The Bard

He was a harp; all life that he had known and that was his consciousness was the strings;
and the flood of music was a wind that poured against those strings and set them vibrating with memories and dreams . . .
Past, present, and future mingled;
and he went on oscillating across the broad, warm world, through high adventure and noble deeds to Her--ay, and with her, winning her, his arm about her, and carrying her on in flight across the empery of his mind.

Jack London, "Martin Eden"

The Wandering Bard

This contest will start on Thursday 18th of September 2008, 19:00 AW Time and continue throughout Sunday until midnight, AW time. At which time the judges, who have been comfortably detained in a secret location within the Castle so they cannot be bribed with cyber whiskey, will begin to deliberate on a winner.
Assuming real life whiskey isn't in play they should be able to decide on their favourites before the Masquerade Ball begins.
To enter the contest all you need to do is sign up here: Courtly Love Poetry Contest.

As always there are be no rules against anyone joining in, be it the first time you try your hand at it or if you are one of our great bards.
There is a limit of three (3) poems per contestant.
You will also be given a small list of words that must be included in the poems you enter for the competition.
These words will be found one the list at the bottom of this page.
You will also have to keep in line with the theme of the contest, which is of course Courtly Love.


All you need to keep in mind is that in keeping with the festivities we recommend the use of the Troubadour or the Courtly Love styles of poetry. Or, something of the like.
A bit too romantic for some, but oh so very beautiful don't you think?

You can dazzle us with your poetic skills without signing up, or without using the list of words noted below; however, these will not be eligible for prizes.
If you have signed up but are submitting poems that you do not wish to be included in the contest, please identify them as such. The main thing is...come on in, find a comfy spot, make yourself at home and enjoy... and may the best bard win!




And now, for a few simple contest rules...
To give our bards a little challenge we have provided them with a list of words that absolutely must be used in order to qualify for the contest.
This means that you can pick any of the words listed below and include those into your poems.

There is no limit to how many of the words you choose to use, but we insist that a minimum of nine (9) be used in the poem, or we will, unfortunately, have to disqualify your entry.
No matter how beautiful it may be.
Therefore, make sure to pick at least nine (9) words from the list and do not forget a one.

This year there will also be a limit of how many poems that may be entered by each contestant, to keep things fair.
Again we ask that you please name your contest entries as such and that you please make sure not to enter more than three (3) per contestant.
This is important because if you forget we will have to take the liberty to choose the first three that you have submitted and only judge those.

If you then wish to dazzle us with more of your work, please feel free to do so as we do love all of the entries that contestants as well as on lookers have submitted over the years but please keep in mind that only three may be entered for competition so please do not forget to name them as such.
Soo...

Good luck to one and all and may Sapho inspire you!

List of words to use in poems:

SOON TO BE ADDED