Part One:
A Damsel in Distress
Once
Upon a sapphire moon in dulcet France,
The land renowned for elegant romance,
There happened so incomparable a tale
It makes the angels sing and ogres wail.
This magic didn't chance upon a king
Or queen, or elf, or any mermaid thing,
Or gracious duchess, or resplendent earl,
It chanced upon a sallow skinny girl,
And hence begins the tale of France's pearl.
A wealthy man, in comfort, did reside
Far from all crowds in rolling countryside,
Some distance from the village river's marge
In an old splendid house, gracious and large.
And all the townsfolk knew: here lived a man
Whose wife was scrumptious as a spiced pecan:
Wild, bright, and graceful, with a brimming heart,
As full of blushes as an apple cart;
But tender things are often nipped by frost:
One fall his hazel braided maid was lost.
In her last hour she drew her daughter near:
"You're trembling, Mousekin, there's no need for fear:
I rise to angels though the door's the grave.
Bright choirs sing! They call me! Child, be brave!
Be kind and patient, steadfast and sincere,
And God will guide you on through every year.
Remember me and all the bliss I've tried
To bring you." Fragile Christabella cried
Her fragile faint mama then moaned "be true";
Then the last rites were said, and then "adieu".
A year of mourning passed. Forlorn, our man,
Poor fool, would court Miss Fortune-hunter. Hell's bells ran
Like quicksilver: robbed peace from all his life
The moment he espoused this second wife.
Now second wives and stepmama's betimes
Are saints, not thrice more sour than Persian limes,
Nor thrice more green with envy, yet, indeed,
These three were made of nothing more than greed.
More vain than peacocks, but not quite so fair,
They prized themselves as something rich and rare.
So tart they curdled cows, and murdered bliss,
So no one ever stole one single kiss.
They'd something a bit wrong about the mouth:
Three vicious tongues: three legends, North to South.
Oh they were lovely liars! Flippant flights
Slipped from their snaky tongues in vain delights.
They coddled, cossetted, and coaxed the girl,
And frilled her fancies in a silvery whirl.
Her father thought they loved her, while all three
Were biding time: conniving by degree.
His first wife left this girl child: wild, shy, sweet,
In beauty like an elf: light on her feet:
Pure as a bright tear from the god of love,
More melting hearted than a mourning dove.
Yet all the flowers of her sinless pride
Were truths her second family denied.
The second wife's two daughters, as it goes,
Against this little lark were haggard crows:
Their ugliness was hidden in their hearts:
Their mean souls made them vulgar. Beauty's arts
Though they transmute the plain into the belle
Have no cosmetic remedy for hell.
First we'll take baby boor: Prunella dear,
Could earn a prize for savage and severe:
She seethed with envy and injurious scorn,
And strove all honest honor to suborn.
On every angel she had words of hate.
She made a lamb of Shakespeare's shrewish Kate.
Well, that's her in a nutshell, now the next,
Whose temperament was similarly vexed.
Griselda, bulwark of her mother dear,
So arrogant a prig she had no peer,
Was such an expert in fastidious smirks,
Found trifling faults in peoples' finest works,
Excepting hers of course, would discipline
In brutalizing barbs all kith and kin:
Familiar folk and strangers, none but she could ever win.
And everywhere she went a swathe of hate
Mowed down the gentle and besmirched the great.
She was the prime jewel in her mother's crown!
O she could do no wrong! With her cool frown
She's shrivel Christabella to the earth:
With every slight they slaughtered her self worth.
Now we'll take Mama Boor, the source of all:
She was designed by Satan to appall.
She was named Hedwig: like earwigs, a curse:
'Ts impossible to script her out in verse.
She was manipulation at the source:
Was shiftless, brutal, venomous and coarse.
Grand master of the catty accolade
Her compliments embarrassed to a shade
Each hapless target: her sadistic pride
Reduced to hopeless tears many a bride,
Who flew from the cathedral, all the while,
Our mincing bitch would nurse a secret smile:
Many a maid retired in dire disgrace
Being shamed, it seemed, by some unchaste embrace,
While, all the while, the one thing to confess
Was that she hadn't found the "finest" dress.
