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The Song of the First King

Cleander
(@the-mad-poet-himself)
NarniaWeb Guru

Well, The Lion's Call Summer Reading Challenge of the Magician's Nephew wrapped up last week, and I wrote another poem as a sequel to my first one, which was about Jadis. This new one is a Narnian minstrel-song about Frank the first king.
Enjoy!

The Song of the First King, or, The Ballad of Frank
A Narnian Bard's Song

In darkness, when the world was born,
A Son of Adam saw the light.
From Lantern Waste he saw the morn,
If I recall the tales aright.

A man named Frank, of humble birth,
A driver of a wooden cart,
Was brought here from a place called Earth,
And with him, brought a noble heart.

When Aslan's song had waked the trees,
And roused the mighty river-gods,
He looked for one to rule all these,
To name the beasts and till the sod.

"My son," said he, "I've known you long.
Do you feel that you know me?"
And Frank, now filled with Aslan's song,
Replied, "I feel that it must be."

"Would it please your heart to dwell,
Within this land, for all your life?"
"Sir," said Frank, " I'd like it well,
If only I could bring my wife."

The Lion gave The Lion's Call*,
And quick as thought, the woman came,
With gladdened heart she saw it all,
For she and Frank were much the same.

"My children, you'll be King and Queen,
And yours shall be the royal line.
You'll rule o'er all that can be seen,
As guardians of this land of mine."

And with these words, the Lion told
The dwarfs to light their smithing-fire,
From trees of silver and of gold,
They wrought two crowns of shining wire.

And so the King and Queen were crowned,
And from their house great heroes rose,
Whose songs in hist'ry have gone down,
As everyone in Narnia knows.

They settled by the Eastern Sea,
And built the grand Cair Paravel,
They kept the Narnian kingdom free,
And ruled it wisely, just and well.

But one day in their mighty hall,
Upon their day of Jubilee,
An ancient centaur came to call,
And brought with him a prophecy.

"My Lord, you must erect four thrones,"
Said he, with wisdom in his eyes.
"For it is written, as in stones,
An awful bodement in the skies."

"An evil time will one day fall,
Upon this happy land of ours,
And to this end, you have been called,
To help restrain the evil powers."

"To me it has been clearly shown:
When Adam's flesh and Adam's bone,
Sits at Cair Paravel in throne,
The evil time shall be over and done."

Then Frank the King of Narnia gave,
An order that the thrones be made.
By this his country would be saved,
Long after he to rest was laid.

* Yeah, that "Lion's Call" thing's totally not a coincidence! :D

This topic was modified 1 year ago 2 times by Cleander

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Topic starter Posted : July 29, 2019 11:37 am
Varnafinde, johobbit, coracle and 1 people liked
Silverlily
(@silverlily)
NarniaWeb Junkie

The first stanza gave me actual chills.

"Bodement" yanked me out of the flow a bit though... not sure I've seen that term used before.

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Posted : January 20, 2023 4:13 pm
Cleander liked
littlgriz
(@tina)
NarniaWeb Regular

@the-mad-poet  hi that was butefull

in aslans paws have a good day

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Posted : August 2, 2023 4:21 pm
Cleander liked
coracle
(@coracle)
NarniaWeb's Auntie Moderator

I really like the care and detail you have put into this. Now I want to hear it sung!

There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself.
"...when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards."

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Posted : August 2, 2023 5:29 pm
Cleander liked
Cleander
(@the-mad-poet-himself)
NarniaWeb Guru

 

@tina Thanks so much! Glad you liked it.

@coracle Thanks! I have no idea what existing tune would work best for it. I have an idea for a Narnia fan film project I might do someday, so maybe I could work out a tune and have a scene of a minstrel singing this in a tavern at Cair Paravel!  

I also just realized that I got the "Adam's flesh and Adam's bone" rhyme slightly off from the book (should be "at" Cair Paravel, not "on"), so after 4 years I've finally fixed it. Grin  

This post was modified 1 year ago by Cleander

PM me to join the Search for the Seven Swords!
Co-founder of the newly restored Edmund Club!
Did I mention I have a YouTube Channel?: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCeuUaOTFts5BQV3c-CPlo_g
Check out my site: https://madpoetscave.weebly.com

signature by aileth

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Topic starter Posted : August 3, 2023 11:00 am
Courtenay
(@courtenay)
NarniaWeb Fanatic Hospitality Committee

@the-mad-poet Great to be reminded of this poem again — I love it! Grin   And actually, it contains an imaginative answer to one of the questions we were discussing in another thread recently, about what may have happened between the events of MN and LWW. That's an interesting idea that it was during Frank and Helen's reign that the prophecy was made and the four thrones were built. I doubt Lewis himself ever gave it much thought, but it is interesting to wonder about and it's nice to see it referred to here!

"Now you are a lioness," said Aslan. "And now all Narnia will be renewed."
(Prince Caspian)

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Posted : August 3, 2023 11:56 am
Cleander liked
littlgriz
(@tina)
NarniaWeb Regular

@the-mad-poet you are welcom 

in aslans paws have a good day

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Posted : August 3, 2023 12:49 pm
Cleander liked
coracle
(@coracle)
NarniaWeb's Auntie Moderator

@the-mad-poet I could imagine it being used in one of the Logos Theatre Narnia productions. They have excellent musical people alongside the dramatic.

There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself.
"...when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards."

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Posted : August 3, 2023 1:21 pm
Cleander liked
Cleander
(@the-mad-poet-himself)
NarniaWeb Guru

@coracle Oh that's right you've worked with them! Are you aware if there are proper channels to present them with something like this? I don't imagine they get random poems/ song ideas in the mail too often Grin

@courtenay, Thanks! I've been a little behind on forum discussion lately due to being busy, but I'm glad my poem is staying relevant LOL . The reign of Frank seemed as good a place as any for the prophecy, and would account for its origins being unclear in the book, but I suppose it could be weird for all the kings and queens prior to the Witch's rule to have four thrones just sitting under a sheet in Cair Paravel without any immediate purpose lol. 

This post was modified 1 year ago by Cleander

PM me to join the Search for the Seven Swords!
Co-founder of the newly restored Edmund Club!
Did I mention I have a YouTube Channel?: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCeuUaOTFts5BQV3c-CPlo_g
Check out my site: https://madpoetscave.weebly.com

signature by aileth

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Topic starter Posted : August 3, 2023 2:14 pm
coracle
(@coracle)
NarniaWeb's Auntie Moderator

@the-mad-poet I'll PM you. 

There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself.
"...when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards."

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Posted : August 3, 2023 2:26 pm
Cleander liked
Jasmine
(@jasmine_tarkheena)
NarniaWeb Guru

I can almost imagine an oath sung at the coronation of the king or queen of Narnia, perhaps something similar to the Oath of Ealendil from Lord of the Rings. 

"And this is the marvel of marvels, that he called me beloved."
(Emeth, The Last Battle)
https://escapetoreality.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/aslan-and-emeth2.jpg

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Posted : August 3, 2023 3:41 pm
coracle and Cleander liked
littlgriz
(@tina)
NarniaWeb Regular

@coracle yes sis they do 

in aslans paws have a good day

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Posted : August 3, 2023 5:23 pm
Cleander liked
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