The young knight had heard of the dragons of old,
the silver, the blue, the bronze, and the gold.
He heard how they’d hurt just to have fun,
and vowed to set right all the wrongs they had done.
He scoured the countryside, he looked all around,
and finally discovered where a gold could be found.
He began to prepare, he vowed he would fight,
He’d kill that old dragon, and set all things right.
Finally ready, he set off for the lair,
And called out a challenge once he got there.
“Come out and fight!” he cried to the beast,
“I’ll fight to the death! I’m not scared in the least.”
An earthshaking roar arose from the deep,
“Who is it who shouts? Who dares shatter my sleep?”
The monstrous dragon emerged from the cave,
and suddenly the knight felt a lot less brave.
“I!” said the knight, “I disturb your rest!
I’ve come to rid the world of a pest!”
“Oho!” said the dragon, “A challenge to fight!
We’ll see who survives, dragon or knight.”
Oh, what a battle! Oh, what a brawl!
But neither would give, and neither would fall.
They paused to rest, a chance to breathe,
For their bodies did ache, their chests did heave.
They glared at each other and went at it again,
fighting round the mouth of the dragon’s den.
Evenly matched, both refused to yield,
Then a blow from the dragon broke the knight’s shield.
“Surrender!” cried the dragon, flashing gold in the sun,
“For as you can see, I surely have won!”
“Never!” the knight said, broken shield cast aside,
“For I will not rest until you have died!”
They fought through the night, and when the sun rose,
it looked down to see them in an exhausted pose.
Both sprawled on the ground, too weary to rise,
Yet the anger still smoldered in the knight’s eyes.
The dragon lifted his head and asked the young knight,
“Why is it you hate? Why do we fight?”
The young lad sat up, his fury not spent,
“How dare you pretend that you’re innocent?
“Your kind slaughtered my people, you ravaged and burned,
I was taught of your cruelty, and well have I learned;
Dragons are evil, you’re merciless brutes,
You kill for the sport, then hide with your loot.”
“Ah,” said the dragon, “But is it really fair
to judge a whole species by the deeds of one lair?
For just like your villains, your thieves and black sheep,
we also have those whose malice runs deep.
“The dragons you speak of were killed in years past,
and yet the hate of your people continued to last.
You knights will not stop until you have won,
You’ll kill all of us for the actions of some.
“Just think,” he went on, “how long it has been,
since you’ve heard new stories of me or my kin.
I fear they’re all dead, my siblings and friends,
And the time of the dragon now draws to an end.”
With these parting words, he withdrew to his cave,
while the young knight just sat there, silent and grave.
He slowly got up and went on his way
His mind stunned and reeling from what he learned that day.
The young knight told tales of the dragons of old,
the silver, the blue, the bronze, and the gold.
He told how the knights had killed blameless ones,
and tried to set right all the wrongs they had done.
Author notes
This was in the works for quite some time, but I finally got around to finishing it and am quite pleased with the results.
Written September 29th, 2004
In a list
A contest entry
- Dragons. Dragons & more Dragons by Nature Song.
300 points, ended October 29, 2006, 14 entries
Gold trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - Lights! Camera! Action! (A Contest For Epic poems) by Vagabond.
1200 points, ended March 20, 2007, 25 entries
Bronze trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - Tell me a story. by The-Phoenix.
450 points, ended June 13, 2007, 9 entries
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1350 points, ended August 3, 2008, 10 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - Fantasy plus options!! by Lorien.
572 points, ended August 25, 2008, 16 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - Anything && everything by edit my world..
492 points, ended September 17, 2008, 16 entries
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500 points, ended September 1, 2008, 19 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - The Dreams of Dragons! The Dragon Wars by Dark Otter.
400 points, ended October 21, 2008, 7 entries
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850 points, ended May 15, 8 entries
Silver trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - 1000 points, 1000 pws by Shadow Anonymised.