She'd tangled up the maiden's jangled nerves:
More manic antics than a witch deserves
She'd had heaped on her: such crude lewd manure
More vicious than a virgin can endure.
More than one innocent, to tragic doom
She'd lured, it seems, into her spider's loom:
Those she deemed rivals in her vast conceit
Betrayed by artifice and coy deceit.
She ruled by rumor, hint and slander spread
Through innuendo and by sly wiles led
The naive to damnation, and the mild,
So this was simple: this sad man and child.
You query: how'd she lime this gentle man
In poisoned webs: I'll tell you if I can:
They hustled in while both were still in shock:
Papa in black, she in her funeral frock,
And then schlepped in her daughters to dissemble:
Each one an actress, a real Fanny Kemble!
And soon they made themselves so indispensable!
So fine, so kind, .........and so damned reprehensible.
All dabbling at their eyes with handkerchiefs,
With mournful sighs, and loud lugubrious sniffs,
And baleful looks, and mawkish trembling moans,
And gestures that could squeeze sobs out of stones.
"Poor Christabella, not a mother's hand
To guide her: only women understand
For girls always need mothers" on and on,
And so they spun their mad bewildering con.
Elaborate feasts in endless cavalcades
Delivered, enough flowers for parades,
And he could do no wrong, he was so wise,
And Christabella had her mother's eyes,
Her darling mother, whom they'd loved so well,
She whom they dearly wished would rot in hell.
He came to need them, and he gave them all
From silks and satins, to a lavish ball,
Delectable rare feasts, and bright earrings:
He gave as if they were but trifling things.
Alas! Our idiot, our patient dupe,
Oblivious, took in the whole damned troop!
Their honey smooth gold flattery made them rich:
Made our poor jackass marry the old bitch.
Now God forgive me for the terms I've used
Describing him: our poor fool was abused:
He, in his pain, was comforted, poor thing,
While through his nose they laced the golden ring.
They led him like a lamb to slaughter: gold
Was all they loved, and greed made them all bold.
Author notes
Mama and Papa should have the accent on the second syllable. This is only part one of the narrative. If you like it, please be patient! There are seven more parts and some still need editing.
Dedicated to A Solitary Rose, hoping she'll have fairy tales come true in her life.
What did you think
Comments
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I love how easily this story flows and how easily you write as though you are almost from that era! Beautiful
Well done 
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Thank you very dearly!
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P.S. you should put the links of the other pieces somewhere- at the bottom of the poem or in your author's notes, for easy jumping...
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A very interesting idea. Thank you!
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Oooooo a fairytale romance series
lol (and you didn't think I was the type, ha! ) (I have a fairytale romance trilogy (so far), titled "The Tinmaker"... but maybe unlike yours (which I have to read yet), mine was based on a love triangle here on AP... (of which I was the unfortunate centerpiece, nice while it lasted, let's just say... lol) then there is the Queen Marlana series for a poor unfortunate girl here... but I'm digressing...!
first I noticed how your words dripped off the tongue like a rich dessert... so I'm thinking that you could sell this to upscale dessert shops in Manhattan...
then I noticed it rhymed... all of which so far distracted me from the story! So let me buckle down here... now it's reminding me of John Milton's "Paradise Lost" lol ok, focus...
It's nice to see the mind's eye of a storyteller in action... and I can see it in your piece...
(now I'm seeing "The Lady of Shallot" by Bryon... did I say my mind wanders?)
hmmm... I think I just met a Ms. Fortune Hunter... a vile as the one you depict here...
Well, this is a potpourri of women's thinking and perceptions... wow you packed a lot in there...! and do I know smooth talkers who's hands are ever groping the pockets and purses of others...
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Wow. You've given me a lot to look for! And a lot to think about while reading!
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I think my comment on Part 3 tells it all...
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WOW
This is such a stunning excellent write.
