Poem: "Whistling Girls and Crowing Hens": ysabetwordsmith

Poem: "Whistling Girls and Crowing Hens"

Taking the lead for the shorter poem poll is "Whistling Girls and Crowing Hens," by happy coincidence the match for "A Doe in Velvet," exploring the aspect of girls who like boys but want a fair share of adventure. This poem was inspired by a prompt from

kadiera and sponsored out of the general poetry fund for the April 7, 2009 Poetry Fishbowl.

The old saying quoted herein about "whistling girls and crowing hens" is real, and used to discourage girls from behavior that is perceived as masculine. It exists in assorted versions. Heh ... so I made a new one, in the end, with a different message.

Whistling Girls and Crowing Hens

Mothers cluck and grandmothers frown –
“Hush up your mouth! Let that skirt down!
Whistling girls and crowing hens
Will always come to some bad ends.”

Still they come on the market day,
Rowdy girls of a wild way,
Rucking up skirts to free their legs,
Swinging their baskets full of eggs.

Says Joan, “I’ve saved to buy a sword.”
“I’ll just rescue a handsome lord,”
Brit says, winking, her cheeks aglow.
Marian grins and strings her bow.

The years roll on, and not one weds,
Though sisters go to marriage beds.
Their mothers wail and cry, “What for?”
Then, hark – the distant horns of war!

Joan grabs her sword and steals a horse
To change the battle’s bitter course.
The men she leads are full of heart.
They slay the foe. Joan does her part.

Brit finds the kidnapped prince’s cell –
Six hens distract the guard dogs well.
She sets him free and off they fly.
He swears to wed her, by and by.

Wedding bells ring for King and Queen
As Mark and Brit walk up the green.
A traitor tries to steal the crown –
Marian’s there to shoot him down.

Joan weds a scout; Marian, too,
Chooses a soldier, brave and true.
Joan wears her sword upon the day;
Marian’s crowned with thorns of May.

Daughters come to them each in time,
Greeted in turn with this new rhyme:
“Whistling girls and crowing hens
Do more good than anyone kens!”

estaratshirai

April 14 2009, 23:32:39 UTC 12 years ago

New comment

Hey, look! My childhood. :D

laugh

ysabetwordsmith

April 14 2009, 23:35:33 UTC 12 years ago

Bits of mine too, of course. My mother was minimally inclined toward that sort of harangue, but my grandmother was more so.

Re: laugh

12 years ago

jolantru

April 15 2009, 00:05:35 UTC 12 years ago

This is great stuff! :)

jenny_evergreen

April 15 2009, 01:15:06 UTC 12 years ago

LOVE!!!!!!!

Yay!

April 15 2009, 01:23:14 UTC 12 years ago

I'm happy to hear that.

browngirl

April 15 2009, 01:50:47 UTC 12 years ago

Oooh, this needs a tune. There are girls I want to sing this to, and adults as well.

Go for it!

April 15 2009, 02:14:22 UTC 12 years ago

Anyone is welcome to set my lyric poetry to music. This one being a ballad, it would be very easy to sing.

Re: Go for it!

je_reviens

April 16 2009, 02:27:12 UTC 12 years ago

but.... but.... they still are only justified because they were able to find a man to accept them.

thus only a man's approval can change their social status from pariah to acceptable. only getting married and having children, in the end, denies the "no good end" part of the maxim.

*shakes head*

Hmm...

April 16 2009, 02:46:50 UTC 12 years ago

... if that's what you get out of it, YMMV. It's not where I was aiming, though. These particular characters happen to like men, and the point of the poem is that it's possible to find a compatible mate without losing oneself. And they have the opportunity to raise daughters with a wider horizon. Not every strong woman has to be a loner or a lesbian.

Re: Hmm...

haikujaguar

dark_blade

redfishie

April 17 2009, 14:29:32 UTC 12 years ago

That is gorgeous.

Thank you!

April 18 2009, 03:55:07 UTC 12 years ago

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm loving your icon, by the way.

marina_bonomi

April 17 2009, 16:07:01 UTC 12 years ago

Love it!And I'd really like to hear it set to music as well.

Thank you!

April 18 2009, 03:45:28 UTC 12 years ago

Who knows, maybe someone will decide to set it to music. That's happened a few times to my poetry. Most of my musician friends either write their own lyrics, or don't do vocals, alas.

By the way, I've added you to my Friends list. Your blog looks cool.