Oct 11

I was going to try this fairy tale retelling as the sonnet but couldn’t get the pentameters down. But it had a nice sing-song quality so I kept it (and finished it) and put it here.

Upon a Downy Bed

There was a castle once upon,
Of kingdom fine and rulers fair.
The noble family had a son
But wife was found no hair.

They set out then to find a lass
Who could his equal be,
A princess sweet and just; alas,
None found in nobility.

But on a night of storms and rain,
Of raging, hailing wild,
A knocking came, then came again
As timid as a child.

Upon the stoop of castle’s door
A maiden, drenched, appeared
She asked but for a spot of floor
To spend a night so feared.

The prince saw beauty deep within,
A heart of clarity,
But mother thought no lass would win
Her son through charity.

Instead, a test devised the queen
To test her senses true.
Upon the floor she placed a bean,
Then beds twenty-and-two.

“Come sleep with us in feathered bed,
And when the morning break,
We will see thee clothed and fed,
And then thy way thou’lt make.”

The princess, or so claimed the prince,
Slept fitfully all night.
She knew not that each tossing wince
Was due to small bean’s might.

When morning came, she fitful lay
Until the queen arrived.
“I would ask you, if I may,”
Asked queen, “How was thy night?”

“Apologies,” then spake the lass,
“I fear I slept quite ill.
I do believe that some hard mass
Keeps me from sleeping still.”

The queen rejoiced, for certainly
She had won her desire.
This thin-skinned girl would certain be
The queen to the next sire.

Why she chose this, none else could do,
We may but only guess.
Some oracle or witch’s brew
Perhaps gave queen her test.

But by what means she chose the bride
For her son’s wedded bliss,
What happened cannot be denied,
The outcome was just this:

That son and lass did wed at last upon a festive hill
And though t’was many years ago, they both are happy still.

Intellectual Property of Elizabeth Doman
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