Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Quoth Stephen Booth

"It's not saying anything interesting; poems rarely do." – Professor Stephen Booth


“Alliterating all around” by Sam Urfer


Saints and soothsayers have this in common,

Crass crowds crucify them for their message.

Many a martyr has been made this way,

Withholding no wisdom or wit to live

Longer, lest they be found liars in death.

Do not doubt that destiny has a time

To test any temperament, a season

To search out souls and see what lies beneath.

Be bold, then, and believe, for the prophets

Provide perfectly pleasant company.

1 comment:

Liz said...

I like it! All Nordic-lovers should have a taste for alliterative poetry; and I do! The tradition was carried over in English well into Christian times by the Mystery Plays of Northern England.