As to its kin this fire-thing calls.
And twisting, twirling, down it falls,
And plunges into forest bleak,
A smouldering treeline in its wake.
Reflected in her widened eyes,
This dying creature from the skies,
And through her soul its screaming rent
To tear her from the firmament.
The ground beneath her turned to grass,
And without knowing how she passed
Through yawning doors of towered stone
And wandered far away from home.
Into the wood, towards the blaze,
She walked on, barefoot, in a haze
Of starlit dreams and sudden fear.
The stars above her are a mirror.
She looked behind her then and thought
“This is a thing that stars have wrought.”
But still her feet would speed her on,
Until the tower’s form was gone,
And all around her were the trees,
Dark, and moaning with the breeze
Upon which danced in sparks of fire
From the star-sent creature’s pyre.
And through the trees she finally saw
Where it fell, and, filled with awe,
She stepped into the tortured clearing,
Never knowing, ever fearing
What she might encounter there—
And here she tread the ground with care,
For something from the darkness loomed,
Birthed in fire and cloaked in doom.
It glimmered in the fire’s light,
A thing of chrome and gold that might
Rise up now at any time,
It’s broken wings able to fly,
For so enormous was the thing.
‘Twas worthy of the highest King!
This beast no mortal hand could tame!
A figure rose then from the flame.
With wings that shine of fiery light,
A man in armour, burning bright.
And striding from the flickering fire—
Her heart was soaring ever higher—
For surely here an angel stood!
His glory brighter than she could
Imagine, and she knelt in fright
Before the being’s holy might.
She bent her head and would not rise
To meet his burning star-bright eyes.
A hand touched hers. She heard him speak:
“My lady, please, your help I seek.”
Her gaze rose, and she met his eyes,
Grey and dark as stormy skies.
No fiercer light than that of life
Burned there, no trace of glory bright
And shining. Now she’d understand—
This stranger was a mortal man.
She stood and faced him, fear now fled.
“My help I give,” the maiden said.
“My tower lies not far from here.”
She pointed towards the forest drear,
Her faced turned from the burning trees.
“This place is doomed. We must make speed
To reach the gates in time.” And then,
She led him from the burning glen.
One look behind, and then he came,
A follower on the path she laid,
The heat of fire falling from
Their back, as over leaf and stone
They sped through forest, bathed in white
Of stars and moonbeams—fairy lights
That dazzled as they drew the gaze
Of those below—the sylvan maze
Could barely block their tortured glow.
That terror he might never know!
She held this thought with bated breath,
Then, laughing in the face of death,
She tore her gaze down from the sky,
Her eyes turned down, that she might fly
Away from that bright, burning scene
Now far behind. And soon it seemed
The trees grew thin, the sky so far
Above the world. And then a star
Began to sing its siren song.
She fought the sound. It would not long
Pursue her, for across the plain
Her tower stood. That haunting paen
Was muffled in those stone-still walls.
Beyond the sky, a mortal falls
And turns to ash, without a scream.
She walked as one within a dream
As through the gates she led the way
Towards the tower, tall and grey,
So noble in its solitude,
A fortress in the mountain crude
That stretched on high beyond all sight
Save that of some immortal eye.
(That's all so far! I'd like to know what everyone thinks of it!)
Part 1 – A Song of the Stars
She looked beyond the veil to see
A sea of starlight glimmering
With foamy sprays of diamonds, brought
To life by an immortal thought.
So bright and shining was this field
She thought that she might bend and yield
And give to all this majesty
All she was and still might be.
But something held her heart at bay.
Was it fear? She could not say.
All she knew of it was this:
Long years would pass ‘till she found bliss.
A darkness clawed inside her soul,
And carving trenches, found a hole
To make its own, and went to sleep,
A starlit shadow, hidden deep.
But she could never feel this thing,
And life went on in everything,
The sun came up, and so forgot
The sleeping dark—and what she sought.
But every now and then she sighs
And turns her gaze up to the skies.
A girl, not yet nineteen years old,
She never let her heart grow cold,
And though some yearning nagged at her,
She never let it bother her—
As it would seem to those outside.
But on the inside, still she cried
To satisfy an anguished thirst
And throw away her hidden curse,
For never had she felt so small
As when she felt that cryptic call
That sang to her from other stars,
And echoed in the silent halls
Within her heart. And here she knew
Some dark and looming shadow grew,
And filled the space with smoky gloom
That heralded some far-off doom.
Oh, how she yearned for sunlit air
To blast away the darkness there!
But still she felt the the shadow grow
Whenever starlight chanced to show.
Lost and lone, now, she would wander
Through the gardens, and would ponder
All the stars had given her—
That strange enchantment was a lure—
And though she knew the danger there,
Still she sought the answer: “Where?
