explanation (razo):
ABOUT THE POEM
This is the second poem I wrote in an attempt to convince a friend that you could incorporate period style into a poem written in contemporary English. In this one I attempt to tell a true story about experiences that I had at an actual sca event.
The format of the poem is the same as that of the Carmina Burana poem #76, "Dum caupona Verterem." (see below for more about that poem).
This poem consists of 22 four-line verses which follow consistent rhyme and line length patterns. The line length is typical of many of the Burana poems in that every line is the same number of syllables (in this case 13) and is split into two different groups that are also consistent in size. In this poem’s case, every line consists of a 7-syllable grouping slightly split from a 6-syllable grouping. In most of the lines of the original poem the stressed syllables seem to be the first one of each syllable grouping, but in some of the lines the second set of syllables seem to start with an unstressed one. This is also true in my poem.
The rhyme is quite simple- Every line in the four line verse rhymes with the other three lines in the same verse. There is no refrain or deviation from this very simple AAAA BBBB CCCC type rhyme pattern. I followed this rhyme and meter scheme throughout the poem.
The poem actually tells the story of Saturday Night at War of the Wings I. I and my friend Justus decided to go on a bardic walkabout to sing at fires throughout the event site. The first fire we stopped at that night was the encampment of the Barony of Black Diamond. The people at that fire were so friendly and the Cordials (of which there seemed a NEVER ENDING supply) were so good that we never left. (Well, we did crawl home eventually, I guess, but only after quite a long time and an awful lot of Cordial.)
ABOUT THE ORIGINAL POEM AND THE CARMINA BURANA IN GENERAL
The Carmina Burana is named after the Codex Buranas, a collection of 228 poems inscribed by three different hands around the year 1230. These were in addition to other works found in a large collection of medieval poetry that came to light in 1803 at the southern Bavarian monastery of Benediktbeuern. With other peripheral works they total 320 poems that make up the Carmina Burana as a whole. The collection dates back to about 1230. The works include four basic categories of poems. These are satirical or moralizing lyrics (carmina moralia); songs celebrating springtime and love (carmina veris et amoris); gambling and drinking songs (carmina lusorum et potatorum), including goliardic verse; and poems with religious content (carmina divina).
About 120 of these poems are considered ‘Love Lyrics’ many of which may have been set to song at the time of their writing (9 pieces in the actual manuscript include musical notations in plainchant and many others are known to be set to music in other manuscripts.
The first verse of this poem (which is #76 in the Codex) is as follows:
Dum caupona verterem vino debachatus
Secus templum Veneris eram hospitatus
Solus ibam, prospere vestibus ornatus,
Plenum ferens loculum ad sinistrum latus
translation:
"On turning away from a tavern, reeling with the effects of wine, I had taken a lodging close to the shrine of Venus. I was journeying alone, smartly dressed, and carrying a bulging wallet at my left side."
(Poem and translation from reference 2, page 55-57)
This is just the first of 22 verses the same in length. The shrine of Venus mentioned in verse one is, of course, a house of prostitution and the rest of the poem describes how the narrator enters the house and proceeds to drink, debauche and otherwise just live it up. Predictably enough, by verse 21 he has spent every penny he went in with and leaves a completely destitute pauper. Verse 22 is a moral verse that urges the listener to not fall prey to the urges of Venus.
My poem is considerably shorter- I saw no need to make this story 22 verses long- but it still is about debauchery (on a slightly less moralistic note, of course) and it still ends with a word of advice to the reader of the poem.
Picture from Reference #3. This is a page in the Codex Buranas which featured lyrics in both Latin and in German.
REFERENCES
1. Dronke, P. Medieval Latin and the Rise of the European Love Lyric. 2nd ed. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1968.
2. Walsh, P. G. Love Lyrics of the Carmina Burana. University of North Carolina Press, 1993.
3. http://www.athenapub.com/14carmina.htm, accessed on January 9th, 2007, which featured an article entitled "Carmina Burana" from the periodical Athena Review, page 71-73, Vol. 4, no 2, 1996.