Sweep away the cobwebs
merry wanderer of the night.
Sprinkle love’s magic juice
onto the budding eyelids
of youth. Oath for oath,
I’ll follow you,
around the bog’s
sparkling fire,
in midst of fog,
through burning bier.

Sometimes a horse,
sometimes a hound.
Up and down
and up and down;
no remedy to be found.

Haughty Henchman, evermore,
mischievous goblin,
headless boar,
forceful as a flower
he sweeps away the after-hours,
love’s damp decay,
the roasted crab is often crass;
a jester’s jab, droplets of
moist vivaciousness,
as charming as an ass
to kiss.

Is he not a witty Jack?
And every Jack
will have his Jill.
The filly foal
through bush
shall not go ill.

Give me your hands,
ye pranksters and liars!
Everyone let forth his sprite
on this black-browed midsummer night.

© khartless 2022, All Rights Reserved

You may recognize many borrowed lines and phrases from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This poem was written for Twisted Tuesday’s Radio show honoring the wit and whimsy of the characters in the play.

17 responses to “The Merry Wanderer”

  1. “Haughty Henchman, evermore,
    mischievous goblin,
    headless boar,” Amazing language and an awesome poem, K.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Thank you, Jeff. I borrowed some of it from an old chap. Hope he doesn’t mind. 💜

      Liked by 1 person

      1. You’re most welcome, K. Always. I bet he won’t. 💜

        Liked by 1 person

  2. Jim W. Avatar
    Jim W.

    This is like a Shakespeare song…very very cool 😎😎

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you. Robin Goodfellow got me going last night. A mischievous pairing we two. 😀

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Jim W. Avatar
        Jim W.

        must have been fun 😊

        Like

  3. Tom Avatar

    Love how you laid this out with great lyrical flow – beautiful tribute to old Bill’s style of wordplay! ❤

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Tom. I sprinkled a bit of myself in there. Big fan of the bard. 😀

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Tom Avatar

        Gorgeously written! Always brightens my week 🙂 ❤

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Lovely comment. Thank you. 😊

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Tom Avatar

        I’d nearly lost the chapter drafts of the next 6-parter you were interested in (rookie writer problems, lol). But I’ve managed to rescue them from the scrapheap & got the first few chapters up and running ❤

        Liked by 1 person

      4. 💜 oh nice save. Well done. Something to look forward to. 🦋Did you give them cpr? Or did they need a hyperbaric chamber? 😂

        Liked by 1 person

      5. Tom Avatar

        Luckily they just needed some R&R, now the first four are all fine and released into the wild (of public scrutiny) 😉 💜

        Liked by 1 person

      6. Oh wonderful. Let’s hope they can avoid any paper predators, and make it to maturity. 💜

        Liked by 1 person

  4. love the merry, mischievous metamorphoses that would have pleased Ovid ; I can see these lines fitting into MND —

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Many thanks, John, for this lovely compliment. 💜 It was good fun, this puzzle of a piece.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. writingwhatnots Avatar
    writingwhatnots

    You have captured the whimsy perfectly – I’m sure the Bard would approve!

    Like

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