Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SAINT GEORGE AND THE DRAGON (2), by ANONYMOUS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SAINT GEORGE AND THE DRAGON (2), by                    
First Line: Why should we now boast of arthur and his knights?
Last Line: Sing honi soit qui mal y pense!
Subject(s): Courts & Courtiers;knights & Knighthood


WHY should we now boast of Arthur and his knights?
Knowing how many men have endured hot fights?
Or why should we speak of Sir Lancelot du Lake,
Or Sir Tristram du Leonel that fought for ladies' sake?
Read in old stories and there you shall see,
How Saint George, Saint George, the Dragon made to flee!

Saint George he was for England,
Saint Denis was for France,
Sing Honi soit qui mal y pense!

To speak of the monarchs were too long to tell:
And likewise of the Romans, how far they did excel:
Both Scipio and Hannibal many a field did fight,
Orlando Furioso, he was a valiant knight,
Romulus and Remus, of old, Rome did build,
But Saint George, Saint George, the Dragon he hath killed!

Saint George he was for England ...

Brave Jephtha and Gideon led their men to fight
the Gibeonites and Amorites, and put them all to flight,
And Sampson slew a thousand with the jaw-bone of an ass,
When that he was blind, pulled the temple to the ground;
But Saint George, Saint George, the Dragon did confound!

Saint George he was for England ...

Now Henry the Fifth, he conquered all France:
He quartered their armies, his honour to advance:
He raised all their walls and pulled their cities down,
And he garnished his land with a double triple crown.
He thumped the French, and after home he come,
But Saint George, Saint George, he made the Dragon tame.

Saint George he was for England:
Saint Denis was for France,
Sing Honi soit qui mal y pense!





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