1000 points, ended November 23, 1080 entries
• next poem in this contest, • Add to finalists list, or remove from contest
What did you think
Comments
1 - 22 of 22
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An enjoyable poem with a cheerful rythym to it, almost like a child's verse (that's meant in a positive way). I found the twist interesting, breaking away from that old fairy tale idea that makes everything or every one either good or bad without questioning the generalisations. Basically I liked it, its perhaps a little more colloquial than the poetry I would usually choose to read but I enjoyed it none the less.
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Just a joy to read!
You took a very 'cliche' idea and made it work for you. The knight's battle with the dragon has been done since time immemorial. To give it anything fresh would be a challenge. In rhyme you have managed to tell a story that has more than just a surface 'moral'. Thank you for your entry.
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Dragon's are so beautiful, very mighty creatures like their slayers. Very strong and expressive here. I love how this is like an ode to the actions.
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A gret tale of how not all dragons are mean nor should they be judged so. I myself would love to meet such a dragon cause I use dragonheart1 as myname..You might want to read why in my poem dragoneart1
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Brilliant...a wonderful twist on the idea of dragons!!!
At first I was a bit bored with appeared to be a solid, yet uninspiring attempt to poetically capture Saint George and the Dragon.
And then the twist.
From that point on I decided to leave you with a simple...
Thank you.
Blessings,
C
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This was my favorite of all I have read, AWESOME,
Just fantastic rhyme, rhythum and flow, great story line, brilliant idea, loved, loved, loved it.
PL
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I'm In Love
This has such a deep and true message that applies to life in these times. This poem has a moral that says to me "Judge each person for their own actions, not the actions of those like them." Beautifully written and deeply meaningful. I am in love with this poem and its meaning. Astounding job!
Thank you so much for your entry.
~Phoenix
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VERY nicely done!
Just the sort of story that i love! A swashbuckling fantasy adventure. Most well thought out and most brilliantly done! I constantly learn how peoples veiws on just what "epic" means tend to vary, but overall a most splendid job, good work!
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Very nicely done. I enjoyed this piece immensley. Good luck in the contest. ~Sie
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WOW, enough said. Very powerful words in there, perfect example of what I was looking for!
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brilliant
i am pleased with it too. what a wonderful story! Very creative and unique! Plus the background is very cool. at least you didn't use the dragon one with the orange background like everyone else! great job and I thoroughly loved it. great job and thanks for entering! -
Wow this is Amazing!! I I love it great work. Its a great peice. I love how the last line connected it all. great job and goodluck in the contest.
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What can I say but that I loved this poem?
Illusions shattered- fantastic -
Amazing! The rhyming was awesome and didn't sound forced. And the ending was unexpected, but a happy one. And it taught a lesson, too. I loved it!
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A wonderful story telling and rhyming poet, who closes with a message. Excellent job - it flowed well, the rhymes were easy and natural and the meter good. I enjoyed this and will be reading more. You've been on my favorites list for sometime but somehow I've missed reading - have to correct that now. Paul
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pretty good for a narrative poem. thanx for entering.
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awesome
I read this poem. I loved it, It flowed well and that is hard to do at times, I like the lesson to be learned. I have been into dragons for many years but always found Metallic colored were always good and the evil ones are like red, black, blue, and green. Any way sorry great poem. -
Ah, I love your moral. It speaks so many truths that are still treasured in our modern day and age. Fantastic write; I enjoyed it thoroghly!
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great job!!...i loved the description and the fact in was in the time of kinghts and dragons ( one of my favorite times)...and i loved how you made it into a lesson!!...again..great job!!
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Wow, shadows, dragons and perfect rhyme. You're a man after my own heart. Excellent story well told. Congratulations!
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Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.
A poem tale with a moral
Cleverly done, it circles round to complete the piece.
I had reservations about the clarity of the last lines. Looked at askance, they seem to imply that ONLY the blameless had been killed.
Still I would catagorise this as ‘accomplished’ work.
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Nice write. I enjoyed it.
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