Bold Paganus takes arms and goes

THLord Paganus Grimlove
fallen in Fall Crown Tourney, A.S. XLII

Bold Paganus takes arms and goes
to fight for Mercy, Crown, and fame.
The day starts well; he overthrows
brave Andrew Baird in Mercy’s name.
But jarl and knight prove deadly foes,
well-skilled in battle’s brutal game;
they shower Paganus with blows
and thwart the archer in his aim.
No Throne awaits him, but he knows
defeat with honor brings no shame;
the warrior of Wolf and Rose
steps forward now instead to claim
the brighter and more lasting crown
of glory, praise, and high renown.

Note: the ababababababcc rhyme scheme of this poem echoes that of “Alas! So All Things Now Do Hold Their Peace,” by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (c. 1517-1547). Surrey’s poem represents an early English experiment in the sonnet form. This poem differs from Surrey’s in using iambic tetrameter, rather than pentameter.

— Mistress Fionnabhair Kyriath Inghean ui Neill

...an expatriate Irishwoman living in the Low Countries, spends her time working with her needle or wrestling the Muse of Poetry (in which latter contests she usually gets the worst of the bargain).

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