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Stranger At The Hearth

Hold hard friend and give thy attention to this oft rendered tale,

In truth I share it with thee for tis one ignored at thy peril,

As we sit here happily ensconced twixt warm hearth and cold ale,

Let I warn thee of the dangerous temptings cast by the the devil.

 

First look at the ale that be there in thy hand,

And recall the times it crept upon thee til recollection had died yet,

And who knows friend, what ill nefarious demands,

The dark one placed upon thee that thee woke with such regret?

 

Then cast thy beer swilled eye upon the playful maidens,

Be not coy friend, it's not as if I ain't seen thee doin' it already,

I can see the blood rising in thy cheeks as thine eyes follow the fall and rise of their breasts,

Think not on the fact thee have a loving wife at home both true and steady.

 

Then look upon thy neighbour at the table next,

See how the coin doth flow from his pockets as if to never end?

Thou art a, "Good man,"  and the fact that he hath more should leave thee vexed,

Perhaps when he be sat in a drunk stupor thou couldst relieve him of it friend?

 

So let me get thee another ale and come join I at the fire,

It's warm here and thee need not concern thyself about my name,

Think of me as, an old friend, and the gatekeeper to all it is that thee desire,

And have another ale and come join I in the flames.

 

◄ Sitting On The Shores

The Deity Screams ►

Comments

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Jason Bayliss

Sun 1st Sep 2019 22:31

"Cor, well m'dear, I thank ee kindly for thy words of comfort ?.

J. x

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Mae Foreman

Sun 1st Sep 2019 21:02

Ingenious inception! Well planned and crafted! Contact Tom Waits? Very well done my friend!?
Mae

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Jason Bayliss

Wed 28th Aug 2019 16:22

Ha ha, no Cynthia. I saw a documentary once that said if we went back to the middle ages and spoke English to those English speakers they'd barely understand a word, so although I do know some of the spellings, I think it would be too confusing. I did originally write it completely in, "Modern speak," but then it didn't seem to sound quite right.?

J. x

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Cynthia Buell Thomas

Wed 28th Aug 2019 12:36

A delightful jaunt of imagination! Full of vitality and validity. Not easy to mock the period language. Well done!

Did you even consider the 'spelling' of the period? OMG!

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Jason Bayliss

Mon 26th Aug 2019 16:17

Thanks Don and thank you Heart, I enjoyed this quite a bit even though I'm sure that grammatically, in some places, it's probably not quite in line with the time it's set in my mind.
i suppose there truly is, "Many a slip twixt a cup and a lip."?

J. x

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Heart of Lead

Mon 26th Aug 2019 14:55

I love the language play here and how old fashioned it is, almost like a ballad.

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Don Matthews

Sun 25th Aug 2019 23:27

Your 'experiment' really got me in Jason. What's going on here I thought. Oft, tis, twixt ? I like the sound of this.

Interestingly it didn't register with me as rhyme despite the use of end rhymes.

Being written on a Sunday I hope the rise and fall of breasts did not lead you astray.

Grab a beer
Cheers ?

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Jason Bayliss

Sun 25th Aug 2019 22:27

Thank you Avishek, fish, Devon, Julia and Blackrose for liking.
Don't know what took me down this road really, just a fleeting idea of the devil dressed as an old man sat at a tavern fireplace gently leading the world astray. Bit of an experiment really, glad you liked it.

J. x

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