HAUGHTY KINGS: a ballade

HAUGHTY KINGS: a ballade


So many kings came and went from the world,
Yet many more will come and also go.
In their kingdoms forcefully they had whirled,
Yet when they went they had not much to show.
Their own trumpets they loudly used to blow,
Whose sound they thought would never come to stop.
In wanton pride they always used to glow,
Unmindful that their lives were just a flop.

Their moustaches they often proudly twirled.
The woes of a poor man they did not know.
Abuses on them every day they hurled,
Rebuking them that they were rather slow.
In arrogant fun knives they used to throw
On them while toiling, harvesting the crop.
Their proud impatience ceaselessly did grow,
Unmindful that their lives were just a flop.

Amongst themselves the kings often quarreled.
Their pride allowing them never to bow.
In their minds thoughts of grandeur often swirled.
To their orders they could not accept “no”.
Sometimes their postures were in fact so low,
To lower levels they could hardly drop.
Of conquering the whole world they would vow,
Unmindful that their lives were just a flop.

Prince, from their thrones your ancestors did crow.
They thought they were verily on the top.
Devoid of wisdom, haughty they were so,
Unmindful that their lives were just a flop.


* Wtitten for the “BALLADE CONTEST”, "Invalid Item" , hosted by Stephen .

* Written in iambic pentameter as a ballade, a verse form typically consisting of three eight-line stanzas, each with a consistent meter and a particular rhyme scheme. The last line in the stanza is a refrain, and the stanzas are followed by a four-line concluding stanza (an envoi) usually addressed to a prince. The rhyme scheme is therefore usually 'ababbcbC ababbcbC ababbcbC bcbC', where the capital 'C' is a refrain. The meter can be chosen, but should be consistent throughout. The last quatrain the envoi, is usually addressed to a prince.


M C Gupta
30 July 2008