Well done! I assume you have read Tennyson, Morris, and EAR, but how about Charles Williams's long Taliesin poems? Do you have any favorites? I like Morris's Defence of Guenevere by a wide margin, other than the famous passages from Tennyson.
Once and Future King made me a lover of medieval literature. I fear it is too advanced for the YA abilities these days. Tried learning Middle Welsh and Old Irish but it didn’t take.
I knew the Song of Amergin, but not that bleak Cynddylan. Wow. It certainly is as good as anything in Old English save for a few riddles and perhaps The Wanderer.
"At Tintagel" is one of my favourite poems by you, based on the Arthurian legends. For me, it captures perfectly in words what the film director John Boorman endeavoured to do at the beginning of his great movie, "Excalibur", and there is something dark and sinister and quite magical about it, all at the same time. Perhaps you were indeed touched by Merlin's wand when you wrote this!
At Tintagel
by Michael R. Burch
That night,
at Tintagel,
there was darkness such as man had never seen ...
darkness and treachery,
and the unholy thundering of the sea ...
In his arms,
who can say how much she knew?
And if he whispered her name ...
“Ygraine!”
... could she tell above the howling wind and rain?
Could she tell, or did she care,
by the length of his hair
or the heat of his flesh, ...
that her faceless companion
was Uther, the dragon,
and Gorlois lay dead?
Author's note: The legend of what happened "on a dark and stormy" night at Tintagel is endlessly intriguing. Supposedly, Merlin transformed Uther Pendragon to look like Gorlois so that Uther could sleep with Ygraine, the lovely wife of the unlucky duke. While Uther was enjoying Ygraine’s lovemaking, Gorlois was off getting himself killed. Did Igraine suspect that her lover was not her husband? In any case, Artur/Artos/Arthur was the child conceived out of this supernatural (?) encounter.
Well done! I assume you have read Tennyson, Morris, and EAR, but how about Charles Williams's long Taliesin poems? Do you have any favorites? I like Morris's Defence of Guenevere by a wide margin, other than the famous passages from Tennyson.
I have read "all the above" plus many ancient Celtic myths that predate the christianized Arthurian legends.
My all-time favorite is "The Once and Future King."
For poems I like these poems of mine better than Tennyson, EAR and Morris:
At Tintagel
Isolde's Song
Morgause's Song
Midsummer Eve
The Pictish Faeries
It Is NOT the Sword
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment.
Once and Future King made me a lover of medieval literature. I fear it is too advanced for the YA abilities these days. Tried learning Middle Welsh and Old Irish but it didn’t take.
You might like my translation of the ancient Welsh poem “The Hall of Cynddylan”:
https://michaelrburch.substack.com/p/the-hall-of-cynddylan
And the ancient Irish poem "Song of Amergin":
https://michaelrburch.substack.com/p/the-song-of-amergin
I knew the Song of Amergin, but not that bleak Cynddylan. Wow. It certainly is as good as anything in Old English save for a few riddles and perhaps The Wanderer.
The bleak “Hall of Cynddylan” reminds me most of another ancient masterpiece, "The Ruin," and of passages in "The Wanderer."
I would also add "Wulf and Eadwacer" which is probably the first English poem by a female poet.
https://michaelrburch.substack.com/p/before-beowulf-there-was-wulf
Have you translated all the Exeter riddles? 85 to me is the most beautiful as poetry and as religiously somewhat profound.
Boom, I love all of this. Thank you Michael.
Glad you liked them!
"At Tintagel" is one of my favourite poems by you, based on the Arthurian legends. For me, it captures perfectly in words what the film director John Boorman endeavoured to do at the beginning of his great movie, "Excalibur", and there is something dark and sinister and quite magical about it, all at the same time. Perhaps you were indeed touched by Merlin's wand when you wrote this!
At Tintagel
by Michael R. Burch
That night,
at Tintagel,
there was darkness such as man had never seen ...
darkness and treachery,
and the unholy thundering of the sea ...
In his arms,
who can say how much she knew?
And if he whispered her name ...
“Ygraine!”
... could she tell above the howling wind and rain?
Could she tell, or did she care,
by the length of his hair
or the heat of his flesh, ...
that her faceless companion
was Uther, the dragon,
and Gorlois lay dead?
Author's note: The legend of what happened "on a dark and stormy" night at Tintagel is endlessly intriguing. Supposedly, Merlin transformed Uther Pendragon to look like Gorlois so that Uther could sleep with Ygraine, the lovely wife of the unlucky duke. While Uther was enjoying Ygraine’s lovemaking, Gorlois was off getting himself killed. Did Igraine suspect that her lover was not her husband? In any case, Artur/Artos/Arthur was the child conceived out of this supernatural (?) encounter.
Beautiful