Chivalry is Never Dead – fantasy poem
Chivalry is Never Dead – a fantasy poem of a knight’s honor
This is a fantasy poem written somewhat tongue-in-cheek, about a knight who with great disdain takes affront to an innocent comment made to a Lady of the Court by a passing commoner — and in the name of “chivalry” strikes both the man and his servant dead, in the middle of the street — and then rides off to the yonder castle without a passing thought. Some people just have no sense of humor, at all. Of course — there is a warning here: “Don’t tick off anyone with a sword who’s wearing armor”. There’s also something of a lesson: That while we often remember the glory of this violent Age, we often forget of its sheer brutality, and its callous indifference to life, especially the lives of those not in the nobility, or of lesser station. One of my first fantasy poems after Tasmerelda.
Chivalry is Never Dead – a fantasy poem of a knight’s honor
copyright jon gutmacher 2011
Chivalry is never dead!
hand on hilt
to varlet said
“Chivalry will never die
but certainly
you will!”
“How dare you speak
to this Lady, fair
or even think
to touch her hair
this slight cannot go
unavenged
of that
I am
too sure!”
“So draw your blade
and meet your death
you scum of earth
you varlet pest
You have no honor
you have no place
except neath earth
in ground”
And with those words
the knight drew his sword
and smote the varlet
and then his ward
and let their blood
soak all the ground
as warning, yes –
to all around
“For Chivalry
it is my trust!
To avenge all maidens
that, I must
And varlets who dwell or
walk these lands
Beware
my blade
runs deep
And then the knight
put sword in sheath
and mounted his horse
so very neat
then rode away
to castle yon
without a care
or thought
For knights of old
had tempers quick
and always ready
their sword to stick
into most anyone who would offend
their honor, maids, or King
And so this poem ends
as all poems must
but like the knight
it gathers dust
and while the pen is mightier
than the sword
that’s because
there are no knights
about
The background fantasy image is one of my favorites, and is “The Last Day” by the incredible Austrian artist, Alexander Kofler. It appears with permission, and can be found at his website https://www.artstation.com/screenpainting
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