I thouroughly identified with this so so deeply...As I said earlier,it sadly felt like you were writing a twisted version of my biography.
Your choice of words never cease to amaze me.
YOU ARE AMAZING...
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You are amazing too! I thing that lemon coulis is a wonderful idea! We've both been mauled! Hugs! I wish i could make it all better!!!!!!!!!!!
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This is quite amazing. Beautiful rhyming and story telling. There aren't many people I know who can pull this off, and keep the reader's attention. You have a great vocabulary and skill. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, good luck with the rest of the parts. I can't wait to read them. Hope you have a nice day.
♥
Jade
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Thank you very much for the read and the compliments. Keeping the readers' attention is the hard part here: I hope I manage to do it though all the rest of the parts!
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lovely! and verty epic hun you would put the sdyssey to shame if you keep going
favorite line were these it was an image ill keep
'So tart they curdled cows, and murdered bliss,
So no one ever stole one single kiss.
They'd something a bit wrong about the mouth:
Three vicious tongues: three legends, North to South.'
ill read part 2 adter tea xxx
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Thank you! I hope you enjoy it all! I've thoroughly enjoyed your fairy tales!
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There are not many poems on this site
Which tell a story in such length as this
This is indeed a glorious tale to write
Of love, and hate, and hopefully some bliss
I'll read the rest. More power to your pen
(Although you dwell upon the faults of men!)
I think I've spotted one or two typos. Complements instead of compliments, unchast instead of unchaste.
In a work of this length, that's pretty good!
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Thank you! Typos zapped! I love your compliments in rhyme:
Adore it that you take the time
And love it where you've typo's zapped
Where I have very clearly napped.
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Saphires are my favorite, always wanted to go to France. Prulla dear can win a prize. I liked this a real lot. Thank you for sharing and I enjoyed reading. * hug*
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Thank you dearly for the read! Hug!
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woww!!!!
oh my word, that was outstanding! Utterly! Funny, and witty, and filled with brilliant lines. . ."Whose wife was scrumptious as a spiced pecan:/Wild, bright, and graceful, with a brimming heart,/As full of blushes as an apple cart" "hazel braided" "They prized themselves as something rich and rare/So tart they curdled cows, and murdered bliss," and so many other ones. . .it all has the feeling of some famous work - it reminds me a little of some of Byron's wit. . .and you kept up the rythm so well, for so long - I am stunned and delighted to read this. I love it! Suppose I'll have to do as you say and be patient though. . . 
keep writing, keep writing! 
I wish I could give you more then just three clappies, but I can't. . . 
♠ Lady Elinor
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Thank you dearly! From an eloquent poet of such exquisite accomplishments these comments are jewels! I will strive to earn more.
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great to see some one attempt a really long narrative poem
good style some of the metaphors a perhaps a little modern for the presumed historicl setting and some of the lines could stans a little tidying but, in a poem of this length perfection is well nigh impossible although this poem comes close. -
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Well, once upon a time, however told, in my opinion, implies a timeless time, and therefore, in the realm of faery tale, anachronism is allowed. Thank you dearly for calling it a narrative poem, for that's what it is: not an epic, which for me implies Homeric heroes, or others and is a specific poetic genre. Thank you for the read. As for the occasional Alexandrines: even Keats employed them, and occasional three line rhymes are allowed in the form. Thank you for the complement saying it comes close to perfection.
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Wow this is quite elaborate and very rich on the tongue. Your word choice is astounding and flow smooth and beautiful. This is truly a work of art. I look foward to reading the rest.
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Thank you dearly for your wonderful comment! Parts two and three are up, part four I am still wrestling with: it is acting like the Kraaken and I am battling it's multiple arms, and striving to get it into the seaquarium of a part I have designed for it, LOL!
I hope the other parts are not a disappointment!
