“If often seems as if inspired minds had penned their words of wisdom and beauty with quills plucked from the wings of angels.” – James Lendall Basford

“I would hurl words into this darkness and wait for an echo, and if an echo sounded, no matter how faintly, I would send other words to tell, to march, to fight, to create a sense of hunger for life that gnaws in us all.” – Richard Wright

“The act of putting pen to paper encourages pause for thought, this in turn makes us think more deeply about life, which helps us regain our equilibrium.” – Norbet Platt

“Every creator painfully experiences the chasm between his inner vision and its ultimate expression. The chasm is never completely bridged. We all have the conviction, perhaps illusory, that we have much more to say than appears on the paper.” – Isaac Bashevis Singer

“Words — so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne

“Life can’t ever really defeat a writer who is in love with writing, for life itself is a writer’s lover until death — fascinating, cruel, lavish, warm, cold, treacherous, constant.” – Edna Ferber

Hello everyone, and welcome to another exciting week at Prompt Nights. I thought it might be interesting to have a quirky “Battle of the Bards” to mark the onset of the month of February. I often wonder about the era in which these incredible souls lived. What kind of lives did they lead? What sought to inspire their writing skills and moreover, what led them to write down poems that created history! Tonight, let us delve deep and travel back into the era in which these bards held breath:

The Bard of Avon, ‘The Immortal Bard’ – William Shakespeare
The Bard of Ayrshire (or in Scotland, simply ‘The Bard’) – Robert Burns
The Bard of Olney – William Cowper
The Bard of Rydal Mount – William Wordsworth
The Bard of Twickenham – Alexander Pope

Choose one of the famous bards. Now pick out a poem, or perhaps a quote (that inspires you best) from their works and prepare to launch into battle! The possibilities are endless. Previously written work is more than welcome. For further inspiration, please refer to the three amazing poems below:

Fear No More

by William Shakespeare

Fear no more the heat o’ the sun;
Nor the furious winter’s rages,
Thou thy worldly task hast done,
Home art gone, and ta’en thy wages;
Golden lads and girls all must,
As chimney sweepers come to dust.

Fear no more the frown of the great,
Thou art past the tyrant’s stroke:
Care no more to clothe and eat;
To thee the reed is as the oak:
The sceptre, learning, physic, must
All follow this, and come to dust.

Fear no more the lightning-flash,
Nor the all-dread thunder-stone;
Fear not slander, censure rash;
Thou hast finished joy and moan;
All lovers young, all lovers must
Consign to thee, and come to dust.

No exorciser harm thee!
Nor no witchcraft charm thee!
Ghost unlaid forbear thee!
Nothing ill come near thee!
Quiet consummation have;
And renowned be thy grave!

A Red, Red, Rose

by Robert Burns

O my Luve’s like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June;
O my Luve’s like the melodie
That’s sweetly play’d in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I:
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a’ the seas gang dry:

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun:
I will luve thee still, my dear,
While the sands o’ life shall run.

And fare thee well, my only Luve
And fare thee well, a while!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho’ it were ten thousand mile.

Contentment 

by William Cowper

Fierce passions discompose the mind,
As tempests vex the sea,
But calm, content and peace we find,
When, Lord, we turn to Thee.

In vain by reason and by rule
We try to bend the will;
For none but in the Saviour’s school
Can learn the heavenly skill.

Since at His feet my soul has sate,
His gracious words to hear,
Contented with my present state,
I cast on Him my care.

“Art thou a sinner, soul?” He said,
“Then how canst thou complain?
How light thy troubles here, if weigh’d
With everlasting pain!

“If thou of murmuring wouldst be cured,
Compare thy griefs with mine!
Think what my love for thee endured,
And thou wilt not repine.

“‘Tis I appoint thy daily lot,
And I do all things well;
Thou soon shalt leave this wretched spot,
And rise with me to dwell.

“In life my grace shall strength supply,
Proportion’d to thy day;
At death thou still shalt find me nigh,
To wipe thy tears away.”

Thus I, who once my wretched days
In vain repinings spent,
Taught in my Saviour’s school of grace,
Have learnt to be content.

 

So pick up a pen and lets begin! As always the prompt will remain open the entire week so that everyone can write according to their own pace and time. Please click on the blue widget below. When it opens be sure to click on “add your link.” Now skip the blanks and proceed directly to “try here” written at the end in small font. It will direct you on how to link your poem. Please visit other Poets and do comment on their poems. Have fun ❤