Done on a blank by Lady Mærith af Weselax. The text reads:
Reck ye the wordis wyse and wonder-full
of Paul and Aryanhwy, Drachenwaldish kings:
A preyse-woorthi lyfe values but vertu merritt-ful
and to a chast lyfe the wertws one clings;
commits no vyce, has grace and reddie witt,
ys meete and modest yn beryng and speche
bringys report to all of all wich be fit,
teches and succors all within reche
yn daunsynge and plaie; eke, to serue and leade.
Stond twoo here nowe, the moost bright and blest,
that kings deme moost hie of werdis and dede,
of curteys berying, with Goddes grace imprest.
Nowe from our hondis the dragonnes bowle take,
Genevieve Rouge Mauche and Caversham who Robert hight,
in token of owre esteeme and for owre own dere sake.
This do we both on this eue of twelft nyght
yn Dragonnes-schyre of auncient fayme
and sett to owre hondes to scele the sayme.
The poem was mostly written by my Evil Twin, on the basis of this poem that I hacked together, with the help of Joel, a bottle of Raspberry Tart, and Newy Year's Eeve:
Rede ye now the wyse and wonderful words
of Paul and Aryanhwy, Drachenwaldish kings
A praiseworthy life values virtue above swords,
And a life pure and clene .... sings
To commit no vice, to have good grace, redie wit
To be meet and seemly in garb and in speech
To stand as witness to others of all that is fit
And teaching and enriching all in their reach,
To dance and to play, to serve and to lead.
Before us stand the best and the brightest
Who have set themselves above the rest by deed
By word, by dress, by kenning of all things blest.
Now from our hands the bowle of the Dragon take
Genevieve la flechiere and Robert of Canterbury
As witness of our esteem and for our own sake
So done we this day, the fourth day of January
The eve of 12th Night, anno societatis forty-three
Signed by our hands in Lyndhurst, by Burley.
The end result was much nicer than the beginning!
© 2013, Sara L. Uckelman, liana@ellipsis.cx.
