A Question of Fealty
I am a bard, and though, perhaps I bow
Out of courtesy before your throne,
I give allegiance only to my art,
And to the truth that I'm compelled to speak.
While I might offer friendship to the man
Who wears the crown, I do not give my oath
to his office, or his pretty chair.
For I know that there may come a time
When I must speak hard wisdom in his ear,
Appropriate to a friend, but not a liege,
Regardless that he may not want to hear.
It is my duty and my honor,too:
To bear the burden of speaking the truth,
Sweetening the physik with my verse
To better make the medicine go down.
And so, Your Majesty, do not mistake
My courtesy for my obesiance,
But meet me as a man, our both heads high,
Standing as equals 'fore the higher truth.
For kingships come and go in their own time,
But I must be, and shall remain, a bard.
Out of courtesy before your throne,
I give allegiance only to my art,
And to the truth that I'm compelled to speak.
While I might offer friendship to the man
Who wears the crown, I do not give my oath
to his office, or his pretty chair.
For I know that there may come a time
When I must speak hard wisdom in his ear,
Appropriate to a friend, but not a liege,
Regardless that he may not want to hear.
It is my duty and my honor,too:
To bear the burden of speaking the truth,
Sweetening the physik with my verse
To better make the medicine go down.
And so, Your Majesty, do not mistake
My courtesy for my obesiance,
But meet me as a man, our both heads high,
Standing as equals 'fore the higher truth.
For kingships come and go in their own time,
But I must be, and shall remain, a bard.