When Autumn’s final leaves are gone
To lie upon the grass,
And chilling winds sweep through the trees
And in the mountain pass;
When all the harvesting is done
And winter quilts are sewn,
Then think of me and tell the tales—
The story-ships with silver sails—
Recite again the old, old tales
I told so long ago.
So gather all the children round
To sit upon the floor,
And ask the old ones to come in
And shut the old oak door;
Then tell them of the ancient kings
And centuries of strife,
And tell them of the days gone by—
Of battles waged and banners high—
Then tell of times that never die
And bring them all to life.
Remember all the golden halls
Where music filled the air;
Where bards told tales of battles grand
And lords ate sumptuous fare;
Oh, think of me and tell the tales
I used to tell to you,
And see them in your mind again—
Those stories never writ by pen—
Oh, tell the children once again
The tales so great and true.
Author notes
For the contest: inspired a while ago by William Makepeace Thackeray's "Fairy Days" and by many epic poems.
A contest entry
- Poetry Greats: Shakespeare-Yeats by dame de la riviere.
3700 points, ended September 11, 2008, 12 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 9 of 9
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A very enjoyable ...
poem that was easy to read and well-written. It brought to mind, for me, how the 'art' of tale-telling is almost dead and gone and how cultures will never be the same because of it! joy
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Thackeray is great and this poem is well written. Thank you for entering
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Very good indeed... You took English Hymn Meter, and expanded it with the sequence of three extra lines of tetrameter. The whole has a lovely flow and rhythm. Importantly, the poem is more than the sum of its parts.
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yes
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keep up the good work and i hope to reading more of your poems in the nearer future and hope to talk to you too and if you wanna to chat with me please feel free to look for me tina12345 hope to hear from you soon.
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Really nicely done! I loved the scheme.
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BRAVO
Superb, absolutely superb...I would normally say penned by and old and extremely deft hand, however, in this case the "hand" is not old! Just wonderful...I loved it BRAVO, BRAVO, BRAVO..did I say "BRavo"? indeed!!!!
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It was awesome the flow the rhyme simply amazing
wonderful job
Ben
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