Faecurse

TOO MUCH MIDDLE ENGLISH FANTASY READINGS SEND HELP

In the month that God did craft the world,

(March, that is, apparently)

I met a woman in the woods,

At the roots of the great tree.

"Prithee", said she, "I seek your aid,

For I'm a victim of the night.

I cannot help the way I'm made,

But in this dark I've taken fright".

But being as I was quite drunk,

And overcome with lechery,

I would not play the hero's part,

And with her person I made free.

She fought my hand with nails cruel,

She cursed me twice and thrice anew,

But though at times I play the fool,

In bedroom sport I'm passion through.

At last I freed her from my blade,

And she was clear into the trees,

My hold on wakefulness did fade,

And my drunken self slipped into dreams.

But there was I in for surprise.

For the night had crept into my head.

The shades of dead men fought to rise,

Surrounded me, and softly said -

"No Cicero you, the flouting Jack,

Harness us, you harness all -

But lest you try and mount attack,

We warn you that you are in thrall."

"You've free with fae; their queen, no less.

La Belle Dame, without mercy,

What she'll do is dead men's guess,

But you are cursed, that we can see."

And then the shades did pull away,

And I was forced to open eyes.

The sun was bright with dawning day,

The trees were without shadow's guise.

But I was cursed; the dead men's plan

For making free with faerie queen.

The night had aged me forty spans,

The world had turned by me unseen.

So if you wander in the night,

And womanfolk do seek your aid,

Mayhap 'tis you who should take fright!

In this, the world that God has made.