OctPoWriMo Day 24 – Story Time
My story poem is not inspired by a photo, but rather another story.
One of my favorite genres is Arthurian legend. This poem is inspired by the tragic love triangle of King Arthur, his Queen, Guinevere, and their beloved champion, Sir Lancelot. The images are two of my favorites from Edmund Blair Leighton.
Guinevere’s Loves
She didn’t want to love him,
but when his eyes burned
with the fire of his ambition,
her heart softened.
She fell into his ideals and
fell in love with his dreams.
She didn’t want to love him,
but when his eyes burned
with the fire of his desire,
her passion awoke.
She fell into his arms and
fell in love with his soul.
She didn’t want to love them both,
but when their eyes burned
with the fires of jealousy,
her virtue weakened.
She fell into the dark midnight of deceit and,
with her honor,
the kingdom fell to dust.
© L.A.L. 2001
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I too am a fan of all things Arthurian and I’ve actually got those two photos framed and hanging. This is a beautiful poem. I love the, “and with her honor, the kingdom fell to dust.”
Hooray for Arthurian fans! I have those two and a third (NOT by Leighton) framed on a poster. Kind of bothers me that the third image is not his. Anyway…
Thanks for the lovely comment. I love the last bit, too. I think it’s my favorite part of the poem.
Love this. We’re watching Merlin on Netflix, as a family, and loving it.
The TV show? I haven’t actually seen that yet – it’s on my MUST check out list!
Yes. We love it. There’s so little that’s appropriate for the whole family these days. The first season is a little campy, but it gets really good, in my opinion. 🙂
Agreed! It’s hard to find truly good family-friendly viewing. I’ll take campy over violent and frightening any day!
great poetic telling of this story
Thanks, Candy! Good material makes for good re-telling, I think. 😉
I love that series of paintings. I used to have one hung in my bedroom.
Lovely poem.
Yes, I quite like his work, Liv. I have them in my home office – my inspiration room.
And thank you for the lovely compliment.
Well done! And those are great images.
Thanks, May! Yes, they work well here, don’t they?