The Dual, the Dagger, and the Butterfingered Princess
By Daniel M. Ingram, written for 7th Grade English class
That day luck was against him,
For, although his plan was good,
The guards had seen him leaving from
The window where the princess stood.
The alarms of the castle sounded,
And the man knew he was caught.
He then removed his rapier,
And, with the guards, the man he fought.
The King, a master swordsman,
Whose daughter the man had "seen",
Called off the guards and replaced them there
Upon the spot where they had been.
"This man is mine!" the King he yelled,
But the man just stood there still,
For he knew that there was no way
He could match the King's great fighting skill.
The King advanced to claim his price,
And steel struck steel, and the sparks they flew,
And a feeling of doom did grip the man,
For his fate he just now knew.
The Princess watched in silence,
And she knew what she must do,
So she threw a dagger through the air,
And through the air that dagger flew.
But it's flight possessed a wobble,
And it veered from its true course,
And, since it didn't hit the King,
It hit the man, of course.
The man he yelled aloud and died,
And gasping out last earthly breath,
Asked, "Who would think a Princess
Would give her lover his own death?"
The King yelled, "Thank you, Princess!"
But she knew what she must do,
So she took a second dagger
And she rammed her own heart through.