THE
EMERALD ISLE
Before
the days of knights and dragons on the
Emerald Isle it's said
Lived the ghastly Beast of Bristles, some
have called it "Isle of Dead"
None
have come back from this island, all who
tried were spiked and burned
That is why some folks still say it is
"The Isle of no return"
It's
a place of velvet meadows, lovely hills
and snow white sand
What is now the Emerald Isle once was
christened "No Man's Land"
All
had great desire to live there, but
somehow they couldn't wrench
This wasted land from Beast of Bristles'
slimy snout and sultry stench
This
creature lived a thousand years, a
thousand more he would remain
A thorn of hope, a spike of fate, the
bristled spear of life's
disdain
For
dreaded monster, though he be, across the
isle he spread his waste
The Beast of Bristles made the isle the
earth's most fruitful, fertile
place
Every
youth had in a vision conquering the
Bristly beast
Every one who tread the isle became a
bristled beastly feast
The
folks had gathered in the hall deciding
that a hundred men
Would cross the channel late at night and
trap him in the creature's den
A
hundred men with swords and spears and
catapults to smash his brains
The most skilled fighters, slingshots,
rocks, every weapon they could
name
They
came upon the monster's home, the cavern
wreaked of beastly grime
Surrounding it, they waited for a signal
in a moment's time
The
beast emerged from out the cave, the
moonlight shown his ugly head
So shocked were they who witnessed live
the beast, more gruesome than was
said
The
sign was given, the battle cry, the spears
and rocks and arrows flew
But spiky bristles by the thousands was a
force they couldn't outdo
The
dead men numbered ninety nine speared and
singed, a warrior's plight
One escaped to tell the tale of beast
impossible to fight
Then
one young man stood up and claimed the
Beast of Bristles would be killed
He'd squelch the fire from his nostrils,
leave him eyeless and dequilled
Laughter
echoed in the tavern, jokes spread wildly
through the town
How could a novice gypsy traveler put a
Beast of Bristles down?
So
young and thin, no warrior he who claimed
the animal would die
They watched him board a little craft with
just one arrow by his side
The
laughter rose with visions of a scrawny
lad upon a barge
With bow and arrow by his side to kill an
animal so large
They
laughed away the day and night and drank
as jokes flew through the air
A gypsy with one single arrow, what a joke
beyond compare
The
boy, meanwhile was coming close, he gasped
for breath in musky stench
The Beast of Bristles soon appeared, the
boy hid in a nearby trench
The
monster was not fooled at all he clamored
in his awkward gate
Knowing what would lie ahead, the tragedy
of youngster's fate
He
then appeared above the boy, bristles
poised to swiftly fly
He opened wide his fiery mouth and fury
marked his evil eye
The
boy within a second's time shot an arrow
through the air
A secret poison gypsy potion handed down
to gypsy heir
The
bristles of the beast fell off and
underneath this spiky shield
There was an ugly wormy creature, not a
weapon left to wield
The
boy returned upon a barge with ugly
monster head in tow
He was the hero of all time, the rest's a
story we all know
They
settled on the Emerald Isle that will
remain forever green
And this must be an Irish tale, I heard it
from a sweet colleen
