For all of those born in England
Today’s a special day.
It’s when St. George, our patron saint,
Found a dragon to slay.
At least, it is the day
That we choose to celebrate
The happenings of years gone by
When that dragon met its fate.
But did it really happen?
Were there dragons years ago
Roaming around the Earth?
Does anybody know?
We have discovered fossils
Buried in the ground,
Of dinosaurs, not dragons,
Archaeologists are bound
To say that dragons don’t exist
They are too scientific.
When bones are spread out all around
How can they be specific
About which bones go where
For each individual creature?
They’ve got it wrong before,
They could have missed the feature
That makes a dragon recognised –
Its powerful, big wings.
The bones could have been scattered,
Mixed up with other things.
Maybe there was a battle –
George’s sword against dragon fire
But for the poor, old dragon
The consequence was dire. (Really? A sword against a flame-thrower? My money is on the dragon!)
But who’s to say the battle
Was never really fought?
Does it even matter?
Most people think we ought
To celebrate St. George’s Day
With a Bank Holiday (That’s a big yes from me!)
And like the Irish do with Patrick
In a very boozy way!
(Yes, I’m English and proud of it but long live dragons!)
St. George and the Dragon.
Stained glass window at St. George’s Hall, Liverpool.
Lynne's Art and Soul 
Really? St. George’s day is April 23 like Shakespeare’s birthday/death? (Coincidence?) Always presuming it was still the 23rd in England when you posted this.
I don’t suppose St George’s dragon was a metaphorical Welshman, do you?
LikeLike
It was still April 23rd by about 3 minutes, lol. I hadn’t realised it was Shakespeare’s birthday too. According to Wikipedia “Saint George’s Day is celebrated on 23 April, the traditionally accepted date of Saint George’s death in AD 303”
St George’s dragon might have been a metaphorical Welshman, I hadn’t thought of that. We hate the Welsh, Scots and Irish so you could well be right, lol. I wondered if it was one of the snakes that St Patrick banished from Ireland that had grown wings. 🙂
Does Canada have a patron saint?
LikeLike
I’ve just answered my own question below! 🙂
LikeLike
I agree with the bank holiday for St George’s day! Ireland and Scotland have their day, why shouldn’t we? We are so worth it and would love to make it a tradition for England!
As for Saint George and the slaying of said dragon, hell yes, tradition all the way me!
Now in reality, our illustrious Saint George was not actually English!
Also he did not slay any dragon! Like you said in your wonderful poem, dragons, we are reliably informed, did not exist, so that puts the kaibosh on that!
Still, I love Saint George the brave fearless defender of all things English!!!
Long may the tradition continue, a bit of a fairy tale memory of olde England! Xx
LikeLike
If he did fight a dragon, it was abroad. I was surprised to find out on Wikipedia that “Countries that celebrate St George’s Day include Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, England, Georgia, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, and Serbia. Cities include Genoa in Italy, Beirut in Lebanon, Qormi and Victoria in Malta, Moscow in Russia, Ljubljana in Slovenia, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and many others. It is also celebrated in the old Crown of Aragon in Spain — Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia, and Majorca.”
I don’t believe archaeologists, scientists, historian or doctors. They just twist things to fit their theories. How can an archaeologist tell that a tiny fragment came from a vase from the 12th century or whatever rubbish they spout? When Tony Robinson poo poos spiritual stuff but fawns over archaeologists and treats them like their word is law, I could smack him! Dragons existed (in my world anyway). xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, I think I touched a nerve there lol
I agree with you, dragons did exist and were fought by our brave knights, only when they attacked villages obviously! 😉 Xx
LikeLike
Yes, you did. I might do a poem on the “experts” and research that doesn’t prove anything because there are always variables.
They probably only attacked because people took all of their food or destroyed their homes, like people always do. Maybe another poem there. 🙂
LikeLike
Well, the emblem of Henry Tudor (who was Welsh) was a red dragon, so as I am a Ricardian I support George all the way!!
LikeLike
And Oxford for the boat race. 😉 (Jo is my sister and supports Cambridge).
LikeLike
Pingback: Rainbow | lynnesartandsoul
Nice poem 🙂 Perhaps a dragons anatomy works differently… Maybe they disintegrate when they die xD
LikeLike
Thank you. Yes, maybe they do disintegrate when they die – like a vampire, lol. I hadn’t thought of that, you could be right. 🙂
LikeLike
Pingback: St. George The Dragon Slayer In Stained Glass | The Flying Shetlands