The Quartz

“There’s a giant near the Plains of Soy,”
Proclaimed the knight one day,
“With stature as no mortal boy
Not even Glaser, may I say.

“He is, like Grendel, ancient beast,
Of the same cursed race as Cain,
But not as that first miser priest
Did Soy’s foul giant Right disdain.

“His hoard is not of corn or wheat
Nor even soy (though ‘twould beseem),
But quartz he heaps in piles discrete
His sins to increase, not redeem.

“Though he is tall as farmer’s hall
I promulgate this challenge:
His chariot’s crawl cannot appall
With widest tracks, nor exhaust singe.

“A giant’s barrow full of arrows
Would not fill me yet with fear:
I know my Lord still keeps the sparrow
And will rule my combat here.”

The questing knight then sought the right
To reap the lifeless giant’s yield,
But when the latter saw the knight
Dishonorably he fled the field!

We may never know just why
He, wiser than Goliath, arose:
Perhaps he thought the knight a spy,
Perhaps now giants dread young foes.

The knight soon thought him of a maid
Who would appreciate a prize.
Moreover, he might save by raid
A stones in thrall to wicked lies.

He braved the spiders, dared the lair,
Sought the crystal heaps piled ill;
The hoard was filled with white stones fair:
The knight gained riches, all his fill.

The knight, as Jason with the fleece,
Returned and bore a single treasure.
He passed Lake Bob, sweet home of geese,
And hoped the lady was at leisure.

Alas! The maid was in the keep
Of Euclid, squares, geometry
Of triangles, and a question deep:
Pythagorean equality.

When he learned of her stern master
And that she free would become soon,
“A gift I bore from yonder pasture.
Say so to her, I plead this boon.”

He went with haste back to his place
To water-wash the stone entire:
‘Twas cream in hue, but with gold trace,
In shape it seemed a church and spire.

In time her mystic master bade
Her leave; she to her chambers came
And her companions there conveyed
The message and the knight’s own fame.

But the tale confused the maid, bemused
From that spell sage Euclid left on her;
The maid sought news her friends diffused,
And bade the knight full truth confer.

The knight repaired to castle fair
And brought both stone and story:
How through Soy Plain to giant’s lair
The knight ascended, gained his glory.

He won the quartz of creamy hues
From evil, coming back with joy.
He placed it at the lady’s shoes
And gave her great mirth unalloyed.

“But what,” the lady asked, “Should I
Do with this stone of such renown?”
“Perhaps,” the knight replied, “You'll try
A holder of the gate to town.”

So now the lady's castle sports
A knight-won doorstop made of quartz.
Long may the knight such valor gain
And never hoard rich stones or grain!