Necromancer

A display of a true necromancer from the descriptions given in the Daemonologie, written by King James I of England.

From the wicked snarls of twist and turn

The humble man of stretching yearn

Creeps down from a wooded balcony

Holding the head of a mishap Valkyrie

 

“Fire and brick, stone and ash

Turn deceased to olden Craft

Life misplaced for greater sin

To bring the Promise once again”

 

His voice echoes throughout the halls

Growing cold with every snarl

Octave deepens with darkness folds

Atmospheric chants so bold

 

Eyes of red, teeth of gold

Growling spells from the unknown

In this shack so dark and silent

Ethereal powers of war go vibrant

 

Tossing and turning with shrieks of pain

The man falls down, limp and lame

Vigorous head, decapitated whole

Cries out a name of those untold

 

Hellish fire engulfs the room

A sacrifice to bring one’s doom

The man recovers from his prone

To snatch the crying head alone

 

A figure too dark and terrible to say

Appears within a red display

Chains bound him side to side

Stretching to their extended bind

 

His voice a low and fearsome growl

He rages and thrashes with a scowl

The man commands the figure to silence

“A deal was made! You have my consent.”

 

He tossed the head into the fire

Flames licked up, eating desire

Sacrificial ceremony made

The demon was at this man’s grace

 

“Lend me your dark powers of war,

For I seek out a vengeance aboard

That mighty ship that’s out at sea,

I wish for her to sink, indeed.”

 

The man cackled and hissed like a snake

As the demon’s whip cracked with a break

A growl from depths of dark and evil

Spoke “In return, your soul’s upheaval”

 

Grinning and smiling the man offered

A scrawny hand to the demon’s answer

The deal was made, a bet was set

The man whose heart full of regret

 

The darkened light fell from the room

Back to the abyss of eternal doom

Necromancer was the man who sold

His saddened, hurt, corrupted soul

Author's Note

I'm honestly too lazy to write a whole book just to break this poem down. If you don't get it, I'm sorry, I hope you had fun with the rhymes.

Reviews

[Hope's Etro]

Powerful...Absolutely powerful...Hatred' along the lines of a friendship turned sour...Regret' all those bottled up emotions yet to take hold; but for a moment completely consuming the soul...Fear' that they won't forgive you - won't love you anymore...And the most important, Honesty...Being able to live with yourself; forgiving yourself...I give you 100 points bro ^^

[Michael Thrower]

Thank you so much :D

[Hope's Etro]

Your more the welcome bro ^.-

[Ees]

"olden Craft" olden? I don't know, that line throws me off a little bit.
Really great job. You did a wonderful job of (darkly) painting this scene through your poetry.

[Michael Thrower]

Thank you :D

And yes, "Olden" is the term they used in the time period I wrote this poem for.

[Ees]

hmm... I understood olden to be a time period, but it sounded funny in the way it was used to me.... prob just me though...

[Invisible]

magic is always so awesome, though i never thought necromancy was a good idea as true blood and skyrim have shown, but magic itself would be a nice thing to have.

[Michael Thrower]

True Blood.... >.<

Skyrim is epic though :D

[Invisible]

well you're a guy, i heard most guys don't care for that show, i'm the only one i know of any ways.
yes, never beat morrowind unfortunately, my computer wasn't strong enough at the time when i had it. skyrim is way better though so i'm all good. not gonna play that new MMO version though, i hate MMO's, like WOW, so lame to me. (anyone who's a fan of MMO's or WOW can just ignore me, the views expressed by Sentient are not a representation of Writer's Cafe or it's affiliates...)

