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Salient. Victoria University of Wellington Students' Newspaper. Volume 31, Number 18. July 30, 1968

The Ballad of the Green Knight

page 6

The Ballad of the Green Knight

Cartoon of person with horns, baby and dog

Cartoon of a person pulling out their hair

In ancient times there lived a knight,
Sir Guinevere by name,
And if perchance you hate this pome
You've only him to blame;

For to this knight—(or to his wife
Is what I really mean)—
A son was born, a perfect child—
Except that he was green.

At this the old knight turned quite pale,
And then he turned bright red
And calling his physicians in
He lead them to his bed.

"Oh do not fear my lord" one said,
This case is not the first,
For fifty years ago occurred
A case—by far the worst.

"And as the lad grew up, men say,
The greenness all wore off.
But, 'tis best that you should hide your son
Lest people laugh and scoff."

"Thank God," the worthy father said,
"We hope he'll be the same."
But the more the little bugger grew
The greener he became.

"What can we do?" his mother cried
And tore out all her hair.
The father said "A bright red cloak
We'll make for him to wear."

And so it was the lad grew up
Forever cloaked in red,
And just to make it easier
We'll say his name was Ned.

And like the other budding knights
He rode throughout the land,
To rescue maidens in distress
And thereby prove his hand.

Cartoon of a person crying

Cartoon of a naked woman swimming in a river

page 11

Catroon of man being scared by monters

Cartoon of a male knight riding a horse

But then his hand was virgin green
And so he wore a glove;
But leather hands are not the things
For wooing maids to love.

Thus after every battle,
When the time had come for play,
The victor took his sword, unsheathed,
And quickly ran away.

Admittedly knights, red or green
Must know when to withdraw-
But surely sometimes they can stay
And have a little more.

But after many furious frays
His cloak grew old and worn,
And finally the green showed through
One fateful foggy morn.

The people gathered in the streets
To laugh at our poor Ned,
And many people tried to prove
That he was really dead.

But nothing hurts a green knight more
Than what the damsels say;
Our hero laid his sword aside-
He knew he'd had his day.

And one dark night he left the town
Of which he was so fond,
And walking out beyond the walls
He jumped into a pond.

A splash will be his epitaph
And so to respect his wishes,
We'll leave him in the greeny pond
With little greeny fishes.

Anymous

Cartoon of a man running from a group of people

Cartoon of a man rising out of a river with castle in the background