Constantinople

Good evening! I was going to write about Obama's address to the USA in Congress today, or perhaps talk about the state of the political system here in Canada right now. Then I though "nah! That's a bit heavy for eleven at night is it not?" Thus, I'll release the first of my poems.

Sailing from Constantinople
This poem was written as a response to William Butler Yeats poem "Sailing to Byzantium" where he reflects sadly on how he is too old for the world and how the sooner he approaches his death the more he is forced to withdraw. The line in his poem "this is no country for old men," is quoted directly in my reply. Constantinople was the name given to Byzantium in honour of Emperor Constantine I (Roman Emperor). I ask Yeats if the world is really just out of reach of the old, because the way I see it us teenagers don't always have it our own way either. Doors are closed on us even if we are more capable than those shutting the door (e.g Laura Dekker).

A wise man once told me the world "is no country for old
Men." It fills me with
Fear, for he forgets youth.

The city of Byzanitum, ancient seaport on the Black Sea.
Soon the oncoming storm
Swept through, a wave of change.

No longer a land of barbarians, but a beacon
For humanity.
The jewel on Caesar's crown.

Higher rose the spires. The sun herself was filtered through the
Skies of silver gold.
The birthplace of your Lord.

Out of the vast fountains spouted the purest nectar of Mount
Olympus. Sprinkling
The land with nature's wealth.

It is Constantinople now, my craft that once carried
The rising star with
Loyalty, alas now is mastless.

Here I am, not a fountain but a sailor lost at sea.
Swept out by the tide.
The land hears not my cry.

Through willpower the Argo surges forward. The Hagia
Sophia glares down
On my progress away.

Feared as a virus, abandoned for a vagrant. I float
With companions and
Yet in isolation.



Notes: Syllable count is 14 on the first line of each stanza, then 5, then 6. Put them together and you get 1456, a rough date for the end of the Medieval time period and start of the Renaissance. I did this to trap the youth in the poem in a frame work but to also point out that era's are just dates and that really for the everyman, life doesn't change wherever or whenever you go.

Criticism, comments, all would be very welcome!
Thanks,

Rowan