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The Divine Cordiality of Black Diamond

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dunstan
Poem (Canso): 

I was at the War of Wings     evening now was falling
I had feasted and I heard     bardic campfires calling 
Thought to wander all about     singing songs enthralling
Got to start out walking but     had to come back crawling.

Found a warm and friendly fire     joyous at the sighting
I was offered comfy chairs     right beside good lighting
When I asked the name of camp     that seemed so inviting
“We are of Black Diamond,” said     campers most delighting.

And so I began to play     and to sing beside it
I was full of mirth and joy     never have denied it
One fine man produced a flask     Asked me if I’d tried it
It was so delicious I     almost tried to hide it!

I must say it was the first     of many things to taste
Every time I turned around     the bottle was replaced
By some tasty cordial that     could make me more red-faced
Each more yummy than the last     all of them drunk in haste.

Cinnamon and cardamom     apples and peach and pear
Flavors of assorted spice     berries and fruits to spare
All of these and more I taste     (Black Diamond likes to share)
Flavors to make brewers swoon     They caught me unaware.

I cannot be really sure     what happened in that spot . . .
Who was that Australian guy     that offered me the shot?
By the time the moon was high     they could have served me snot
And I would have said ‘Yummy,     is there more of that lot?"

Ever flowing cordials of     Black Diamond are infused
With lots of love and flavor     to keep you well amused
Best beware; your liver may     well think itself abused;
Like me you may end the night     just stumbling off confused

The moral of my tale, friend     is plain to see for all
When you go on walkabout     and when the fires call
If you find Black Diamond then     sit down and have a ball
Do not plan on walking home     (More likely you will crawl.)

Documentation / 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.

 

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.