United at last, Rome looks to the east
To where the Imperial Eagle flies.
She must secure her borders from the beast;
Trieste is where her destiny lies.
Irredentist emotions are unleashed
As dark storm clouds collect in Europe's skies.
Back room deals are brokered by diplomats;
Hapsburg's men will be brushed aside like gnats.
Vainglorious officers lead poor men
Through thin limestone valleys, past soaring peaks
That form this stronghold, this cold devil's den
To become mere morsals for ravens' beaks.
On the Isonzo, two battles plus ten
The decimated ranks lay cheek by cheek.
Battlefield gains come at tremendous cost
As millions of lives are squandered and lost.
An iron tyrant touts Italy's might;
Under his firm hand she's sure to flower.
Ravenously consuming all in sight -
African lands fall under her power;
The Adriatic shore is cloaked in night.
To the Slavs Roma's sweet kiss is sour.
Il Duce marries her to the Reichs beast
Hoping for her share of the fascist feast.
Alas, he's made of not iron, but tin.
Italians face a climactic encore
As they come face to face with their leader's sin.
The journalist's ego led them to war.
No tapestry of lives could he spin
To save either him or his paramour.
Outraged subjects marched down a Milan street
Hanging the brute upside down by his feet.
After the long war, the victors convene;
The spoils are carefully divided.
Istria becomes Croat and Slovene
As payment to Tito is provided.
In the past this loss would have seemed obscene,
Nationalist lusts have now subsided.
Italy recieved her forty lashes;
A flower now grows where once their were ashes.
Author notes
Image source: http://www.zerodelta.info/images/mappa_italia.jpg
This poem covers a period of Italian history from the late 1800s to 1945. In the early 1800s the Italian peninsula was a collection of petty states that began to take the shape we know today by 1870s. The Austrian Hapsburg Empire still included lands in the alps and to the north and east of the Adriatic Sea where Italians live.
Prior to the beginning of WWI Italy was allied with Germany and the Hapsburg Empire. They were induced to side with Britain and France in return for Hapsburg lands. The Italian front was a bloodbath as bad as those fought on the Western Front. Italy recieved Hapsburg lands at the end of the War that included the cities of Trento and Trieste as well as territory known as Istria. Italy coveted the whole Dalmatian coast and parts of Albania.
Mussolini, who started out as a war correspondant in WWI, rose to power with the idea of expanding the Italian empire into the lands they had not recieved at the end of the first World War. This included siezing the eastern Adriatic coast, Libya, and Ethiopia. In the end, disillusioned with the war, Italians hung Mussolini.
In a list
Comments
1 - 6 of 6
-
Damn, You rock the history poems..the AN's are a lesson in themselves. I liked the write and the soft ended to all the other details. Great work Chuckers..and in form no less..Well done!
-
-
It is easy to rock on the history ones if you are about the only one that writes the crap.
. I am glad you enjoyed this. As for the ending, the Italians had some bad leadership, but the Italian people are good and deserve an ending that reflect that.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Mike
-
-
Mike, you are so very good with these works, and you make them so easy to understand with your AN entry, I am in awe of your vast knowledge on many different subjects, and you have an array of talent that I hope you will keep sharing
Ticks all the boxes
-
-
Thank you very much my fine kiwi friend. I am glad you enjoyed this. Sometiems I just like to inform people about something I find interesting.
Mike
-
-
I LOVE THE WHOLE POEM, BUT THE ENDDING IS MY FAV, I THINK IT'S BEAUTIFUL
-
-
Thank you. I put more effort into poems like this than most of the ones that I write. I usually write off the cuff so to speak. When I do a historical piece I strive for accuracy. That, and the complexity of an ottava rima makes the poem a bit tougher to write well.
I am glad you appreciated my efforts.
Mike
-
Adding your comment:
1 - 6 of 6
