Recently, the freshman class at HTHS wrote their own Canterbury Tale, to be shared with the pilgrims on their journey to Canterbury. The poems had to approximate iambic pentameter, follow a Chaucerian rhyme scheme, and reference their first year at HTHS satirically. We hope to share a few of the finished poems over the next few days.
The
Lion’s Heart
by Nicholas Ciulla
To get here my entire life, I’ve
fought,
A never-ending pool of knowledge
sought.
To feel at last that it can all be
mine
‘Tis a feeling that is truly
divine.
A mighty ruler of a world unseen
A monarch of vast seas and meadows
green
And green the meadows have
brilliantly shone
For all those quick and sharp who
seize the throne.
And all of everything the light may
touch
Was the ruler’s to keep and theirs
to clutch.
* * *
A pride of lions slept through the
clear night
Under the protection of the moon’s
light.
The skilled hunters of the open
grassland,
The bold and the brave who rule the
badlands.
One lion called Ari gazed at the
stars.
What isn’t now known, one can learn
from his scars.
Fight bravely and fearlessly, would
Ari.
The best of his pride, he knew he
should be.
Enraged by failure and never
content,
Ari left to find for what he was
meant.
With one goodbye and a swipe of his
claws
Ari was gone, new earth beneath his
paws.
For many a night and many a day,
Ari carried on, led never astray
By the wind which guided him until
he saw
A pride of elites, and he froze
with awe.
He saw them and knew they were
different.
Their authority was made apparent.
By not just their power and
dignity,
But by shocking speed and
dexterity.
Ari knew for a fact that he could
not
Just join nonchalantly, he’d earn
his spot.
And Ari knew just how hard it would
be,
For those lions seemed much better
than he.
His eyes shone bright with
determination.
However, his fierce, fearless
expression
Showed the slightest hint of
hopeful longing.
Nostalgia struck him; his home was
calling.
For this epic pride, he knew he
could part.
And he found courage in his lion’s
heart.
Ari mustered his strength one
fateful day,
Hoping in the pride, he’d forever
stay.
He stepped onto their land, his
shoulders wide,
Wind in his mane, not a break in
his stride.
To merge with this pride, Ari must
surpass
All competitors, the tough and the
rash.
Throughout that fateful day, he was
tested.
His limits were pushed, his efforts
bested.
But he never quit, and when the
dust cleared,
Ari remained tall, respected and
feared.
Though the trials had tested Ari
well,
And swiftly to slumber that night,
he fell,
A sense of accomplishment found its
place
In Ari’s stone-cold, ever-stolid
face.
Through the following days, he made
his home
Among the elite pride, never alone.
But as he watched the others day by
day,
Ari had a feeling he dared not say.
A deep sense of inferiority,
Triumphed by their superiority.
Feeling a lesser ate away Ari.
He pondered, dawn to dusk, how he
could be
A member of a pride of such
prestige,
His ego and confidence now
besieged,
When he, himself was of such low
esteem
With many past shortcomings to
redeem.
Although the other lions of the
pride
Were friends and allies who stuck
by his side,
Subservience was intolerable.
The lion’s heart is indomitable.
In this state of gloom, he would
not improve.
To better himself, Ari had to move.
He trained intensely to sharpen his
skills,
Hunting through the day, claiming
his own kills.
While silently stalking unknowing
prey,
Ari tuned his senses to the world’s
ways.
The lion into which Ari had grown
Would be none the same if he were
alone.
Ari had friends to guide him the
whole way.
This is, no doubt, more than others
can say.
The self-pride, he had was
swallowed by then.
What he’d lacked before, he
overcame when
He was no longer scared to request
aid
From the friends he was so lucky to
have made.
He was shocked by their willing
assistance
And accepted with little hesitance.
The lionesses of the long hunt,
The warriors of the savannah front
Both led Ari to power and strength.
His boundaries were now endless in
length.
Ari was sure he’d earned his place
When a youth called Kizuu said to
his face,
“I want to be a great fighter like
you.”
Ari beamed, and agreed to share a
few
Of the tips his friends had given,
but he
Still wondered, Why has Kizuu come to me?
When Ari asked, the young lion
replied,
“You never lose fights.” And Ari realized
The better self he’d craved since
his depart
Was, at last, found in Ari’s lion
heart.
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