Your song a shadow, beckoning,
And yet beyond the reckoning
Of mortal men to ever know
Where you wish for me to go?”
And those who watched her sighed and said,
“The maiden fears things in her head.”
But had they known the truth of it,
They’d hold their tongues, for want of wit,
For in her head were shadows deep
Through which no warmth or light could seep.
The sun would roll on towards the earth,
And still would bring no warmth or mirth
To melt away the layered ice
Around her soul that, like a vice,
Would tighten on her heart and maul
The visage of her pillared hall,
That now in shattered ruins lay.
She’s losing hope that still, one day,
The light will pierce the gloom at last,
And throw her sorrow to the past.
But as her courage starts to brim,
The stars come, and she hides from them.
She flees into her lofty tower,
And draws the veil around her bower.
She does not look. She doesn’t dare!
There are too many voices there,
And now they cry a banshee’s song,
Shrieking, speaking, seeking long
For her. And now she dares a glimpse.
Below the sky the land is mist,
And up above, the dazzled shards
So bright, so brilliant, still so far!
Without, within, the singing goes,
And here she stops, for now she knows!
The stars will haunt her evermore!
She dares to look at them once more,
And like a soul from Heaven sent,
A star falls from the firmament.
Part 2 – The Death of a Phoenix
A burning streak across the sky,
The flames reflected in her eyes,
Flashes from the greatest height
And screams its fury in the night,
As to its kin this fire-thing calls.
And twisting, twirling, down it falls,
And plunges into forest bleak,
A smouldering treeline in its wake.
Reflected in her widened eyes,
This dying creature from the skies,
And through her soul its screaming rent
To tear her from the firmament.
The ground beneath her turned to grass,
And without knowing how she passed
Through yawning doors of towered stone
And wandered far away from home.
Into the wood, towards the blaze,
She walked on, barefoot, in a haze
Of starlit dreams and sudden fear.
The stars above her are a mirror.
She looked behind her then and thought
“This is a thing that stars have wrought.”
But still her feet would speed her on,
Until the tower’s form was gone,
And all around her were the trees,
Dark, and moaning with the breeze
Upon which danced in sparks of fire
From the star-sent creature’s pyre.
And through the trees she finally saw
Where it fell, and, filled with awe,
She stepped into the tortured clearing,
Never knowing, ever fearing
What she might encounter there—
And here she tread the ground with care,
For something from the darkness loomed,
Birthed in fire and cloaked in doom.
It glimmered in the fire’s light,
A thing of chrome and gold that might
Rise up now at any time,
It’s broken wings able to fly,
For so enormous was the thing.
‘Twas worthy of the highest King!
This beast no mortal hand could tame!
A figure rose then from the flame.
With wings that shine of fiery light,
A man in armour, burning bright.
And striding from the flickering fire—
Her heart was soaring ever higher—
For surely here an angel stood!
His glory brighter than she could
Imagine, and she knelt in fright
Before the being’s holy might.
She bent her head and would not rise
To meet his burning star-bright eyes.
A hand touched hers. She heard him speak:
“My lady, please, your help I seek.”
Her gaze rose, and she met his eyes,
Grey and dark as stormy skies.
No fiercer light than that of life
Burned there, no trace of glory bright
And shining. Now she’d understand—
This stranger was a mortal man.
She stood and faced him, fear now fled.
“My help I give,” the maiden said.
“My tower lies not far from here.”
She pointed towards the forest drear,
Her faced turned from the burning trees.
“This place is doomed. We must make speed
To reach the gates in time.” And then,
She led him from the burning glen.
One look behind, and then he came,
A follower on the path she laid,
The heat of fire falling from
Their back, as over leaf and stone
They sped through forest, bathed in white
Of stars and moonbeams—fairy lights
That dazzled as they drew the gaze
Of those below—the sylvan maze
Could barely block their tortured glow.
That terror he might never know!
She held this thought with bated breath,
Then, laughing in the face of death,
She tore her gaze down from the sky,
Her eyes turned down, that she might fly
Away from that bright, burning scene
Now far behind. And soon it seemed
The trees grew thin, the sky so far
Above the world. And then a star
Began to sing its siren song.
She fought the sound. It would not long
Pursue her, for across the plain
Her tower stood. That haunting paen
Was muffled in those stone-still walls.
Beyond the sky, a mortal falls
And turns to ash, without a scream.
She walked as one within a dream
As through the gates she led the way
Towards the tower, tall and grey,
So noble in its solitude,
A fortress in the mountain crude
That stretched on high beyond all sight
Save that of some immortal eye.
(That's all so far! I'd like to know what everyone thinks of it!)
....
Keep working on it, Anemone. I'd like to hear what the end will be. Your choice of words are creative and obviously well thought through. Keep it up!