Rathflaed DuNoir: Poetry: Bard
So You Wish to be a Bard
by Rathflaed DuNoir
The Black Bard of Meridies
So You Wish to be a Bard young one, well listen to my
tale,
A tale that's riddled with success, and yet the times that I
have failed.
A storyteller tells his tales until the morning light,
Each line and verse the one that you'll remember through the
night,
A troubadour will sing his songs to make people laugh or
weep,
And feel the feelings he does feel, until they go to sleep,
A musician has the power to make music with his art,
And let his songs reverberate, to touch the mind and heart,
A minstrel must do all these things and do them very well,
But a bard must also do them, and between is hard to tell.
For a minstrel and a bard could be the same in word and
voice,
And the difference between the two - a matter of their
choice.
A minstrel's job to entertain, a bard's to educate,
To urge the men on for honor and love, and not for malice or
hate.
A minstrel will sing only songs that please his audience
well,
While a bard must choose most carefully, the tales that he
will tell.
For in your words you have the power to make or break a man,
And all his good or evil deeds are yours to praise or damn.
And if the power is not yours, to move the souls of men,
Then call yourself a minstrel and no dishonor do intend,
For when a bard does sing a song, the story they do hear,
And yet the choice is for a minstrel when the song must
please the ear.
So entertain young minstrel, or educate young bard,
But either path of either life, you'll find may be too hard.
For when the wind is blowing and the rain comes down in
sheets,
'Tis ten more leagues that you must go, to sing for bread and
meat.
And when the road is weary and you have no place called home,
Remember that it was your choice, to travel and to roam.
And when you think of lady loves and all the things you lack,
Remember, sir, the one you always carry on your back.
And remember too, this one last thing, ere your journey you
begin:
A minstrel does not scream or shout to carry o'er the din.
A bard's not just a storyteller or harper playing long,
A minstrel's job it is to sing, A bard's to be the song.