I apologize for the lack of activity. Been hanging around the kinkmeme a lot recently and haven't gotten around to posting them fills up here. Here's a little oneshot that I particularly had a good time writing, so I hope you enjoy it as well!
Prompt was for nations and the creative endeavors they partake in during their free time. Filled with one of my favorite characters, England!
"'Oh, love, my love,
Your eyes are like the summer rain
You simply drive me insane'?"
The man at the desk threw him a distinctly horrified look. England chuckled, not at all offended by his friend's reaction. Stretching out, he turned so that he was lying stomach-down on the bed. He swung his legs in the air, idly chewing on the end of his quill. Laughing silently at a new thought, he scratched a few more words onto the parchment before holding it up again.
"Hear this now, Will -
'There was a place named Leem
Where everything may seem
Quite like a dream
Shrouded in some steam'."
"I would then suggest you stick firmly to prose, Arthur."
"Not everyone has your talents with poetry, oh Bard," he teased, using the epithet that had recently been making its rounds.
The other man's cheeks tinted a little, still unused to the praise his work had been attracting. A good lad, England thought fondly. William shook his head at him in mock exasperation. "At least give heed to metres, my friend."
"Perhaps I will create a new fashion with my uneven metres. One that trips along merrily."
"Yes it will surely trip, the way it is." William's deadpan reply ruined England's already paper-thin control and sent him off in peals of laughter. Upon recovering, the nation propped his chin up in a hand, waggling his eyebrows playfully.
"'There once lived a poem with four left feet
Without a single right
"Iamb, what is that" it said
As it tumbled out of sight'."
"Prose, my friend," William repeated drily, though not without a laughing twinkle in his eye. "Spare us from your tripping rhymes."
"Oh cruel William, spare me thy lashing tongue, for I am wounded," Arthur theatricised, falling back with great dramatics, clutching his heart.
The other just laughed lightly as he turned back to his work. Peeking a look at the younger's back, England smiled fondly as he too returned to his parchment.
OMAKE
England idly flipped through pages of poetry review on his laptop. Taking a sip of tea, he couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow at the sight of an all-too-familiar poem. Curious to see what modern day literary critics had to say of it, he clicked the link.
The Working Bard
Unknown poet, 17th century
'The style of writing suggests that the poet was highly influenced by Shakespeare's work, in fact there is substantial proof that the "bard" featured in the poem refers to the Bard of Avon himself. Whether the poet knew Shakespeare personally remains to be seen, but certain...'
England snorted as he read through the article, amusement dancing in his eyes. "I'm bloody sure I didn't mean any of that when I was writing it. Well, if they want to think I meant something deeper than I did, I suppose I shouldn't complain."
Reaching for the mouse, he closed the window to pull up Word instead. Popping a gingerbread cookie into his mouth, he settled down to write.
A bit of explanation for the third poem - iambic pentameter is a literary device commonly used in English poems. Shakespeare was a particular famous user of it. An iamb is a group of syllables (also known as a foot) that consists of one unstressed and one stressed syllable.