For Knife

[ShadowFire]

For Knife

I ask for thy silence
Thy blood beckons my voice
May it drip smooth and slow
Like the silver moon crosses sky

There is no word as solid
Not a promise such as rock
For if I commit, if I bind
No soul, nor heart, nor mind will damage

There is no price too great
To save one I hold in my heart
If it is my poisoned blood thou needs,
I bare my arm for knife, no my heart

Fear not though my friends
Death shall not speak my name
As the night embraces thee
I too am embracing thee

For I am the King of Night

[Delta40]

S2/L1 - which word? Voice? I'm confused.

If you commit to something nothing can get in your way, yet there is no price too high to pay and you're ready to offer your own blood for one so dear but death shall not speak your name. What does this psuedo chivalry mean?

The repetition of heart in S3 is too much - especially since S2 already has heart in the last line.

How do you speak in terms of honour yet have poisoned blood?

Fear not though my friends is questionable.

To be honest, I like the tone of the poem and always imagine these being performed on stage so I wonder at the sincerity behind them and whether the force of such words hold up under scrutiny.

[ShadowFire]

Wow, thank you Delta for your response.

The word I speak of in S2/L1 is the word of a promise (ex. I give you my word).

Hmmm pseudo chivalry... Well if it helps my approach came from an altruistic point of view. The purpose of S2 is to show my sense of responsiblility and commitment to my promises. Then S3 touches on I would do anything for those I hold dear. Pseudo chivalry, I would like to take it to the next level of commitment to self sacrificing.

I see what you mean about the repetition of heart. For starters, I would like to say that in poetry repetition has its place. In this particular poem though, I do use heart in many different senses of the word. I will take your comment here about repetition into consideration for future poems.

Your question of honor and yet poison blood. I return with another question: Can one not act honorably unless one is blameless? The poisoned blood I bear I use as an analogy for the shame and guilt I hold deep within.

I ask my friends not to fear in an effort to reassure my friends that I will be okay. In some senses, I'm even trying to convince them that regardless of what is taken from me I will still be strong, live and prosper (hence Death not speaking my name). My power was also displayed in the last line when I claim to be King of Night - ruling the darkness, conquering my opposition.

I am glad that you like the tone. I have never thought of it on a stage, so I guess that sincerity is up for interpretation. (Though I pour tons of sincere emotion into my poetry from my perspective.)