[kublakhan27]

Great work on all fronts :)

[eglantine]

You are like an adolescent modern-day Homer lol

[Michael Thrower]

HAHA! I love that! xD Thank you very much, that has made my day. Best comment I've read so far :)

[MachinaWriter]

The metre accomplishes the "olde" style you were aiming for, while maintaining a modern vocabulary that makes it easy to understand for today's audience. Good job with that. As far as the subject material goes, I thoroughly enjoyed your rendition of old tales and superstitions. The wresting of a corrupted soul is an interesting bargain, one that's played the minds and imaginations and fears of many generations, spilling from fantasy into folklore and into the subconscious of this time period. I think a far more interesting idea would be to write about what happens to that man "after" the deal. There are plenty of old sources and writings that indicate that is where the story lies in its most horrible fashion. Either way, this was a great read and it's nice to see a true rendition of a character that in its modern popularity has swayed from its original form. Good job with that and I can tell you're well read. I especially enjoyed the inclusion of the head. The enticement, the bait, the wager, the sacrifice, the deal. All important components. Good work, man. This was a fun read. I might have skipped past this one had I not seen that you were going to the roots of that character. Thanks for sharing ^^

[Michael Thrower]

Thank you for that review! I'm glad you enjoyed.

Yes, I think I might actually write a poem continuing this sort of tale with what happens after the man makes the deal. That would be interesting. I honestly would rather write it out into a story, but most people seem to only read stuff on here if it's a poem. I don't consider myself a poet, but if that's what I have to do to get the story across, so be it.

Thank you for reading :D

[MachinaWriter]

lol If you wrote it as a story and sent me a PM I'd most definitely take a look. I'm originally a story person, myself, but I started writing poetry when I joined this site. The first parts of my two novels are on here [Guilds of Caldea and the other is Lily and the Magic Book], but it's hard to get anyone to read through pieces that long lol Even my poems tend to be a bit on the long side, so I find it difficult to get people to read even those lol

And no worries, it was my pleasure to read this, so thank you for putting it up. Keep up with the writing. And write what you love.

[Michael Thrower]

All right I'll make sure of it! :D And I'll go read your stories. It might be a bit before I get there (Not very active) but nevertheless, I'll get there.

[MachinaWriter]

lol No problem, man. And btw, if you ever want me to read something send me a PM. I don't intentionally ignore my RRs, but I find myself doing it quite often lately. But if you send me a message, I'll be sure to read it as soon as I see it.

[Michael Thrower]

All right, same here. I turned my RRs off, so just PM me :D

[Seanne Tholltree]

i like the 3rd stanza best...

[Michael Thrower]

Thank you very much! I favor that one as well ;)

[That_Girl]

"In this shack so dark and silent
Ethereal powers of war so vibrant" A bit repetitive with 'so'

"The man who’s heart full of regret" *whose (I think...)

Reads like an epic...sort of... maybe..? I'm not sure. I kinda get it, I'm not privy on the info from back then but I think I get enough. I enjoyed it. Slick rhymes! :D

[Michael Thrower]

THANK you for that! :D I didn't really reread this like I usually do, I'm going to go fix that ;pread moreTHANK you for that! :D I didn't really reread this like I usually do, I'm going to go fix that ;p

I'm so glad you noticed lol xD And yes, the "So" part is pretty repetitive. I noticed that while writing. A few parts get that way, so I'll keep that in mind when I edit. Thanks again Avy! :)

[That_Girl]

You're welcome lol :)

[i'mjustalonelywriter]

You captured me--hard to do. You're an interesting writer, one with a wide vocabulary.

[Michael Thrower]

Hahaha thank you! That really made me feel good :)

[Anina]

I enjoy this!
it has.. like a Viking kinda tingle. It's grimy in the best of ways.
plus I think anyone who can actually rhyme a poem is cool, I'm far to lazy for that.

[Michael Thrower]

Hahaha I'm glad you liked that! I never see people rhyme in poems anymore, so I always try to rhyme or have some sort of flow. I get mathematical with my poems ;p And yes, it is based off of information around those days. Sort of darkened times.

Thanks for reading! :)

[}Echo{]

I really like this. Nice poem. :)

[Michael Thrower]

Thank you Adriana :D

[}Echo{]

:)