“HAEWAT!” begins the tale of Beowulf,
Or “Listen up!” as we would say today,
Summoning us again past time’s vast gulf
To recollect a famous epic fray
In which but one man dared to stand against
A monstrous, hag-born progeny of Hell
Who overwhelmed all efforts at defense
And gobbled foes until his belly’d swell.
“Grendel” was this fiendish monster named,
Whose mother was a witch, both seeds of sin,
And long their wicked reign had been proclaimed,
But soon a glorious era would begin
Once Beowulf had ripped off Grendel’s arm
Rescuing the whole countryside from harm.
*
