The Maid of Orleans

By luigi_pagano

Sat, 09 Mar 2024
  • 479 reads
2 comments
 

When I was a young
and susceptible lad,
I read her life's story
which was very sad.

I learned her name
was Joanne of Arc
and had met a death
which had been stark.

Women would say
she was a feminist
but for the Church 
she was a satanist

with demonic visions
said to be blasphemy
yet the accusation
was downright infamy.

To wear men's clothes
was a major mistake
that led the  poor maid
to burn at the stake.

Was she a dreamer,
as some people insist,
or for women's assertion
the powerful catalyst?

 

© Luigi Pagano 2024

Certificate U
Poem
Mutevoli pensieri
Historical Fiction
Inspiration Point (work that responds to our weekly writing cue)

Comments

Submitted by Penny4athought on

Her story is sad indeed. A woman of remarkable courage and vision led an army into battle and won but had to hide her gender and don men's clothes - and because she was a woman, her victory awarded her, not a medal but a martyr's death. Even though she was later canonized by the church- it was a sad epitaph for a brave young woman who loved both her country and her God.

Penny4athought

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

A sign of the rimes, JoAnne. With monarchies, medieval despots and the papacy all fighting for supremacy, this poor nineteen year old girl, like many other women of the period, got a raw deal.
Many thanks for reading and commenting.

Luigi x