St George and the Dragon

She stood there trembling by the cave,
Tied to a wooden stake,
The breeze did nothing to calm her,
Nor did the peaceful blue lake.

She wasn’t the first one there,
Not the first one taken from home,
Around her the ground was covered,
With the previous victim’s bones.

For a long time now this cave,
The cave that she stood before,
Had been a center of fear and of danger,
Due to the creature with death in its jaws.

It had lived in this cave for ages,
And now it lived there with ease,
Due to the humans that were sent to it,
So it’s hunger they could appease.

The maiden’s eyes opened wide,
And soon she screamed out again,
As she saw the savage dragon,
Emerge from its cavernous den.

It was a long and sturdy creature,
Its back was covered with plates,
Its eyes were black and lifeless,
And they looked around with hate.

Its jaws were massive and strong,
Its teeth were sharper than blades,
Its tongue lashed out with a hissing,
And its claws tore the earth up like spades.

It moved forward slowly,
Its foul breath blew in her face,
She tried to think of pleasantness,
But there was none in this wretched place.

 
But all of a sudden it moved,
And darted his head to the side,
A javelin flew from the hilltop,
And buried itself in his hide.

The dragon turned in a flash,
And looked around for some more,
But it couldn’t see the danger,
And with anger started to roar.

Then a thundering of hooves was heard,
A white horse came over the hill,
A soldier rode upon it,
With a spear ready to kill.

He charged at the beast in a gallop,
And thrust at it with power and force,
The beast roared at the spear point,
And at the trampling hooves of the horse.

The rider came back again,
And buried his spear in its skull,
The sharpened point of the spear,
Made the dragon’s teeth seem dull.

The man got off his horse,
The beast lay crooked and bent,
The man tied a noose around him,
The creatures energy was spent.

He then went to the woman,
And untied her from the log,
And together they led the beast,
Into the city like a dog.

It did the people good,
To see the vanquished foe,
And they pleaded with the man,
To stay and not to go.

They looked at him with awe,
He’d killed the creature from the gorge,
And the world forever knows,
The warrior St. George.