The Tales of Old

The tales of old bound with gold and leather, 

The love of the writer and his words are the tether, 

Writing a story comes with great glory, 

But it can be gory and dilatory. 

One of these men be Homer and his epics, 

And how it was told through the art of homiletics. 

Another be Virgil who wrote of Aeneas and his crew, 

As they sailed towards Italy on the ocean blue. 

A third of these men be Dante who wrote of Hell, Heaven, and in-between. 

In Hell he sees many familiar faces and those who are obscene. 

In purgatory he is cleansed of his sin, 

And in Heaven he learns of the good within. 

The fourth of these men be a Germanic poet, the writer of Beowulf and his yales. 

Against many monsters Beowulf fought in all of which he prevails. 

First with Grendel, descendant of Cain, then his mother, who lived in a cave. 

His third beast was a dragon, and he managed to be exceedingly brave. 

All these stories are from authors who wrote them with care. 

Nowadays a book written like the stories mentioned is rare. 

For the art of reading is losing its luster, having been reduced to a mere pastime. 

Now that you have heard of these authors, go read their books, for it is no crime.