The English (Saxon) Gold of Significance (4 of 6) (11.6.13)

“The widow of the wielder of the sword saw many birthdays of her children,

                      was present at the birthdays of her grandchildren as the sounds of laughter floated into a home of happiness on
                                                                                                                                                                     the evening summer’s air –

                                                       just prior to dusk extending its introduction to the night.

The widow of the wielder of the sword paused to appreciate the beauty of the home as her knight walked across the lawn to greet his
                                                                                                                                                                                      Lady of the House,

                                                                       his Lady of Grace,

                                                                       his Lady of the land,

                                                                       his Lady attending at court,

                                                                       his Lady with a heart of gold,

                                                                       his Lady with her radiance complete and unmarred by her earlier experiences of life.

So their lives were busy as their estate expanded,

                                       as they mingled with the courtiers,

                                       as they attended on command,

                                                                  on invitation,

                                                                  on request,

                                                                  on duty –

                                          to resolve the affairs of state applicable to the jurisdiction of their family.

So their lives enveloped their social responsibilities,

                      developed with the family,

                      expanded within the favour of the hierarchy of a kingdom.

So their lives were spread across grandsons attaining expertise in the handling of horses,

                                                           to ride and not be thrown,

                                                           to mount and spur in confidence,

                                                           to remain saddled at the practise battles on the field of colours.

The grandsons loved the time spent on the hunt throughout the woods and clearings,

                                                                                                       in pursuit of the boar and bear:

                                                                             as their status so required,

                                                                             as their standing so demanded,

                                                                             as their efforts so rewarded with familiarity.

                  So as the hounds were bred,

                                          so they were selected for their eye,

                                                                             for their nose,

                                                                             for the strength within their limbs,

                                                                             for their stamina to outlast the chase.

The grandsons each had their favoured knife for stabbing –

                                                                        for bringing the scent of victory;

                                          as the hounds no longer kept up their howling,

                                          as the horses were brought to circle at the conquest.

The grandsons rode with honour and ability as they approached the age of accountability,

                                                                                           the age of marriage,

                                                                                                       the age when damsels caught the eye,

                                                                                                                       deserving of a second glance,

                                                                                   bringing a kindling of fires within hearts open to be won.

The grandsons,

        as a trio bound by proximity of age,

               led lives of exuberance within the faith inherited from the cross;

                                                    within the faith confirmed by a grandmother with wisdom,

                                                    within the faith reaching across the land of England,

                                                    within the faith promoted by the Pope of distance,

                                                    within the faith possessed by those without experience,

                                                    within the faith of lip service offered in the presence of their elders.

The grandsons grew in confidence of their ability on horseback,

                        acquired the skills of bloodshed,

                        acknowledged feasance to their lord,

                        sought approval for their deeds of swordsmanship as their prowess increased,

                        were eager to display their wrestling strengths at every opportunity,

                        had diversity of character as integrity and honour increased with the attaining of maturity:

                                                                                                                  both in muscle and of spirit.

The grandsons became fearless in their activities at large beyond the perimeters of their parents’ oversight:

                        became protective of their sisters as others took an interest:

                        became the squires endemic to their age;

                        attached value to the tests of strength in confirmation of their manhood;

                        learned to drink the ale tendered for their purse;

                        encouraged one another in their feats of daring –

                              of wading the streams and the rivers which hid the bottoms and the beds;

                              of climbing the trees for the gaining of a view higher than the previous;

                              of the horsemanship which tested the agility and pace across the ground;

                              of both endurance and the threat of being unhorsed always being to the fore as the trio raced from point to point;

                              of competition bordering on the reckless as each sought to prove himself to all who would give notice.

The graveyard of the family was not filled out of disease,

                                              was filled according to seniority in a time of turbulence,

                                              was filled as children outlived their parents with the gladness of the day.

For this family walked in the favour of The Lord.

For as lives were honoured so they were extended.

For as lives were extended so a promise was upheld.

For as a promise was upheld so they continued to honour God in the household of faith –

                                                                      as led by the widow of the wielder of the sword:

                                                                                   she who had never lost her faith in her first love.

With the passing of the seasons,

                                      so the landscape changed,

                                      so the fields were planted,

                                      so the crops were borne,

                                      so the harvests were gathered into the barns of storage for feeding in the season of purity which laid to waste
                                                                                                                                                                                    the bugs and beetles.

    The season when all was seen in white with the icicles of frost,

                                                                    with the snow settling in solitude to surprise the daybreak,

                                                                    with clothing donned in fending off the cold –

                  kept busily attacking surfaces exposed for but a moment from the coverings of protection.

So the yuletides came with celebration of the mass of Christ,

         so the wider family prospered,

         so responsibilities were apportioned,

         so families on estates were cared for in their servitude,

                                            were cared for in their labours,

                                            were cared for in their needs and in their aspirations for their children’s betterment,

                                            were treated as servants of the tilling of the land where their family lords used wisdom in the setting of
                                                                                                                                                                                            the tribute.

So families of labour were not dispossessed of homes and fields and paddocks,

                                                                                      either for their food or for their animals,

                                    within the boundaries of possession by the family –

                                                  of the widow who had lost both a father and her brother:

                                                               to the feeding of a tree bough with the twinning of the rope.