A THREAT IN JEST

JESTER INFORMATION ▼

A jester is a person who entertains using varied skills. These may include one or more skills such as music, storytelling, juggling, acrobatics, joke-telling, and other similar skills. There have been many examples of jesters in history, fiction, and other mediums.

noun. a person who is given to witticisms, jokes, and pranks. a professional fool or clown, especially at a medieval court.

Jesters are also generally of inferior social and political status and are rarely in a position (and rarely inclined) to pose a power threat. They have little to gain by ...
https://press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/640914.html

A THREAT IN JEST

A threat in jest as you may guess
Is something not given jest yet
Caution or boldness no matter
some may jest the mad hatter

Smiles, jokes, and what-not
Rarely they receive "thanks a lot"
Clumsy and awkward and silly too
maybe they’re entertaining for you

Pranks and jokes make you smile
sit and relax for a long while
Jester shows his ticks of the trade
His costume shouldn’t make you afraid

Some jesters may distract you while
Others prepare to joke and goof off in style
Pranks bring to them a smile but then
their low status of position wipes them off again

Dark they are not but sometimes that’s forgot
swiftly the stories were told and he was caught
Because of the tale, a jester jealously empaled
the brother of the king so he went to jail

A jester in distress and serious trouble
Was sentenced to death on the double
His friends and colleagues helped him escape
later that day a smile planted on each face

LINES 24
921 characters, 170 words. Readability level: 11-12th grade student.

PROMPT PICTURE FOR DARK DREAMSCAPES POETRY CONTEST April 2021 ▼

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JESTER INFORMATION ▼

Jester Information
A jester is a person who entertains using varied skills. These may include one or more skills such as music, storytelling, juggling, acrobatics, joke-telling, and other similar skills. There have been many examples of jesters in history, fiction, and other mediums.

noun. a person who is given to witticisms, jokes, and pranks. a professional fool or clown, especially at a medieval court.

Jesters are also generally of inferior social and political status and are rarely in a position (and rarely inclined) to pose a power threat. They have little to gain by ...
https://press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/640914.html

NOTE ABOUT POEM ▼

Although this is supposed to be dark and being sentenced to death is dark, the jester especially with a smile probably wouldn’t be in a dark frame of mind or place. They were not of the high status and probably didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about dark stuff to do. I suspect they would be focusing on their affairs in the court and working on their act.