Poetry: The Sorceress Is Mean

My poem is a narrative of the tale “Rapunzel” as originally written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in the 1812 edition of Children’s and Household Tales.

There once was a man and a woman,

Not Adam and Eve, but instead nosy neighbors, you see,

Who stared at the beautiful garden kept beyond their back fence.

It was the mean Sorceress who owned the garden patch,

And the woman moaned that rapunzel she did want to catch

As her longing to eat the plant grew immense.

The woman became ill,

Wanting to eat the rapunzel and more than her fill,

So her husband jumped fence, as would many gents,

To nab the plants for his hungry lady.

She ate and she ate,

And another night as it grew late,

The man snuck back into the garden as the sky grew shady.

Not a gardener around, it was the Sorceress who found

Him there the second time around.

Quite angry was she, as well she should be,

And the Sorceress explained the terms in which he would be bound.

Pick more rapunzel, she explained, as much as you want,

But in return she will take the first child they will make.

Agreed, said the man, no document at hand,

And so when the child was born the Sorceress did take her away.

The baby was named Rapunzel, and when the age of twelve came,

Placed into a tall tower was the young dame.

A small window on top the tower, meant very little power,

Though Rapunzel let down her golden hair

For the Sorceress to climb up and visit her there.

One day a king’s son heard Rapunzel’s sweet voice

As she sang a melody of her own special choice.

He could not reach her there, for lack of a door he was aware,

Until he learned the line for Rapunzel to let down her fine hair.

Up there he did climb, the strands much like a vine, to see

Poor Rapunzel who was scared, as she felt unprepared.

He said he liked her voice, and her husband he did want to be,

But she had no way down, now didn’t he see?

Each night, she decided, he will bring her one strand of silk

Which she will use to weave a ladder once all this she has gathered.

One day she mentioned the prince to the Sorceress, a serious mistake,

As the Sorceress did severely tremble and shake.

So furious was she that she cut off Rapunzel’s hair,

And sent her to the wilderness without even a care.

The poor prince, none the wiser, soon did appear,

The Sorceress tying Rapunzel’s cut strands and hung them down the rear.

He climbed up by his hands and once at the top,

Was told he will never see Rapunzel again, oh boy did he pop!

Oh his happiness did wane and heard were his cries

As he threw himself from the tower

And survived, but landed on thorns which blinded his eyes.

And so he wandered the forest for many years,

Before stumbling across Rapunzel who shed many tears.

As the two embraced, Rapunzel’s tears fell into each of his eyes,

His eyes they did clear like a bright summer sky.

Bravo, he could see again,

What a fairy-tale treat, indeed for the prince it had been no easy feat.

The two then went to his castle, where they were joyfully received,

And lived happily together with their hearts worn on their sleeves.

© 2012 Christy Birmingham