Battle Poetry

[hfeld@ids2.idsonline.com (Harold Feld)]

Poster: hfeld@ids2.idsonline.com (Harold Feld)

Greetings from Yaakov, mercenary poet and sometime herald:

So you want to sound snazzy as you enter the list, issue challenges in
poetic form, and knock the socks off your opponent before entering the
list?

No problem!

Consider the virtues of poetry for hire.  I can handle a variety of forms
from Ballades (for you Rapier types who admire Cyrano) to A-S and Viking
stuff.  Consider how just a few set pieces can enhance your reputation and
your image.

Would you further enhance your honor, the honor of the list, and the
pleasure of the crowd assembled there that day?  Hire a herald!  There is
no need to rely on "the king's vopice" to annouynce you in the list.  Make
a badge or some other token of livery and hire a herald for the day.  This
retainer shall go before you, announcing your presence and challenges.

Good gentles, these are perfectly period practices!  There is no more shame
in hiring a poet for this purpose than in hiring an armorer to make your
helm.  And as for hiring a herald, I can think of no greater sign of the
obvious poverty of our warriors that no one, not even our nobility, bring
their own retainers and heralds with them.

Nor need you stop at poetic challenges!  What more chivalrous way to honor
your foe than to commission a poem in praise of his bravery and skill.
Inspirations!  How better to honor the one you inspire than to have his or
her deeds live through the ages in a poem.  Did not the family of William
the Marshall so immortalize him?  And you warriors- what can be more
romantic than declaiming your undying devotion as you prepare to die upon
the field?

My prices are eminently reasonable.  Samples of my poetry are available
upon request (some have even appeared in this list).

In service to mercenary poetry, and increasing its appreciation as a craft
and not some mystical "art", I remain,

Mar Yaakov HaMizrachi

Harold Feld
SCA
Yaakov HaMizrachi

"Do not ask 'Why are these days not as good as the days of old?' This
question is not prompted by wisdom." -Eccl.


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