Long Livery Poems

Charles d'Orleans: a Medieval Marvel


Spring
by Charles d’Orleans (c. 1394-1465)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Young lovers,
greeting the spring
fling themselves downhill,
making cobblestones ring
with their wild leaps and arcs,
like ecstatic sparks
struck from coal.

What is their brazen goal?

They grab...

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Medieval Poems

How Long the Night
anonymous Middle English lyric, circa early 13th century AD
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

It is pleasant, indeed, while the summer lasts
with the mild pheasants' song ...
but now I feel the northern...

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Spring
by Charles d'Orleans (c.1394-1465)
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Young lovers,
greeting the spring
fling themselves downhill,
making cobblestones ring
with their wild leaps and arcs,
like ecstatic sparks
struck from coal.

What is their brazen goal?

They grab at whatever passes,
so we can...

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It was still quite dark in Milton Creek, and it had just gone four
When Tom arrived at the sheriff's office, and knocked on his door
The Sheriff quickly opened up and beckoned Tom, to come inside
They...

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There was a rumour that outlaw Kyle was to be sprung from jail
But Sheriff Koplin got wind of it and he'd make sure they'd fail 
That day Queeny Holly and her gang rode into town,...

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A rising sun in the east does appear
  from St. Augustine to St. Clair,
to loose me from sleep’s tranquil hold
  and dreams of serendipities of old -
to rise again the boy I was...

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Pied tidings of suburbian 
Magpies,
Squawking and squabbling,
Quarreling ferociously among 
Themselves - 
Rush to steal
From off the beleaguered bird 
tables,
To the annoyance of all concerned,
A much begrudged meal;
Before scurrying away into 
Unfrequented woodlands,
Marooned like islands in...

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In the town of Milton Creek the sun was starting to rise
And Jenna was planning for Ranger David a lovely surprise
Unbeknown to him preparations were now well underway
To hold a party in his honour on...

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I've always admired 
horses
and I guess I most surely 
always will
No legend without em' 
complete
The unsung heroes of 
any heroic battle

Pony, colt, filly or mare
ride it bareback if you 
dare

Ride them to a trot, ride...

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‘Twas but a mist-enshrouded speckle
dark-painted on looming horizon.
Petty worker holds unwavering watch,
silently, stealthily keeps his eyes on.

Forward motion undeniable,
each passing minute size increasing.
Small heart stands alert and viable – 
beating fast and tremulous; though, never...

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I’m sure you’ve heard of the Great King Arthur and Lancelot’s well-known fame.
But there was yet another knight, of great glory and great fame, never named.
His name was whispered constantly, everywhere, around those hollowed halls.
For...

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Ggantija (Maltese "Giantess") 
The Neolithic era (c. 3600–2500 BC)
On the Mediterranean island of Gozo 
Older than the pyramids of Egypt. 
Malta’s Gigantea one of UNESCO World Heritage Site, 
The Megalithic Temples of Malta
Erected the two...

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Carson Elkund moved slowly through the town,
his eyes darted about, looking around,
looking for trouble he knew was out there,
he was wanted by many, and moved with care.

He had bounties aplenty on his head,
the papers claimed...

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Armadilly Billy the Sling Shot Kidster was steadily on the move.
He was leaving the Southwest and his reputation behind, for sure!
Every gunslinger was out for him and of killing he’d become tired.
Even the weather was...

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...They said the diggings had all been tapped out,
ain’t no way a man could strike it rich now,
but there was work for men, hearty and hale,
had I ever thought of wearing a star?
It’s not the...

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Sighing, he shouldered the old duffle bag
And followed others as they sauntered down the gangway
Free at last, from the ship's cramped and stench-filled quarters,
He smiled, at the crisp, fresh and bitingly cold, new day!

His feet,...

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It was now growing dark as the sun was going down
When a stranger rode into Soup Creek, a frontier town
No one could see his face, he was all dressed in black
An old boy was heard...

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© 2009 (Jim Sularz)

Quiet mounds of yellowed tailings and dead weeds whisper low.
And proud rusting relics telling tales of striking gold.
The rush from East, from North and South, by wagon, train or foot.
Days not all...

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Against light source well crafted 
tubular structure appended with eyepiece gazing
offers viewer eye-opening, mind boggling 
instantaneously birthing then vanishing
resplendent myriad colorful 
geometric awesome shifting shapes 
hypnotizing sight seer into a whirling gigolo 
where multifaceted fractals...

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Death orifice my Libidinous command,
I contras life's ecumenical demand!
Now reach down in this thistle grim,
Desolate me with the edged limb.
Grant this voyeur that glimpse of dead,
A comatose where life and I unwed...
As minutes kiss my...

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r My Most Embarrassing Moment -A Windmill and a Still

I stopped in a West Texas town –
There wasn’t much to see
Not much to do but sit around
They all just stared at me

I’ve Cowboy’d in some...

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Ned Shepworth lived in a small, frontier town,
that just three years before had been empty ground,
he tried to keep up with the latest style,
and worked as a clerk in the mercantile.

Now Ned was in love...

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The Watcher 
The Watcher 
When the seventeen men neared the end of the bridge only one remained in 
sight all the others were lost in the shadow from the moonlight. He was dressed 
in tattered...

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All round the ring of Kerry’s highways, people point and cry
It’s 4 o’clock on the very dot and Mick’s rig is passing by,
It has glistening sheens of yellow, with cinnabar spots in red
Rich lozenges of...

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One fine autumnal afternoon, I set out sauntering
Along country paths that lay rugged and meandering
To see Nature, not in her cultivated neatness
But in her stark nakedness and innate sweetness

Passing fields of corn with golden ears
Peeping...

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