Thursday, February 11, 2010

My Verray Sonnet Eight


From quainten town he privily doth hail

Yet doth his mistress wend from grete citee.

And 'midst the reek of cheap perfume and ale

A singer sangen through the smoke, pardee.


For met they then upon the midnight road

Ne here ne ther, yclepped by some cross.

And so it goes as doth that gentil ode

Where harte is yven, broken, bled, yloss.


Albeit that he wearen crimson cape,

Not half so boldely can ther no man

With knife and guile awaiten for to rape

Ne swere and lyen as a womman can.


Tho' beest thou black as hell and dark as night

I sware thee fair, for I have thought thee bright.

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This is not a serious poem, I just thought it was fun and ridiculous, don't read anything into it.

Thought I'd add some glossary notes maybe (Generally the words mean just what they sound like) :

quainten = quaint

grete citee = great city

sangen = sings

pardee = just a word, like by God or something

ne here ne ther = neither here nor there

yclepped = called

gentil = noble or genteel

harte = a pun meaning heart or prey

yven = given

yloss = lost

wearen = wears

awaiten = await

ne swere and lyen = Neither swear and lie

Copyright © 2010 by Layne Cockcroft
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