Donations are essential to keep Write Out Loud going    

IF THEY COME

entry picture

A re-post about a time when we had proper invasions.

 

Will they come through the darkness? Will they come?

Or screaming with the dawning of the sun?

Is it time to fire the beacon

Lest men’s resolve should weaken?

Should we tell the boy to beat the battle drum?

 

Does that eastern glow mean Jarrow’s over-run

And presages the stinking Viking scum?

To visit us with thunder

To pillage, rape and plunder

Returning thence to Norway whence they come?

 

Will they nail our Christian priests to churches doors?

Will they take our women for their Saxon whores?

Our children as their slaves

Then sail across the waves

To raise them as a Viking for their wars?

 

In Northumbria our ancestors have dwelt

We took it from the Walha and the Celt

They were harried and were pressed

To their wastelands in the West

To no-one has a Saxon ever knelt.

 

But has the waning of the Sais begun?

Do we see the setting of our sun?

Has wyrd decreed our course

To flee before the Norse

Or will we stand like Saxons if they come?

If they come.

◄ IT'S MY PARTY AND I'LL LIE IF I WANT TO

ALFIE THE INCORRIGIBLE OPTIMIST ►

Comments

Profile image

John Coopey

Tue 28th Mar 2023 11:53

Thankyou, Uilleam. I’ve had a bit of Viking in me; he was called Magnuss.
And thanks for the Likes, Kevin, Stephen and Aisha.

Profile image

Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh

Tue 28th Mar 2023 09:36

Thanks John; the British Isles have a fascinating history.
Unfortunately, the enemy's already within and well-known: they named a bottle of sauce after them- HP-Houses of Parliament.

Actually Graham- what did the Vikings ever do for us?
They gave me blood of the Vikings - Dupuytren's contracture, that's what.

I've had several operations on both hands, mostly sucessful; not a painful condition but inconconvenient, especially me being a musician.😉
https://www.topdoctors.co.uk/medical-articles/dupuytren-s-contracture-the-viking-disease-explained

Profile image

John Coopey

Tue 28th Mar 2023 07:44

Thankyou, Graham and Greg. And yes, Yorkshire abounds in Viking place names, sitting as it did east of the Danelaw line. And Northumberland (Northumbria) meant lands north of the River Humber, ie including Yorkshire..
Thanks for the Likes, John, Jack and Stephen.

Profile image

Greg Freeman

Tue 28th Mar 2023 06:20

I always thought most Yorkshiremen were Vikings, John! I love the Northumberland vibe and sense of history in this one.

Profile image

Graham Sherwood

Mon 27th Mar 2023 17:48

Excellent JC.
I don't think we haven viking members so you should be safe!

If you wish to post a comment you must login.

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

Find out more Hide this message