Chapter One: The Wells of Belles

Introduces the Enchantress and a brief history of the Wells.

An era long gone in the country of Belles,

There lived an enchantress with her Book of Spells.

She lived on her own in a house on a hill,

And tried, ev’ryday, to extend her goodwill.

 

She’d walk through the streets of the grand marketplace

And strive to put smiles on every face.

With hood o’er her head and her Book in her cloak

She’d whisk through the streets likes a wisp of bright smoke,

 

Never allowing herself to be known

While she cast little Spells on the city of stone

To multiply bushels of apples and grains,

Or entertain children’s distractible brains

 

By making the shadows of animal’s dance,

Allowing their parents a multiplied chance

Of selling their goods to the buyers of Belles

Or having a moment to visit the Wells.

 

The Wells of Belles, ‘twas often told,

Was once a mine of endless gold;

But greedy men refused to share

The wealth they found so bounteous there.

 

And so the gods retained the ore,

Replacing it with something more

Invaluable than worldly wealth:

A precious element of health.

The water in the Wells, they said,

Would flow until the gods were dead

(And that was just a way to say

There never would come such a day),

 

But more than that, the story went,

The ever precious element

Retained a power from above

The gods bestowed with fervent love:

 

That he who lacked necessity,

And drank with deep humility,

Would be bestowed a heavn’ly gift,

Straight from the gods, to fill his rift.

 

The sweetest enchantress knew all this was true,

For she was good friends with the gods.  She would view

All the people who came to the Wells in despair

And listen to each give a desperate prayer:

“My mother is ill; can she soon be made whole?”

“Will you please replace what the vagabond stole?”

“I only need money to live through the week.”

“What lies after life?  May I please have a peek?”

 

Each question was answered, the hooded one knew,

But often with methods expected by few.

Yet each of the villagers, meek as they were,

Would recognize every blessing occur.

 

And once in a while she would overhear

A sweet imploration, extremely sincere.

She'd drink from the well and implore to her friends

If she could fulfill that one’s wishful amends?

But every time the gods' instant reply

Denied her the right that belonged to the sky,

But added, with smiles and great admirations,

“You will get your wish, if you only have patience.”

 

So day after week after month after year,

The lovely enchantress would slink without fear

Among all the kingdom to help here and there

Awaiting the day she could answer a prayer.

Author's Note

to be continued... if you like it

Reviews

[Javon Monet]

I really enjoyed it. At first I wasn't quite sure but you definitely won me over. Everything flowed...loved it.

[Miss Coral]

Love it- you really have an excellent talent for metered and rhyming poetry (free form poetry as well, I usually just find this more impressive because most people can't pull it off). I love the tone... kind of whimsical while still somewhat down to earth... great consistency in tone and a wonderful beginning.

It was all very smooth and uninterrupted- I wasn't sure about it when I first started reading, but I was undistractable (this is my new word) once I started... always a good sign when it's metered poetry and me reading it. :)

Anyways- excellent job. Off to the next chapter! c:

-Coral-

[MuSe Ampoule]

truly musical and lyrical piece...a modern day fairy tale. Beautifully be-spelling. Lovely and enchanting.

[T. J. Blackburn]

Definitely intriguing. Looking forward to reading more.

Is this suppose to be in meter? Iambic pentameter perhaps. How formal of a style are you going for? I can tell that your use of "o'er" an "'twas" puts constraints to each line's meter and the lines of each stanza is about the same but each stanza differ in meter from each other. So I'm a little thrown off.

I have to admit, being tone deaf made the concept of formal meter difficult for me to grasp in school. There are so many different types e.g. Iambic pentameter = 5 sets of stressed/unstressed, don't know what 3 sets of stressed/unstressed/unstressed would be called but it does exist. My problem is when I read out loud, I have difficulty hearing the differences if I am trying to identify meter thru hearing and the way poetry sounds affects the written structure of a poem. I can kinda tell when something is off by the way things would roll of the tongue but I would not be able to tell you that "line one is iambic pentameter and line 5 is not." I hope this makes sense.

Otherwise, I like it. keep it up.

[NoneOfYourBusiness akaK..]

enchanting~magikal fairy tale~esque spinerette~ these are the forms I grew up with as a child~ rapt in attention~ removed from the world~ moving through poetry, rhythmic and captivating~

[akapr17other]

Oh, please continue it! It's really great so far and I'm very interested. Good work so far. Sorry I don't have more to say-wish I could be of more help.

[Drako]

i'm intrigued. this is an interesting way to start a story. seems more of a poem. i would've suggested it as a prologue, personally, but then that depends on how the story continues. so, i like it, so continue it lol