Upon his horse this blackguard rides to war
His axe to cleave the poor tied to his side
His baritonal cries antecedent to death
He quells revolts before they’ve yet begun.
Amoral machine of war is he –
Operatic swine in syncopated rhyme.
Know his name through-out the world of time,
Whether Genghis, Attila or proud Napoleon,
Who thought to reign for all eternity …
Yet in the ground he met reality.
Oh leaders know the law is truly one …
You’ll feed the worms, just like everyone.
(c) G.s.k. ’14
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Mindlovesmisery’s Menagerie : Wordle #35
The wordle contains 12 words those words are:
1. Blackguard 2. Operatic 3. Swine 4. Horse 5. Cleave 6. Axe 7. Poor 8. Revolt 9. Antecedent 10. Machine 11. Baritone 12. Amoral (neither moral nor immoral)
You have created an imposing character wow!
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Thanks Yves … another interesting wordle!
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Fascinating word play–and such a powerful image of power run amuck. I am currently reading a history of the Crusades, and the plethora of blackguards is stunning.
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Thanks Jhanagan! Reading history .. of just about any period gives us an interesting view of all the blackguards that have run amok mussing up normal people’s lives … Glad you enjoyed the word play! 🙂
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And even more word play. I’m sure you know that amuck/amok supports both spellings, but mussing? I’m flommoxed!
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Sure … I’m just used to amok .. I live in Italy and for years have switched back and forth from English published books to American published books so my personal English is rather a hodgepodge … I’ve been corrected by both at one time or another … my favourite is hiccup and hiccough … but I keep my Word Editor rigorously in American English.
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I like this, especially the last two (fabulous!) lines.
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Thanks so much Barb dear .. hope your doing well!
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FINALLY made it back to Glasgow after two trips Stateside to get house ready to sell, another trip down to England for friend’s funeral, and a few side trips. Hope I can spend more time reading your beautiful posts going forward!
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What a globetrotter you’ve become … hope you’ll be able to settle and rest a bit. BTW you do have a better heating system now than you did in England, right? It’s getting on to cold!
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Powerful thoughts. War is always a monstrous thing. Although it’s a much different genre, Motorhead’s song Orgasmatron addresses war as a personality in a similar way to what you have done here. The title implies that some people and institutions have a sexualized lust for war and claiming power over others.
http://poetryofthenetherworld.blogspot.com/2014/11/quiet-people-have-loudest-minds.html
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Thanks for the link which I’ll read with pleasure … there is probably something orgiastic for those who rape, pillage and plunder … they say power is a fantastic sexual stimulant for some people and I’m sure the personages in my poem must have gotten quite a charge from their power.
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Very powerful indeed — I liked the phrase about the axe meant to cleave the poor — very much part of reality —-
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Yep … I had to re-write the poem … was trying to get it into a cavatina .. but too many spondee and dactyls 😀
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Bad spondee! Bad dactyl! Use the paper NOT the floor! 😉
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Exactly!!!! 😀
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It is said history repeats itself. Only because those in charge think they can avoid the ‘ground’.
Every leader should have to read this, memorize it and maybe even eat it.
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🙂 Amen .. History is one of those subjects that’s sorely neglected in this age of post Illuministic progress … funny though, it keeps repeating itself and I agree it’s because there’s no one with any power who knows what’s happened before them.
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Simply brilliant and mighty words. If only those who lust after such things had your understanding. I realise they wouldn’t chase such things should they have your wisdom.
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Unfortunately power is a might Lorelei for many … Thanks for reading the poem, I enjoyed your feedback!
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