Sunday 4 September 2016

The Ballad of Eva and Jack Marella

This is an experimental piece written in the form of a ballad. The inspiration is sourced from, in this case, Germanic folklore; Nixie also appears in Scandinavian, Celtic, Nordic and other mythology's by other names.
The actual story told in the ballad of Eva and Jack Marella is from my imagination.

Note to Poem
Nixie, in Germanic ancient folklore is a shape-shifting water fairy and is infamous for singing enchanted songs to lure human prey to watery deaths. The Nixie is usually a malicious female mermaid, and the Nix is her male counterpart. 


The Ballad of Eva and Jack Meralla

Soft lilting songs from the depths of
yellow and orange sun glazed waters,
Jack’s fishing boat now becalmed
Enchanted by Nixie’s belying charm;

And then the runes were cast so fast
As Nixie sang Eva downed her glass
Eva Marella knows not of sobriety
A raconteur of fables in gaiety.

Oh fiddle de diddle de fiddle de doo
Oh Fiddle de diddle de fiddle de dowe.

Now Jack Marella sings a shanty
Tied to the mast in a bottle of glass
Never again will he hold his soul
Till Nixie’s paid in doubloons of gold;

Mrs Marella head under her arm
Around her feet they swirled
Eva Marella sways to shanty
In drunkenness on gin and brandy.

Oh fiddle de diddle de fiddle de doo
Oh fiddle de diddle de fiddle de dowe.

Nixie why’d you to steal Jack’s soul
You green eyed siren of the deep
Eva she cried, “Oh sing to me”
With all your mystical beauty;

Mrs Marella she danced with Nixie
Never to gaze into her deep green eyes,
Under clear skies that night in June
Vowed she’d win him back none too soon.

Oh fiddle de diddle de fiddle de doo
fiddle de diddle de fiddle de dowe.

Not brandy, nore gin had been her sin
Since she vowed to win Jack back
For pieces of gold she told old fables
In the tavern round cider soaked tables;

As Eva Marella stowed the boats oars
Over the gunwale went the doubloons;
She woke next morning in marital bed
To Mr Marella kissing her forehead.

Oh fiddle de diddle de fiddle de doo
Oh fiddle de diddle de fiddle de dowe
Oh fiddle de diddle de fiddle de doo
Oh fiddle de diddle de fiddle de dowe.

© Julian Clarke 2016

Posted for and linked Poets United


40 comments:

  1. So nicely done... could almost hear it being sung...

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    1. Thank you, thotpurge, glad you liked felt the song within this piece.

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  2. nicely told...but the fonts are so teeny tiny!!

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    1. Sumana, thanks for your thoughts; don't know why the font appears tiny, set on normal this end.

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    1. Thank you, Sanaa, for your thoughts, I'm pleased you liked it.

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  4. It's great when a story captures you and feels like it writes itself - as it has here :) Beware of Nixies!

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    1. OOoo yes beware, evil little so and so's, glad you enjoyed it, Jae.

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  5. Lovely as far as it goes – I'd really like a bit more story to flesh it out.

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    1. Thanks for your constructive thoughts, Rosemary. I did wonder about this and I felt by fleshing it out more it would become to long, maybe 6 line stanzas would do the trick. Appreciate your feed back.

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  6. Ah.. there is a hard lesson to be had in the sea of brandy and gin.. neither happy forever-more, nor a sappy whatever morn.

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    1. Absolutley brudberg; thanks for stopping by.

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  7. Ah, you have me 'singing' along with this one. Love the way you have used the ballad form to tell this tale.

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    1. Thank you Mary, so pleased you felt this way about it.

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  8. What a marvellous ballad! My mom used to jokingly say "with her head tucked underneath her arm", and I have no idea where she got it from, but your poem reminded me of it. I enjoyed the refrain very much! And am glad the couple found itself safely back in the marital bed after such adventures.

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    1. Sherry, thanks for your kind thoughts and so pleased you enjoyed it.

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  9. Haha I kinda sang it and of course the ... Your art never ceases to amaze me. And how can you miss with 3 part harmony and a little lead guitar on "Oh fiddle de diddle de fiddle de doo
    Oh fiddle de diddle de fiddle de dowe..."
    Very creative Julian.
    ZQ

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    1. Thank you so much. I think I'll let my mate who I jam with play around with it for a while. Your thoughts are very much appreciated.

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  10. Mythology and music dancing together to birth poetry. What's not to love!

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  11. Wowzers! Mesmerizing! Wonderful.

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  12. came for a second read, imagine my joy to see bigger fonts, and reading this fantastic tale once again...it would be so nice if you could add your voice reciting it using SoundCloud...

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    1. Hello again, thanks for letting me know re-tiny fonts. I'm going to see what my friend and I, we play guitars together can come up with, and then where this goes.

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  13. Interesting experiment, Julian. I could imagine it working well with music. The story-line is reminiscent of some of the old Guernsey legends. Dare I say it, I think it would work even better as an extended short story.

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    1. I think you may have set the seed for a piece of flash fiction here, Richard. I'm going to see if the chap I play guitar with can come up with some music, if only for the fun of it as that's what it's all about. Once again I thank you for your supportive thoughts.

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  14. A sort of sea shanty.I like it.It reminds me of
    yo ho ho
    and a bottle of rum:)

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    1. Thanks for that, excatly the feel I wanted to get accross.

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  15. yes, this ballad can certainly do with some music. we will sing along with the chorus.
    it's a real delight to read this, Julian. :)

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    1. Pleased you liked it and thanks for those kind thoughts

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  16. Mrs Marella is quite a gal, luv how she won Jack back to give us a happy ending

    Thanks for dropping in at my Sunday Lime this week

    much love...

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  17. Never heard of Nixie before, although am familiar with the siren's song. The is a delightful read, and one can actually hear the music,

    Elizabeth

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    1. Thank you, Elizabeth, glad you enjoyed it.

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  18. Oh, well, I'm glad the Mrs. was resourceful enough to win. Lots offun.

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  19. Thank you, Susan, for your thoughts.

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Comments are very much appreciated and I shall endeavour to reply, however, this may not always be possible due to time restraints.