Medieval Poems - Poems about Medieval

Happily Ever After

Once upon a time long gone …
The reigning queen let out a yawn,
And stood up from her regal throne
To trample down the hall alone

She ripped the crown from out her hair
And flung it out the window there,
It tumbled down the castle wall …
No knight or king did hear it fall

And off the ground it did

London

Shoreditch clung to its ruin
Its roughhewn gate staring out at corpses
And the clutch of travellers heading from the fields,
The shepherds rambling onwards,
The herders with their slow-moving cattle, hoofs
Thudding on the stones. Amongst them the knights recently
Back from troubles in the north, armour 
Burnished like Sunday roast yelling oaths
Like washer women until they were, like the

M'Lady

And if I were no more
than the brook that flowed
Neath' the azure of your skies
Would not the warmth of your heaven
Touch the surface of my waters
Be the season spring or summer

And if my lone voice
was lost upon the winds
with the whispering of M'lady's name
Would it not give pause to thee?

What of the grassy meadow
Where the

ALL ABOUT WITCHCRAFT OF THE MEDIEVAL TIMES

Agnes Sampson there you say,
As frightened even now as to the strong wind is to a blade of Hay,
But we forget what made her the same,
And what gave the evil fairy Maleficent-her name!

We may accuse Esmeralda of witchcraft-
Just because she loved Phoebus,
But we forget that we too can fall like her from the raft,
And then-

Why the noble lady was so pissed

The noble lady was full of ire.
Her drunken knight had pissed out her evening fire.
So now she sought warmth by his sleeping horse,
and indulged in some heated intercourse
with the knight's drop-dead handsome squire.

Medieval Poetry Translations VIII by Michael R Burch

These are English translations of Medieval poems written in Old English.



The Battle of Maldon
anonymous Old English/Anglo-Saxon poem, circa 991 AD or later
translation by Michael R. Burch
 
…would be broken.

Then he bade each warrior unbridle his horse,
set it free, drive it away and advance onward afoot,
intent on deeds of arms and dauntless courage.

It was then that

Medieval Poetry Translations VII by Michael R Burch

These are English translations/modernizations of Medieval poems written in Old English and/or Middle English.


The Maiden’s Song aka The Bridal Morn
anonymous Medieval lyric
translation by Michael R. Burch

The maidens came to my mother’s bower.
I had all I would, that hour.

  The bailey beareth the bell away;
  The lily, the rose, the rose I lay.

Now silver

Medieval Poetry Translations VI by Michael R Burch

These are English translations/modernizations of Medieval poems written in Old English and Middle English.

Exeter Book Gnomic Verses or Maxims
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The dragon dwells under the dolmen,
wizened-wise, hoarding his treasure;
the fishes bring forth their finned kind;
the king in his halls distributes rings;
the bear stalks the heath, shaggy and malevolent.

Frost shall freeze,
fire feast on

The Sightless at a medieval bazaar

The sightless amass daily at dawn; a pilgrimage 
Arms outstretched clutching away; the sightless. 
A winding trunk grazing away to appease the pangs of hunger; the calloused skin of a leg, a cauliflower shaped ear, a skinny tail swaying restlessly 
We know not what this is they echo in chorus; mouths voicelessly ajar at the

Inordinate Love translation of Medieval English poem

MODERN ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS OF MEDIEVAL ENGLISH POEMS

Inordinate Love
anonymous Middle English poem, circa 15th century
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I shall say what inordinate love is:
The ferocity and singleness of mind,
An inextinguishable burning devoid of bliss,
A great hunger, too insatiable to decline,
A dulcet ill, an evil sweetness, blind,
A right wonderful, sugared, sweet error,
Without any rest, contrary

The Minstrel

The minstrel with his lute so bright,
Beneath the moon’s pale, silver light, 
Did weave a tale of love and woe, 
A melody that hearts would know.

With nimble fingers, strings he'd strike, 
Each note a pearl, each chord a hike, 
Through valleys deep and mountains high, 
Where heroes fought and lovers sighed.

A maiden fair, with eyes

Undying Love

Tale of valour is about to unfold
Gallant knight's effigy in marble so cold
Once he was stalwart full of manly vigour
The name was feared his enemies shivered.

Yet, there was young maiden who loved him well
Like moth to flame, he did compel
Her wings were singed as she flew to his side
Throughout her short life, she did abide.

How

Sedoka of the Albigensian Song

Will of Tudela
Whose zeal burned for the white wolves 
Against Languedoc's black lambs 

Nameless soul of gold
Guided by heaven's muses
Pitied the southern pastures 


Poem inspired by The Song of the Albigensian Crusade, a medieval epic poem written by two authors who had contrasting views of the crusade (explored in this Sedoka poem).

Twinkling Star of Montsegur

Beneath stars twinkling 
Sophia and Christ flew down 
In the form of birds 
In the form of large vultures 
Vultures filled with grace 
Vultures from the Great Mountains 
The Mountains of Snow 
They both perched on an ash tree 
Whose roots go deep down 
To Hades, the home of worms 
Whose trunk goes high up

medieval mug

this mugs home is its castle

with hot cocoa a vassal

its marshmallows float

a chocolate moat

seldom a fuss or hassle.

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