today's poem
Is not about dildos like I suggested in the comments to my last post it might be, since the ones that spring to mind are Nashe's Choice of Valentines, which is very long (the poem, not the...oh, all right, the poem AND the dildo), and Rochester's "Monsieur Dildo," and I just don't like Rochester very much, because I am profoundly uncool. I suppose I could look for another one, like the one I sang along with at SAA a couple of years ago in the company of many famous early modernists, but that's a lot of work.
Instead, here is a poem about chess pieces which is much less controversial than, say, Middleton's take on the same topic (NB: I have not forgotten Middleton, just haven't had much time lately to read him with the attention that my long and rambling posts require). But hey, at least it is not horrifically depressing.
The Chess Play
Nicholas Breton
A secret many years unseen,
In play at chess, who knows the game:
First of the King, and then the Queen,
Knight, Bishop, Rook, and so by name
Of every Pawn I will descry
The nature with the quality.
THE KING
The King himself is haughty care,
Which overlooketh all his men,
And when he seeth how they fare,
He steps among them now and then;
Whom, when his foe presumes to check,
His servants stand to give the neck.
THE QUEEN
The Queen is quaint and quick conceit,
Which makes her walk which way she list,
And roots them up that lie in wait
To work her treason, ere she wist;
Her force is such against her foes
That whom she meets she overthrows.
THE KNIGHT
The Knight is knowledge how to fight
Against his Prince's enemies.
He never makes his walk outright,
But leaps and skips, in wily wise,
To take by sleight a trait'rous foe
Might slily seek their overthrow.
THE BISHOP
The Bishop he is witty brain
That chooseth crossest paths to pace,
And evermore he pries with pain
To see who seeks him most disgrace.
Such stragglers when he finds astray,
He takes them up, and throws away.
THE ROOKS
The Rooks are reason on both sides,
Which keep the corner-houses still,
And warily stand to watch their tides,
By secret art to work their will,
To take sometimes a thief unseen
Might mischief mean to King or Queen.
THE PAWNS
The Pawn before the King is peace,
Which he desires to keep at home;
Practice, the Queen's, which doth not cease
Amid the world abroad to roam,
To find and fall upon each foe
Whereas his mistress means to go.
Before the Knight is peril placed,
Which he, by skipping, overgoes,
And yet that Pawn can work a cast
To overthrow his greatest foes;
The Bishop's, prudence, prying still
Which way to work his master's will.
The Rooks' poor Pawns are silly swains,
Which seldom serve, except by hap,
And yet those Pawns can lay their trains
To catch a great man in a trap:
So that I see sometime a groom
May not be spared from his room.
THE NATURE OF THE CHESS MEN
The King is stately, looking high;
The Queen doth bear like majesty;
The Knight is hardy, valiant, wise;
The Bishop, prudent and precise;
The Rooks, no rangers out of ray;
The Pawns, the pages in the play.
LENVOY
Then rule with care and quick conceit,
And fight with knowledge, as with force;
So bear a brain to dash deceit,
And work with reason and remorse;
Forgive a fault when young men play,
So give a mate, and go your way.
And when you play, beware of Check;
Know how to save, and give, a neck;
And with a Check, beware of Mate;
But chief, ware "had I wist" too late.
Lose not the Queen, for ten to one,
If she be lost, the game is gone.
Instead, here is a poem about chess pieces which is much less controversial than, say, Middleton's take on the same topic (NB: I have not forgotten Middleton, just haven't had much time lately to read him with the attention that my long and rambling posts require). But hey, at least it is not horrifically depressing.
The Chess Play
Nicholas Breton
A secret many years unseen,
In play at chess, who knows the game:
First of the King, and then the Queen,
Knight, Bishop, Rook, and so by name
Of every Pawn I will descry
The nature with the quality.
THE KING
The King himself is haughty care,
Which overlooketh all his men,
And when he seeth how they fare,
He steps among them now and then;
Whom, when his foe presumes to check,
His servants stand to give the neck.
THE QUEEN
The Queen is quaint and quick conceit,
Which makes her walk which way she list,
And roots them up that lie in wait
To work her treason, ere she wist;
Her force is such against her foes
That whom she meets she overthrows.
THE KNIGHT
The Knight is knowledge how to fight
Against his Prince's enemies.
He never makes his walk outright,
But leaps and skips, in wily wise,
To take by sleight a trait'rous foe
Might slily seek their overthrow.
THE BISHOP
The Bishop he is witty brain
That chooseth crossest paths to pace,
And evermore he pries with pain
To see who seeks him most disgrace.
Such stragglers when he finds astray,
He takes them up, and throws away.
THE ROOKS
The Rooks are reason on both sides,
Which keep the corner-houses still,
And warily stand to watch their tides,
By secret art to work their will,
To take sometimes a thief unseen
Might mischief mean to King or Queen.
THE PAWNS
The Pawn before the King is peace,
Which he desires to keep at home;
Practice, the Queen's, which doth not cease
Amid the world abroad to roam,
To find and fall upon each foe
Whereas his mistress means to go.
Before the Knight is peril placed,
Which he, by skipping, overgoes,
And yet that Pawn can work a cast
To overthrow his greatest foes;
The Bishop's, prudence, prying still
Which way to work his master's will.
The Rooks' poor Pawns are silly swains,
Which seldom serve, except by hap,
And yet those Pawns can lay their trains
To catch a great man in a trap:
So that I see sometime a groom
May not be spared from his room.
THE NATURE OF THE CHESS MEN
The King is stately, looking high;
The Queen doth bear like majesty;
The Knight is hardy, valiant, wise;
The Bishop, prudent and precise;
The Rooks, no rangers out of ray;
The Pawns, the pages in the play.
LENVOY
Then rule with care and quick conceit,
And fight with knowledge, as with force;
So bear a brain to dash deceit,
And work with reason and remorse;
Forgive a fault when young men play,
So give a mate, and go your way.
And when you play, beware of Check;
Know how to save, and give, a neck;
And with a Check, beware of Mate;
But chief, ware "had I wist" too late.
Lose not the Queen, for ten to one,
If she be lost, the game is gone.