with apologies to Alfred, Lord Tennyson (to read the original poem ). In case you need the reference – the charge of the British Light Infantry occurred in 25 Oct 1854, Balaclava, Ukraine in the Crimean War. Other references include this one, this one and this one.
Charge of the Sock Brigade
Half a sock
, half a sock
Half a sock onward
Into the Valley of Panic
knit the one hundred.
‘Knit, 52pr Plungers!
Go for the line!’
Into the valley of Panic
Knit the one hundred.
‘Forward, on 52 Plungers!’
Was there a knitter dismayed?
Over committed they knew
They had blundered:
Theirs not to make whine,
With hands full of pain,
Theirs but to try, and cry,
Into the valley of Panic
Knit the one hundred.
Yarn to the right of them,
Needles to the left of them
Patterns in front of them,
Cables and Laced.
Overwhelmed with choices and blogs
Boldly they knit well
Into the Jaws of April
Into the mouth of Hell,
Knit the one hundred.
Back to my final sock….
-Holly
(and since I didn’t do anything neat for my blogversry 11 March – help finish the poem. Best contribution for each of the remaining verses will get sock yarn).
What a fantastic rendition of an old classic. I think, if Tennyson knit, he would be so proud. Thanks for making me smile.
That was great! Thanks for the giggle.
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Jaywalking forward,
Monkeying around,
The one hundred knitters
Don’t make a sound
Save for the click
Of needles in hand
One hundred knitters…
A gallant band.
Into the Valley of Panic,
Into the arms of harm,
The gallant band goes forward.
At least their feet are warm.
(Oh jeez, stop me now. This is too addictive.)
I think the final verse should be close to the original with just a few twists:
When will their fingers fade?
O the wild challenge they made!
All the knitters wonder’d.
Honour the commitment they made!
Honour the Sock Brigade,
Noble 52pr Plungers!
A great challenge for sure!
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Chaos and Mayhem sent me… and I can’t resist a parody.
Ne’er will the colors fade
Of the wild socks they made!
It was a wonder.
So ends this serenade
Of Pomatomi and Charades,
Noble knitting hundred!