Everlasting Love

My first attempt at a poem of this kind, for the Poetic Story Contest.

‘Twas on the cliffs of Tintagel
that this story shall begin.
Uther, the new Pendragon,
asked Merlin’s help to get within

the grand castle, where Igraine lived;
the beauty had stolen his heart.
With magic, mist and an old cloak,
Uther cunningly played the part

of Igraine’s husband, gone to war.
The guards did not have a clue
that this tall man was not their Lord;
they saw what they wished to be true.

Igraine and Uther spent the night
in very predictable ways.
But they awoke to horrid news,
carried on the new morning’s rays.

Igraine’s husband, he lived no more,
had not made it through the night.
His party had been surrounded,
and there’d been a terrible fight.

There wasn’t a time for mourning;
Uther had made up his mind.
The widow was to be his Queen,
their destinies would be entwined.

Theirs was a love everlasting,
and a special baby was born,
who would unite Great Britain,
would mend what was currently torn

by war and the invaders.
This boy would bring peace to the lands.
Together with the lesser Kings,
he defeated the raiding war bands.

But do not be fooled by the Bards;
though most of their songs are correct,
when it comes to this High King’s true love,
to their stories I truly object.

Arthur Pendragon did lose his heart,
like his father, Uther, had before.
Gwenhwyfar was his Lady of choice,
and he couldn’t have loved her more.

Together they built Camelot,
and sought to turn wrong into right.
Together they’d go to war
and side by side they would fight.

Unlike what you may believe,
Gwenhwyfar never did stray.
Devoted she was to her man;
she stood by him to his final day.

And from the heavens above,
gazing down with a warm smile,
Igraine and Uther watched, waiting,
to take them to Avalon’s Isle,

and rest there, safe and secure,
until Britain’s next time of need,
when, against the darkness,
an army of light they will lead.



~~~

Line count = 56 lines