Wednesday Poetry Challenge #2

FAR away, where the swallows fly when our winter comes on, lived a King who had eleven sons, and one daughter named Eliza. The eleven brothers were Princes, and each went to school with a star on his breast and his sword by his side.

They wrote with pencils of diamond upon slates of gold, and learned by heart just as well as they read; one could see directly that they were Princes. Their sister Eliza sat upon a little stool of plate-glass, and had a picture-book which had been bought for the value of half a kingdom.

  Oh, the children were particularly well off; but it was not always to remain so.   Their father, who was king of the whole country, married a bad Queen who did not love the poor children at all. On the very first day they could notice this.

In the whole palace there was great feasting, and the children were playing there. Then guests came; but instead of the children receiving, as they had been accustomed to do, all the spare cake and all the roasted apples, they only had some sand given them in a tea-cup, and were told that they might make believe that was something good.

  The next week the Queen took the little sister Eliza into the country, to a peasant and his wife; and but a short time had elapsed before she told the King so many falsehoods about the poor Princes, that he did not trouble himself any more about them. 

“Fly out into the world and get your own living,” said the wicked Queen. “Fly like great birds without a voice.”  5   But she could not make it so bad for them as she had intended, for they became eleven magnificent wild swans. With a strange cry they flew out of the palace windows, far over the park and into the wood.  

http://www.susanjeffers-art.com/swanspg1.html

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My version of a section of

“Wild Swans” by Hans Christian  Anderson. As read to me by my Dad.

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When winter comes our swallows sing then

fly to the land of a happy and blessed king.

He had eleven sons all fair and true

He even had a beautiful daughter too.

The Princes went to school each day with pride

A shiny bright star upon their breast and a sword at their side.

The sons wore their princely baring for all to see, they wrote with pencils of gold

They were well read and duly learned by heart all that they read and were told.

Their sister the Eliza fair sat all of her days on a plate-glass chair.

And she owned for the price of half a kingdom a picture book to feast her eyes on.

So happy were the children their lives full of love and such joys they had.

Good times do not always last and their father took for his queen a woman who was bad.

The new queen wanted the king for her own and the children were no longer welcome in their home.

The children were happily playing until the wedding guests arrived

Looking on  the feast, to which they had been denied.

They were unaccustomed to being unfed and pushed aside

The king did not notice he was too intent upon his bride.

The children found it hard to believe a cup of sand was all that they received.

They were told make the best of it and pretend it was good food, in fact to make believe.

The queen had a black heart and did not want Eliza near so she took away her fine life

Out into the country away from the palace and left Eliza with a farmer and his wife.

Using her evil tongue she whispered in the king’s ear blackening the princes names.

He soon began to ignore them and forget them, he no longer joined them at their games.

The queen grew impatient with the princes and demanded they fly away

And make their own way in the world. She did  not want them here one more day.

“Go, grow feathers and take flight and may you all be mute.”

Things did not go all her way because as they left they turned to her in salute

The were beautiful fine white swans who circled the castle then

Disappeared away in to the wood.

your turn now