I read this somewhere, a long time ago. Thanks for posting it! It's a
gorgeous parody.
On Sun, Dec 7, 2008 at 4:24 AM, Patrick McManus
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Dear Sally thanks VB asserts that he is related
> P&VB
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Poetryetc: poetry and poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf Of Sally Evans
> Sent: 06 December 2008 15:53
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Beocat
>
> have most of you seen this? Henry Beard, I understand.
>
> Brave Beocat, brood-kit of Ecgthmeow,
> Hearth-pet of Hrothgar in whose high halls
> He mauled without mercy many fat mice,
> Night did not find napping nor snack-feasting.
> The wary war-cat, whiskered paw-wielder,
> Bearer of the burnished neck-belt, gold-braided collar band,
> Feller of fleas; fatal, too, to ticks,
> The work of wonder-smiths, woven with witches' charms,
> Sat on the throne-seat, his ears like sword-points
> Upraised, sharp-tipped, listening for peril-sounds,
> When he heard from the moor-hill howls of the hell-hound,
> Gruesome hunger-grunts of Grendel's Great Dane,
> Deadly doom-mutt, dread demon-dog.
> Then boasted Beocat, noble barrow-kitten,
> Bane of barrow-bunnies, bold seeker of nest-booty:
> "If hand of man unhasped the heavy hall-door
> And freed me to frolic forth to fight the fang-bearing fiend,
> I would lay the whelpling low with lethal claw-blows;
> Fur would fly and the foe would taste death-food.
> But resounding snooze-noise, stern slumber-thunder,
> Nose-music of men snoring mead-hammered in the wine-hall,
> Fills me with sorrow-feeling; for Fate does not see fit
> To send some fingered folk to lift the firm-fastened latch
> That I might go grapple with the grim ghoul-pooch."
> Thus spoke the mouse-shredder, hunter of hall-pests,
> Short-haired Hrodent-slayer, greatest of the pussy-Geats.
> Sally Evans
> http://www.poetryscotland.co.uk
> http://groups.msn.com/desktopsallye
> http://www.myspace.com/poetsallyevans
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Robin Hamilton" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2008 11:12 AM
> Subject: Re: Beowulfs YOGH
>
>
>> ... for no particular reason, I am minded to mention Skarphethin in _Njals
>
>> Saga_.
>>
>> Dunno why -- the name simply floated across my precious mind.
>>
>> Off all the Icelandic mental boys -- think Starkather -- he has to be the
>> worst.
>>
>> Patrick would no doubt thoroughly disapprove, but when they peeled him
>> from the wall in the wake of the Burning, he had a cross stapled to his
>> chest.
>>
>> They took religion seriously in them days, so they did.
>>
>> Nox (J.)
>>
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> 19:08
>
--
Editor, Masthead: http://www.masthead.net.au
Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
Home page: http://www.alisoncroggon.com
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