Lilyana - Pageant, part two

Here we go with part two - Poetry!



First up was Rebecca, in a floaty pink dress with a soft skirt and flower embroidery, her curls framing her face, who recited 'The Highway Man.' The poem was about a highway man who goes and sees his lover, Bess, the landlord daughter. He tells her that he's 'After A Prize Tonight,' and will be back before the next midnight. Tim, the ostler, who also loves Bess, listens to this, and rats out the highwayman to the Kings men. They come and wait in ambush at the inn. Bess sacrifices her own life to save him. Once he learns what she has done, he gets killed in a futile fight for revenge. He dies with her love knot on his chest. At the end, it says that the ghosts meet again on spooky nights, "When the road is a  ribbon of moonlight, over the purple moor." That poem is so sad, it makes me cry. It made one of the judges cry to, I think. It was a perfect choice for Rebecca; who does tragedy so well. She said it perfectly, and one could not help but imagine her as the dark-haired Bess. I was sobbing when she finished, her voice railing off on "Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair..." 

   

"And still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees, 

                               When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas..."     

Next up was Samantha, her dark hair pulled back from her face, wearing a simple blue dress with flowers on it, who recited 'Eldorado.' I'm not that big a fan of this poem, but it's one of Rebecca's favorites, she said, and she suggested it for Samantha. It's about a gallant knight who travels for his whole life in search of the fabled 'Eldorado', but a specter appears and basically tells him that he's wasting his time. Rebecca said that it was about how impossible it was to obtain true happiness and wisdom in life, and that those who spend their whole life looking for it will be wasted. I don't agree with that, because I think we can be happy, but that's just one of the ways Rebecca and I disagree. Anyway, Samantha said it fairly well. Although she did tell me that she doesn't really agree with it, it sure sounded amazing!

"Gaily bedight, a gallant night, in sunshine and in shadow, journeyed long, singing a song, in search of Eldorado."

Next was Melanthe, wearing a short red silk dress, her long red hair loose around her face, who recited the famous - but never old - poem; The Raven. I love, love, love this poem! It is utterly spooky and extremely sad. I feel so bad for the man, and I always wonder what happened to Lenore. The poem is about a man, sitting lonely and remembering the loss of his love, Lenore. He hears tapping at the window, and opens it to find a raven, who can talk. The bird keeps saying 'Nevermore,' indeed, it is the only word it knows. Basically, he gets really angry at the raven, who sits forever on this bust over his door. It is a really, really, depressing poem. Honestly, why can't people read Happy poems at these pageant? I just don't get all this gloom-and-doom stuff. Melanthe, however, likes gloom-and-doom, and therefor adores this poem. She said it really eerily, too. The audience clapped and clapped!

"Quoth the Raven - Nevermore!"

And the score stands........

Samantha - 8.9
Total - 18.5

Melanthe - 9.5
Total - 18.8

Rebecca - 10
Total - 19.9

To Be Continued Tomorrow...................