A Tale of Ancient Times

This is a tale of ancient times
And a knight of valiant heraldry
Who followed true his knightly code,
The weight of righteousness his load,
All sheathed in heaven's grace he rode,
And practiced naught save chivalry.

From the Pope a rally call went out,
A Crusade to the Holy Land.
A Christian force endorsed by God,
His might would be their shield and rod,
To travel to where Jesus trod
And rescue it from Muslim hands.

With hand on heart the knight stepped forth,
And allegiance to the cause he swore.
He came in piety enthralled,
Pledging fortune, honor, life, his all
In answer to Pope Urban's call
To fight in this most holy war.

The "holiness" of war wears thin
When it endures for three full years.
The knight felt doubt begin to brew,
Still would he slash, and hack, and hew,
And pray for his and each benighted soul he slew,
And wonder why his God would not allay his fears.

Not all who fought were soldiers of the Cross like he,
Many came for just what they could take.
Though claiming to be blessed and heaven sent,
The knight soon kenned their chief intent.
He watched them, kill, and rape, and pillage as they went,
Leaving ruined lives and mutilated corpses in their wake.

His faith now frayed, the knight, dismayed,
One day his shield failed to deflect a fatal spear.
His eyes sought heaven ere he died.
Was this for naught, had the Pontiff lied?
In anguish, "Wherefore, God?" he cried,
Then falling to his knees, but not in prayer, he perished there.

Two hundred years the battles raged
With no real Christian victory attained.
The ones who died there now are dust,
No matter if the cause was just,
The Crusades failed, and at what cost,
For so much lost, so little gained.

Here ends my tale of ancient times
And a knight who died vaingloriously.
His life was brief, his ending sad,
He learned too late, as Jesus had,
He'd trusted in an unjust God,
And Death cares naught for chivalry.


Historical note: In 1095 Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade, encouraging military support for the Byzantine empire. One of its aims was to guarantee pilgrims access to Eastern Mediterranean holy sites that were under Muslim control. Some scholars say, however, that Urban's strategy may have been to unite the Eastern and Western branches of Christendom and establish himself as head of the unified Church. In any event, the response to his preachings was enthusiastic among all classes in Western Europe. Volunteers became Crusaders by taking a public vow and receiving plenary (full) indulgences from the Church. Some even hoped for a mass ascension into heaven at Jerusalem or God's forgiveness for their sins. On a more elemental level, others participated to satisfy feudal obligations, obtain glory and honor, or to seek economic and political gain. And there were some, no doubt, who simply enjoyed a good fight…the bloodier the better. The two-century endeavor ended in failure. Following the First (1096-1099), there were six additional major Crusades and numerous less significant ones. Because no records were kept of non-combatants, i.e. family members, servants, etc., who traveled with the Crusader soldiers, there is no real estimate of how many actually lost their lives during those horrendously dark and tumultuous years. Whatever the number, even one would have been too many for such an ignoble cause. What more shameful oxymoron: a holy war. (Wikipedia…and me)

Copyright © | Year Posted 2022



Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment

Date: 9/29/2022 9:37:00 PM
Wow. What a superior job of scholarship you've given us on the P.S. site, Jim. As a member of a minority viciously slaughtered (oops) by the rampaging Crusaders, I've known about this since my teens, but I find that most have/had no idea. I hope that folks will read what you've published. It's well worth their while. An ignominious era in the history of (dis)organized religion, if ever there was. Thank you, Gershon
Login to Reply
Slaughter Avatar
Jim Slaughter
Date: 9/30/2022 5:55:00 AM
Thank you, G. In truth, this is an expanded version of a piece I wrote for a Senior English class assignment...also in "ancient times". I didn't know as much about the subject then, so it was much shorter. But I guess it had some merit because the teacher, Mrs. Gibson, read it aloud in class. I'm so glad you enjoyed it.
Date: 9/21/2022 6:30:00 PM
A very sad story. The knight who obeyed the Pope's command finally realizes the futility of war, but is too late. Sad his enthsiasm waned and he died an inglorious death. Powerful narration, Jim
Login to Reply
Slaughter Avatar
Jim Slaughter
Date: 9/22/2022 10:52:00 AM
Thank you, Valsa.
Get a Premium Membership
Get more exposure for your poetry and more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Reflection on the Important Things

Member Area

My Admin
Profile and Settings
Edit My Poems
Edit My Quotes
Edit My Short Stories
Edit My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder

Soup Social

Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us

Member Poems

Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread

Member Poets

Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest

Famous Poems

Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100

Famous Poets

Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War

Poetry Resources

Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetics
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
Store
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter