/lit/ - Literature

Jamestown

A burning itch rises from the deep,
Rouses my hunger from its complacent sleep
Cast on shores, foreign and absurd
In the bowels of our ship a scream is heard
We embark upon this travel, bearing our heap
Our lust and yearning - tongue's unspoken word

Savage infinity cannot quell the flame
A hawk-like eye discerns the same
The memory of our Old rushes headlong into new
Diving, screeching terror, scourge from yonder blue
Firm hands are needed, Nature resists its tame
We unremitting predators shall shackle her, too

Construct by day, convene by fire at night
Pagan plans conjured in the bask of flame's light
Faces wore thinly like the living in graves
There is no freedom, no reprieve which saves
Such is our burden, our masks of great fright
These are the talismans to ward off the waves

Soon we must feed, appease that gaping maw
Manly virtue thwarted under winter's hoary thaw
Their cheeks grow weary and embalm the face
Rise, ye sinners! Leave ye this place!
Whither shall we run? We enemies of all law
Who know not the hearth's warmth, its loving embrace

Heathen temples mark our initial conquest
The pains of fate give us no soothing rest
Farther up the road we shall soon encamp
Gone is the frost, instead we feel damp
One way forward: that way is west
Where Nature's howling winds extinguish life's lamp

Nothing, whispers Nature, nothing for thy taking
Mine is a hollow chamber filled with violent shaking
The native dance turns wild, casts shadows on the heart
But ours is a destiny we cannot depart
Warn us no more, for that hunger is awaking
I beseech thee, death, to give life its start

Albion's summer distances itself still
A dim recollection to abate my will
Now the seeds are sewn for our earthly gain
Let us leave off nostalgia to wax and wane
I shall avenge dead memories, I shall plunder, destroy, and kill
We enslave implacable Nature, yoke it 'neath this pain

Like wildfire it spreads, this lunatic vision
Moonlit fancies ebb into derision
This new world is vast - vast beyond measure
All the more reason to rack from it pleasure
Energetic frenzy compels us to collision
With age-old bounty and untold treasure

So hark, noble fellows, take from Nature more.
Thy hands fit for grasping that superfluous whore
Wring from her bosom every ounce and drop
'Til those shadows come around her screaming shan't stop
Brandish new weapons, newer honors, for war
Rollest thou, ever onward, to the hard-fought top

(Pic is of Columbus but it still works for the poem)