Don Quioxte, errant knight resurrected,
what do you see here now?
Are you still tilting at windmill giants
or has ideal love and chivalry become passe for you, too?
Your precious books are long gone
and your dear Dulcinea is dead, if she ever existed at all.
Even simple Sancho Panza would see this for what it is.
There is no place for you here,
Man of La Mancha;
we don't read books anymore and
chivalry is most surely dead, but
that's all okay, we've got something better;
it's staring you in the face and
I see it's stopped you in your tracks.
There is no need for knights in a world that has
Progress.
A contest entry
- catch the wind by DancingRed.
300 points, ended April 9, 2007, 7 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 10 of 10
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amazing
truely amazing. The things we lack in today's world can only be found in the past, mostly unfortunatly in books. we all do what we can that we think is right, but in the end we do it out of our own needs instead of others. Progression has led us to become cave men in a high tech world. we do as we wish with what we have and leave others to fend off horrors. Yes Don Q may have been seeing things that weren't there but, he did it for the people not for himself. Our problem is we do things for ourselves and we may see the horrors of today that are real but yet we do nothing agisnt them. I salute Don Q. a true visionary.
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ah progression, i somehtimes think it is taking us backwards with all the madness i see in the world today, a good poem.
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re: "Progress"
Thank you so much for taking the time to read & comment on my poetry; your kind words are deeply appreciated. I agree w/ you that progress, at least lately, seems to be taking us backwards. Perhaps there are just no new discoveries to be made; we've solved all the great mysteries, and the only thing left for humanity to do, really, is to move backwards. But those are just my rambling thoughts . . .
Thanks again & Blessed Be,
***Rae***
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Needed more than ever!
No, it cannot be for Don Q. and I are one. We remake the world as it should be and live therein. Chivalry is not dead and the 'giants' still need to be toppled. The 'giants' may have changed, but I have better armour now. One thing I notice is that most people have it backwards, Don Quioxte was not "mad". He was a sane man in a world of madmen and his labour to bring them about was great indeed.
"Progress"? Nay regression! The world hopes and waits for "The man of La Mancha" for it's salvation.
My personal thoughts aside, you did a good job with the windmills and your verse. I would be tempted to rethink though his reaction to the 'fragile' giants of this day contrasted with the sturdy giants he faced in his time. Jadon
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Needed More Than Ever
I completely agree that a( "Don Q" was probably more sane than any of his contemporaries and we need him back! We live in a world of ideals but no idealists. We are, indeed, regressing. But the optimistic side of regression is that the time is ripe for someone to step forward out of the woodwork and even, dare I say it, change the world? Now that's optimism.
Rae
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Progress; for better or for worse, it happens.
Although I don't know (anything at all) about 'Don Quioxte', Dulcinea etc, your message still comes through. I love the power in the lines --
'it's staring you in the face and
I see it's stopped you in your tracks.'
Thanks for entering!
DancingRed.
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Thank you. I'm glad you liked it and understood the message even though you didn't read the book. I wouldn't have, either if it hadn't been for a professor at University. Don Quioxte was a man who was obssessed with the idea of ideal love, knights, and chivalry. He basically went mad, convinced a simple farmer (Sancho) to be his "squire" and took his horse and went on a quest and ended up fighting "Giants" that were actually just windmills. In the process he fell in love with a farm girl whom he called Dulcinea, but was not her real name. He convinced himself she was his "Maiden." His family burned all his books after he went mad. The book was a satire about the death of chivalry and ideal love. Beautiful and sad at the same time. But serious heavy reading. I suggest the Cliffs Notes!! Thank you so much for the comments, this was a bit of a departure for me.
Blessed be,
Rae
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this poem is amazingly touching. it is a forelorn look at the way things within the hearts of people have changed. yet there is an idea that if you read the story closely there are times when our hero here caused more problems thanhe solved, yet those problems he caused were merely extensions of problems already in existence and the result of people being unwilling to accept his message of courage and kindess. this is simply beautiful ,,,Danni
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splended!
It's been awhile since I read about Don Quioxte, will have to go and refresh my memory. I like how you've brought this piece together, ending up with a massive dose of sarcasm. Great write Rae, don't you think Dulcinea is a beautiful name?. See you ...ian.
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I love the name, too! Every time I say it the soundtrack to Man of La Mancha runs through my head: "Dulcinea, Dulcinea, men have named her." I'm glad you liked it. It's such a different piece for me but when I saw the picture it just occured to me that if Don Quixote ever saw a "new" windmill his heart would probably break and snap his mind right back into sanity, which would be a tradgedy as he was such a lovely man while insane!
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