Villanelle
Sheep scatter when they are not being fed.
We see this in the fields, and at the Mass.
Those who deny this know a lie is said.
Although most folk in vestments black and red
Do not believe that this has come to pass,
Sheep scatter when they are not being fed.
“It is because the Faith we held is dead,
that people now forsake the Church, alas.”
Those who proclaim this know a lie is said.
Bare ruined kirks where once sweet choirs led
In prayer and song, long gone, have caused this pass:
Sheep scatter when they are not being fed;
Shrewd parsons, who believed the faith they pled,
Replaced by yes-men to a mitered ass:
Those who deny faith know a lie is said.
Lord Christ, how long now will it yet be said
About Thy flock, and of the Holy Mass:
“Sheep scatter when they are not being fed:
Those who deny this know a lie is said”?
-Bernard Brandt
posted by Bernard Brandt at 11:19 AM
4 Comments:
This looks like a Sonnet rather than a Villanelle.
- David
Ah, as those wise men of old, Gilbert and Sullivan, once said:
Things aren't always what they seem:
Skim milk masquerades as cream.
If I may recommend, you might want to look at this entry, which is fairly good as regards sonnet form:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet
and then look at this entry for Villanelle form:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villanelle
The two forms are not the same.
Suffice it to say that my Villanelle follows villanelle form, while my Sonnet follows (Petrarchan) sonnet form: that is, abba abba cde cde.
Whether either of them are something different from Vogon Poetry is another matter, entirely.
I hope in this case that a word to the wise will be sufficient.
Excellent, Mr Brandt, excellent.
The tragic thing, of course, is that they ARE being fed, in a sense, because despite all the Food, Himself, is there, although TPTB have done their best to obscure His Presence.
I meant to add, I am so ignorant and internet illiterate that I could not manage a... I think it's called a trackback?... but have instead c & p'd the poem itself on my blog, and posted a link to this thread.
Yours, etc.,
Geri
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