Contest#3 - September "Capture a Character" Poems

Benisse

Benisse

Perelandrian
Staff member
Royal Guard
What: Pick a Character from the Chronicles and capture him or her in a poem that is 20 lines or less.

Any meter and rhyme scheme, including free verse, is acceptable --within the line limit. Editing of submissions is permissible until this forum is locked after the deadline.

Multiple entries are fine!

Also, so we can spread the awards around, once one of your poems is selected as a winner, your other entries will no longer be contenders. However depending on how submissions go we may have a Poet Laureate award to recognize exceptional quality in multiple poems.

Example:
Wrong will be right
when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar,
sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth,
winter meets its death,
And when he shakes his mane,
we shall have spring again.

(from C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)

Deadline: Posted to this thread anytime between today through September 30, 2010 Pacific Daylight Time. Judging will take place at the beginning of October.

Virtual Prizes will be awarded in the form of special recognition avvies
(see the Call for Designer thread in this section
http://www.narniafans.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27452
if you would like to join the prize design team :) )
 
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I'll participate. I could die a pauper as a poet, but I will try it here, LOL! Narnia is so special I am sure I could do a somewhat decent job.
 
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NOTE: This is not an entry, merely another example to get us started ;). Some of you may have seen this poem before. I used Puddleglum from the Silver Chair as inspiration.

The sky is clear, but it will surely rain,

Or else the sun will burn; it is too hot.

This pleasant season cannot long remain.

The sweetest blossom cannot fail to rot.

Are giants near? Oh well, I will accept.

It's just my lot to end up as a meal.

You'll find it far more simple to adapt

When you expect the worst kind of ordeal.

Suppose it's true that I've made up each star

The grass, the trees, and all life up above

And this dull land, this ugly, gaping scar

Alone exists, cut off from hope and love.

For Narnia I'll stand though none exists.

Despite compelling falsehoods, truth persists.


I'm looking forward to seeing what you all come up with, and I have no doubt that Benisse and the other judges will have their work cut out for them ;).
 
Alright ALRIGHT,I'll enter:

I choose Peter:


Poor Peter Pevensie
We know him magnificently
as the high king of narnia
The bravest of the knights
not fearing gruesome sights
and ruling with a gentle heart.
But LO! someone has gone
and changed you up all wrong
now you're a brat
and with the tip of a hat
you'll bellow hard and long
We're so sorry what happened to you
we still know that you are true
the lovely High King Peter
ruler of Golden Narnia​

There,I used reference to the film and books.
I hope I entered right!
 
I tried writing some free verse based on a random character. This is written from the perspective of Beech (a dryad) who warns King Tirian that the living trees are being cut down right before her own tree is cut, thus ending her own life.

The Last Memories of a Beech

The last leaves circle to the mossy carpet below,
The sun gleams through a misty morning.
It is the last day of our forest.

The birds take to wing,
They do not wish to stay where the dryads can no longer sing.

They fall like dancers to the floor,
The last breathe of my kindred- my friends.
Soon the spirits of the trees will vanish into myth and lore.

The squirrels inquire as to the trees,
They scurry beneath me sorrowfully,
The air is thick with echoes as axe and blade tear down the shade.

They fall like dancers to the floor,
They sing their last chorus,
The birds in the air above, the deer below… home is no longer in this forest.
 
Narniamoondust,
At last! someone righting the distortion of Peter's character in the film. Thanks for vindicating him ;)

Ferny,
How evocative! Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful vignette...

Miss.Sunflower
Sure! and I'm so glad you are thinking about doing a poem on Edmund!

P.S. here is another sample poem (= not an entry), "One Bite" -- See if you can guess
who I am writing about.
-------------------------------
One bite!
everlasting beauty,
unfailing strength,
unending days,

yet

despair...

doomed to
me, myself

forever

glacial
ruthlessness
and the
horror
horror
horror
of my
heart's desire
 
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Here's my entry, although I'm planning to try to think up another.

King Edmund

Once a traitor, now forgiven,
He took his second chance
And rebuilt trust his wrongs had riven.

Once put to shame by mercy’s glance,
He’s now a noble king
Whose confidence shows in his stance.

He shows all justice when they bring
Their problems to his throne:
He has great wisdom in this thing.

He trusts not in himself alone
But rather in the One
Whose death did for his sins atone.

Aslan’s child and Adam’s son,
By love and duty driven,
He’ll work until his days are done.
 
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Wow Zella
cool rhyme scheme!

Encore, encore!

I can't wait to see what Miss.Sunflower does with Edmund now :) !
Looking forward to hearing more from Barbarian King and Aslan's Messenger too...
 
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i'm not that good at rhyming and making poems, but here goes...

Eustace Clarence Scrubb

Eustace Clarence,
That was his name,
And some they swore upon it,
For he was a rather horrid boy,
Even his parents would admit it.
His name was written in permanent ink,
Upon the principles slip,
Before he fell into a ship.
Quite unhappy he was now,
Though later he would sing,
For he was stuck with his cousins, and a very young king.
They started to moan,
As he made to whine,
But his attitude changed as they started to dine.
The heat rose when he fought with the king,
But all of that changed when he put on a ring.
Now in dragon form though he is,
And sad though it ‘tis,
He is now better company.
And we no longer suffer in agony.

Not the best, maybe I will come up with something better later.
 
Yay! a poem about Eustace :)
He is one of my favorite characters because he changed so much...
 
Here is mine! If you read down the first letters of each section spell Edmunds name

Everlasting love I found
Died he for me without a sound
Mighty Aslan gave me life
Undergoing pain that night
Now I give myself to him
Dawn will find me clean of sin
 
I like the fact that not only your poem is an acrostic, but that it has a double meaning -- It could be true in both the Narnian world as well as in our world if we substitute our name for Edmund's...
 
Benisse said:
Narniamoondust,
At last! someone righting the distortion of Peter's character in the film. Thanks for vindicating him ;)

Ferny,
How evocative! Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful vignette...

Miss.Sunflower
Sure! and I'm so glad you are thinking about doing a poem on Edmund!

P.S. here is another sample poem (= not an entry), "One Bite" -- See if you can guess
who I am writing about.
-------------------------------
One bite!
everlasting beauty,
unfailing strength,
unending days,

yet

despair...

doomed to
me, myself

forever

glacial
ruthlessness
and the
horror
horror
horror
of my
heart's desire
Click to expand...

is it about trurksh delight?
 
Oh all right, I'll also enter a poem. ;) If I don't win a prize, I can soothe my poor delicate ego by saying, truthfully, that I wrote this on the spur of the moment, before breakfast. (Meanwhile, I really liked the Edmund acrostic.)


To His Majesty,
King Frank
the First of Narnia


Swift crisis brings one's character to view,
But character takes decades to be formed;
Still, Aslan, being God Almighty, knew
Before your birth, that you should be the lord

And master of His Narnian domain.
Much like King Arthur's youth, you underwent
The lessons of hard labor, even pain,
In England's working class, for Aslan meant

Your life to teach responsibility,
Compassion, justice, and all worthy things,
So you would reign with love, not selfishly,
When crowned as first of all this new land's kings.

You earned your Helen's love in your old home,
And earned the love of thousands from your throne.
 
Yes, absolutely Jadis. And now, just to show diversity....


A Haiku for Glimfeather
(in "The Silver Chair")


The Owls understand:
Those who interfere may be
Moved by loyalty.
 
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