A beast with a mane here did I fight.
And there, that’s where I lost my shield.
And then I ran across that field.
I huffed and puffed, I screamed and cried.
I tried my best and then I died.
For it all I had to live
For pride and applause my life did I give
A bride and a home
A crown and a throne
My body was young, but my story is old
You now know my end, so back to the start
Wisdom from a ghost, do I impart
They say I was gifted, they say I was blessed
With a chiselled jaw and a barrelled chest
A fox could not my cunning match
A cold could not my body catch
Near and far, from town to town
Stories of my deeds were passed around
And then the call, for a man so brave
A beast with a mane
A child it had slain
But who could save?
There was only one name
I heard the call and so I came
Sat before the chiefs and elders
I said for this task, you shall pay me with shelter
Land on which to graze my flock
Men to plough and tend my crop
Your most treasured daughter shall I marry
And half your gold shall I carry
What could they say? Their options few
They had to agree and this I knew
So there I stood, sword and shield
Watched by my men, upon my field
But the beast’s cunning I could not match
Its throat with my sword I could not catch
Its claw dug deep, I gasped my last
I saw a light and then I passed
So now, here i am. No longer a man
No wife do I have. I own no land
My pride is gone. My body has crumbled
I wish I had lived a life more humbled
If I had known my limitations, I would have fathered generations
I was not survived by a son or daughter. My name is not chiselled upon an altar
Not by my deeds, but by a story
Of a man, who died, for his own glory
