Promptly 4 and 5

A Green and Pleasant Land

A Green and Pleasant Land

Now reduced again to the simple cloak,
Unadorned with gold and silver filigree,
Plain cloth now fitting to our late degree,
Yet worn with memories of older folk,
Both ancient Greek and those with hearts of oak.
Let’s not forget the years of jubilee,
Once South Sea washed but now in cold North Sea,
The gentle land beneath the Norman yoke.

Let greatness stand as does the Parthenon,
For Greek reminder of heritance fine,
No shame be borne as is for Babylon,
Since freedom reigned when it became the time,
And glory’s rags dispersed both here and yon,
The bells of war no longer for us chime.


Line count: 14
Form: Petrarchan sonnet - an eight-line stanza (octave) rhyming ABBAABBA, and a six-line stanza (sestet) rhyming CDCDCD or CDECDE.
For Promptly Poetry Challenge, Week 40 2024
Prompt: None.