While You Were Sleeping

The sun sets and night begins. For some...

Population:200, Chapter 2

Another creature had joined the first at the door now....

Walpurgis Night
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Written by Lisa   
Friday, 22 August 2008
For those who might not know, Walpurgis Night is a tradition in mainly Germanic countries, where once a year witches meet (evil witches out of stories, rather than actuall modern Wiccans). It is held to be terrifying to any who witness it.
Anyway, here's what I came up with.


Walpurgis Night

 

Witches fly about the sky

They're so scary, my oh my.

Dark and cloudy night-time scene,

Is it a nightmare? Is it a dream?

 

The witches sweep and swoop about

As they pass by, up goes the shout

"Beware the witches, hide away,

Stay indoors ‘til the break of day"

 

The people run home down the street,

They huddle and cower and fear and weep.

They hear the cackles and shrieks outside,

And all they can do is run and hide.

 

The terror continues all night long,

Until, at last, the longed-for bird song.

The sun comes up and chases away

The fears of the people in the bright light of day.

 

"So foolish we were, so superstitious,

To fear the night and the presence of witches,

All is now well and safe in day light"

... At least ‘til next year's Walpurgis Night.



Copyright 2008 Lisa
Keyword: Walpurgis Night
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Comments (11)
Posted by allmine
2008-08-22 08:56:06
....

This was very good. The flow of it was excellent! My only suggestion is that you break it up every four lines into stanzas and insert another return. Makes it easier to read on the internet. Or maybe my eyesight is just old! But excellent poem
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Posted by philneale1952
2008-08-22 09:02:25
Hmmmmmmmm

Oohhhhhhh that's better. I'll put me bins on and actually read it now........

Dad
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Posted by CliffMitchell
2008-08-22 09:12:07
....

nicely done. i read it as a song little kids may sing out of superstitions on the marry-go-round or jump-roping. it has that sort of tradition-like feeling behind it.
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Posted by Zombie Punk
2008-08-22 10:13:21
Walpurgis Night

I have never heard of Walpurgis Night so right that little author's note in the beginning caught my attention. Pretty cool, and so was your halloween-ish verse. Reminds me of something a group of little girls jump-roping might chant. Gotta admit, if I saw that outside my house on the sidewalk I'd be pretty creeped out.

Excellent verse.

Cheers,

Max
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Posted by r.e.potter
2008-08-22 10:28:07
liked it

Funny, but I pictured a group of old cackles stirring a big pot of magic potion and chanting this poem. But it seems everyone has their own visual, so you did what you set out to do.

good job.

ps. tell pops george is a little meowed he didn't get mentioned in his latest.
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Posted by antheerr
2008-08-22 10:31:56
Reply to R E Potter

Glad you got a new image from it. I like that everyone seems to have a slightly different viewpoint on this site.

Dad says George is currently on sabbatical and won't be appearing for a while. :-)
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Posted by d.dasgupta
2008-08-22 12:11:41
Interesting

Since I come from a different culture, it wasn't easy for me to get the spirit of the comments. However, I liked reading your composition. Especially the part that announces the arrival of the morning and the witches run away. They won't be there for a whole year. Yet, as though it is a festival, people would look forward to the next Walpurgis Night. I guess.
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Posted by Xena
2008-08-23 01:00:31
humlamum

the structure and flow was good.. but the substance wasnt there... like this is a feared day of witches and such... but all that is described is cliche witches swooping about... shouldnt walprig night be extra scary? or something happen thats more specific? actually all you said about the night was... witches came and swooped about. oh and theyre scary. thats it? and then you describe it as it was all in their minds... but then you specifically said there were witches! and they were all hysterical! and they say it was silly of them to think of witches.. when you again spefically said there were witches and they were running from them! whaat?! so once a year they completely over react and have vivid hallucinageons of witches and such?!... sign me up!
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Posted by Xena
2008-08-23 01:13:59
ps

and that intro is also misleading! it describes this mysterious witch gathering from germanic viking tribes.. and hey what do you mean by traditions. its a tradition held by geranic countries, where once a year witches meet? what does that mean? you mean like a holiday tradition, like eating turkey on thanksgiving? so wouldnt these be the witches tradition? so like once a year witches hold a tradition known has walrus night where they all meet in germanic countries and horrid things? cause what you said didnt make sense.. unless the germanic people r witches, and they meet? so then what do the germanic vikings do on this tradition? oh and its terrifying? ohh whats gonna happen?! i cant wait!... witches flying theyre so scary, and people get frightened... tell me thats not what happend! and then to add a unreliable narrator and unreliable characters,, you say theyre real, you say the ongoers see them and cry, yet they say later that it was suprstition! whats going on heya....
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Posted by antheerr
2008-08-23 10:22:53
Reply to Xena

Hi Xena

The story or tradition of Walpurgis Night is a Germanic one - originating in the countries that became Germany and those surrounding it.

The stories arose around the time that Europe was indulging in Witch mania - from, I believe, the early 1200's up to around the 1600's. The people at the time truly believed in witches - humans who had signed a pact with devil to give them powers. The stories around Walpurgis Night relflect the terror the people at the time would have felt. They would have believed that witches could cause illness and accident, and that their own souls would be in danger if they were caught by a witch.

My piece doesn't state this explicitly, as I assumed that readers would have a basic understanding of traditional fear of witches.

I'm not saying if their fears were justified or not - it says they were scared, but then, once it's daytime and they feel safer they start to reassure themselves. But it will all happen again next year.
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Posted by Something Indecent
2008-08-28 16:40:56
....

Very well put. It sounded like thats what you were going for especially with the coming of daylight. It's funny how much people can fear the night when much of the same horrendous acts occur under the sunlight's guise. Did I spell a single word right right there? Psh. Whatever. Interesting little diddy.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 23 August 2008 )
 
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