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Wow
Move over Shakespear there's a new kid in town. If I had your talent "I could have been a contender...could have been somebody...instead I'm just a bum." -c
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Thank you very dearly! What a delight you are! How wonderful to read this right after I've posted part three, that I still have some qualms with: I'm too afraid of tampering too much with it considering that my computer has crashed twice tonight and I'm considerably and calmly freaked that my poor baby here has to go to the computer doctor.
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Once I started reading I had to finish. It was just like Cinderella but with a twist at the end. Lovely narration and beautiful story.
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i hope you weren't to bored to notice there's a part two, there will also be a part three, etc. Till the story's end. Thank you for your read!
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Wonderful story telling in rhyme and meter, quite delicious as poetry and as narrative, superb!!!
Now to part 2
Jeff
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Thank you very much for the read! You know how I respect your opinion! Finding some praise has been a rare experience for me!
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Aww. This is dedicated to my friend. This is quite a tome! You certainly have a knack of storytelling. Beautiful!
Paul
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Thank you! As you know she's my friend too, and I feel sad she has had so little magic in her life.
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What a delight! To read a fantasy that simply rolls off the tongue line after line is so much fun. I see that the Perv nominated it for the spotlight so I’ll feature it. People here need to see what real poetry can do. There aren’t enough superlatives to do this work justice.
Love,
Amera♥
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Thank you so very dearly! What a wonderful complement from the only elf I know trusting enough to live amongst us humans! And as for superlatives, you would know, being capable of rhymes which richly deserve them.
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I didn't expect so long a story! I was very pleasantly surprised with this masterpiece of your. well done!!
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Thank you so for calling my lengthy undertaking a masterpiece! I feel quite honored!
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I have nominated this fantastic work for spotlight on the front page. You have really outdone yourself.
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Thank you so very much! It's an honor to be recognized so by friends whom I so respect!
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Great job!
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Thank you again!
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I loved these lines
But tender things are often nipped by frost:
One fall his hazel braided maid was lost. -
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Thank you! I worked so hard on them! It's good to know they work!
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Very enjoyable story and poetically
Great writing. I'm going right on to Part 2...
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Thank you so much, Tiki-cat for telling Ellis what to say on this. Max said he felt Blaze didn't do too bad a job of editing. The paper was very easy to rip. His human had to tape together several of the first drafts, and change the missing pieces, to a much better effect he may add. The earlier drafts simply disappeared into confetti! Having their foolish human running around, collecting them all, and indulging in jigsaw puzzle-itis.
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Purrsanthema, WOW! I read the first section and new, this is going to be good. I love your darker more serious look at the tale. Your descriptions are so potent, it truly makes me despise those three wretched "women."
And this part, the way it read so effortlessly, nearly gave me chills,
"And he could do no wrong, he was so wise,
And Christabella had her mother's eyes,"
^I don't know why that one little couplet stuck out especially, but I thought it was beautiful.
The whole thing is splendid. You should try to get it published, accompanied by your own illustrations!
I will read part 2 when I can. :
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Thank you so very much! It struck me, when I reread every different version of the fairy tale I could get my hands on that it was not quite the story of sugar and light we quite think it is. It has to do, for example, with child abuse, and redemption.
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That was so pretty and so good. Thank you.
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Thank you! You're so welcome!
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Purrs this is awesome, I was enthralled from start to finish.
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Thank you, Biker Babe! Here are some stars ***************************
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Oh, my goodness, although not written in Middle English, I cannot get Chaucer out of my head when reading this! A fine, potent and poignant narrative piece, with characters Dickens might be proud of me: "more, more please!"
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Thank you dearly! You know how much I love to earn your praise! For you to compare this to Chaucer, knowing you love Chaucer, is quite an honor!
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Positively brilliant
You simply MUST publish this-- I wish to see this in a book of your poetry one day, I simply must! This, as of yet, is absolutely splendid, and I tip my hat and raise my glass to it and to its marvellous author. Where has flown such poetry as this? Do please post the other seven parts soon! I would love to see what happens next.
Please, keep it up!
Dan
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Do my best! I have some severe arguments with parts three and four, there are fewer with the rest. Thank you very much!
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