Songs of Exile/Poem on Chess
POEM
ON CHESS
This Poem on Chess is by an anonymous author. The manuscript is to be found in the Vatican. The date assigned to it by Steinschneider is the fifteenth or sixteenth century, but it is probably earlier.
The Song of Chess
THE Kings have met on the battle plain,
And war upriseth betwixt the twain.
Alike in number is either band,
And face to face do the armies stand.
Devoid of sword and of spear their strife;
Within their mouths is no breath of life.
In crafty guise is their battle fought;
With cunning art is their contest wrought.
When these prevail o'er their foemen all,
Behold, 'tis then that the dead men fall.
Yet they from death may arise again,
And cast their enemies 'mid the slain.
Their halt and marching will I relate,
Each one in order of rank and state.—
The King, he standeth beside the Queen;
Horses and Elephants nigh are seen.
There stand two chariots likewise here;
And facing, warriors, each his peer.
The King and Queen o'er two paces range;
Yet are their movements diverse and strange
Three steps the Elephants, never more;
The Horses turn to their quarters four;
And straight the Chariots forward fly,
Sideways and backward the foe defy.
In craft each warrior's bow is bent:
Vanquished by science, the foe is spent.
In ancient lore are their ways oft told:
Behold them writ in the books of old.