There He Stands, Annotated

I'm primarily a fiction writer, but this poem was perfect for this assignment, as I'm sure that even today there would be people who would need it annotated to understand all the references.  Also, I apologize if the numbers aren't superscript, I couldn't figure out how to do it on here.

There he stands, my brother,
Borne from blood and battle,
Staring into fields doomed for slaughter
The moonlight accenting his blade and his bearing
He sees Death readying his pale horse
But my brother rides to battle, eagerly,
The Watcher’s1 glorious name on his lips.

There he falls, my brother,
Gone into glory and gore,
Staring into the fields of Valhalla2
The moonlight recalling his blood and his steel
He hears the cawing of Thought and Memory3
Now my brother rides to Asgard4, without regret,
The Allfather’s1 glorious name on his lips.

There he goes, my brother,
Borne into blood and battle
Staring into the eyes of the Valkyries5
The moonlight hailing his prowess and honor
He feels the tears of Yggdrasil6
And my brother will ride to Ragnarok7
The One-Eyed God’s1 glorious name on his lips.

1 Monikers of Odin
2 Fields where the honored fallen fight
3 The two ravens that sit on Odin’s shoulders
4 The home of the Norse gods
5 Warrior angels who choose the honored fallen that are privileged to go to Valhalla
6 The World Tree, that connects all nine of the Norse realms
7 The end of the world, in which the gods and the warriors of Valhalla shall fight Loki and the Frost Giants

Friday's Journal

Entry #1
 I was sad that we left my father behind—I didn’t have a proper goodbye, and after such a happy reunion!—but I will not desert Master. We go now to Portugal, upon this ship that is much bigger than any I have sailed on before. Master’s presence commands as much respect from the other white mans as I give him, it seems, but I have not been replaced as his most trusted follower, nor do I have reason to think I will be.

Entry #2
 The white mans’ tribe is so large! I think all my Nation could fit in a small part of this place. And other places we passed on the way here, too! These are such strange places. If not for Master, I would be completely lost, in any sense. This place is so intimidating, but Master cares for and looks out for me as much as and as easily as he did on the island. As long as I stay by him, I will be fine. But I cannot help but fear a little that he might yet abandon me in this place, where he is from, in pursuit of his old habits. And then truly I will be lost! I’m not sure, then, which fate would be worse: eaten at the hands of the rival tribe in the islands, or eaten by the immensity of the white mans’ tribe here.

Entry #3
 Ha, ha! I am back in my element now! Master decided to travel to England by land. Just yesterday, I showed him and the others how we kill bears where I am from! I promised them laughs and laugh they did.
 I think that any fear I had of Master deserting me was quite unfounded. We have met many wolves and bears on our trip so far, and I’ve demonstrated, I think, that I show more courage in facing these creatures than the others, for I have encountered them before. I believe that Master esteems my skill and my person above the others, for he doesn’t bother with me often in his confidence in my skill. And I, for my part, will never depart from Master, either.

Entry #4
 Master’s homeland is a beautiful sight to behold. I think if I ended my days here I would be pleased, but I am not so sure if Master sees it that way. Either way, as long as I travel with him or live with him I will be happy, so I do not think that it matters.
 He has seemed to have settled down more, as he has now has a wife and children (the children of which are great fun to play with!), but I believe I can start to see yearnings in him already to travel abroad again. I noticed that he also appeared more comfortable when we were travelling, so I can begin to see his wanderlust sparking again, however abated it may have been with the advent of a family. I think it will be good to go abroad, though, despite my earlier sentiments. I often wonder that if it does happen, if I will see my Nation again. I also wonder if I could ever be apart of my Nation again. My travels have certainly changed me, most notably that I no longer eat human meat and that I am a devout Christian, and I do not know how my Nation would take to this.
 But I think that these are idle thoughts and not worth dwelling on. I am happy where I am, and I believe that I will be happy for some time to come.

Writing like Robinson

This was an exercise that we had to take and try to rewrite it in the style of Robinson Crusoe:

My Bookshelves are lined with such Treasures that is pleased me greatly whenever I look'd upon them; empty Cans, from which I removed the labels long ago, so that I could better admire their ribb'd steel Skins and silvered Polish; Rings in plenty from our Trip to Mexico, back when I was still five; and, along with this real Jewelry, I had hung Pictures of other Jewelry, cut from Magazines and glued to Cardboard; one of the silver Spoons my Grandmother sent my parents, of which me Mother loath'd; and a Collection of Nickels, Dimes, and Quarters, each of which I carefully and painstakingly boil'd and polish'd.

That was where I stopped, because then I realized that Crusoe would go on for at least five pages in describing how he had been able to polish said coins.

First One?

I'm not really a blogger.  I just set this up for a class at Susquehanna.  It's called Forms of Writing: The Novel.  As you can probably tell by the title of the blog.