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The Winter Palace ( A Russian Love Story)
Contributed by
doug
on
Tuesday, 21st November 2006 @ 05:28:58 PM in AEST
Topic:
StoryPoetry
|
I am known as Orlov in the pages of history
and have stood in the shadow of many thrones
but I tell you now a wondrous tale
an infamous love for which I am known
It was in the 18th century
that 56th winter so long ago
I had felt a calling from Mother Russia
and strove to make my way back home
I felt at peace on the carriage sled
as the horses pulled us through the snow
at the border I watched Europe fall away and
I sensed the power of the Romanovs
Having been a friend to Peter the Great
I was no stranger to that royal line
yet with his death in 25
I had sought to leave my sorrow behind
For years I haunted the catacombs of Paris
'till I heard the rumblings of impending war
and so I went to aid the Motherland
'gainst Prussia and its allied horde
In 58 I was named a hero
at the battle of Zorndorf , a village of Prussia
I , later , delivered a prisoner of war
to St' Petersburg in northern Russia
T'was here the story truly unfolded
as I had fallen for the mortal Catherine
though she ; the wife of Peter the 3rd
the grandson of my former friend
He was dull and incompetent ;
would surely put Russia into ruin
and with those words I did justify
my betrayal for the love of Catherine
I plotted with my brothers and Princess Dashkova
and by the morn on the 29th of June
we forced Peter to retire the throne
and , within the week , to enter his tomb
My so-called brother Alexis
confessed to the murder of the Tsar
yet it was I and I alone
who drained the blood of that royal heart
It was merciful , thought I , at the time
if I could tell you the honest truth
my brothers had far darker plans
they , unlike myself , were crude
I regretted trusting them with my secret
though locked away with threat of death
at times I would toss them a coin or such
or even the promise of eternal breath
I found I could justify anything
if it served to keep me with Catherine
She reminded me much of Peter the Great
with her energy and modern ambitions
And so in the Cathedral of Assumption
at the Kremlin in Moscow I found myself
a witness to the joyous coronation
of sweet Catherine the beloved Empress
We spent our years at The Winter Palace
at day she worked on the peasant's plight
while I would feed upon passerbys
in St. Petersburg and the frozen night
She built me a palace and made me a Prince
we held hands at the Peterhof fountains
she even gave me the title of Count
and stood puzzled as I laughed for hours
At the helm of the Russian Empire
we stood for 13 years together
it seemed we ruled the entire world
yet I knew it would not last forever
Catherine had grown to have suspicion
and one night as I bled another
She spied me then as Nosferatu
but chose to call me her cheating lover
She fiercely protected my vampyre secret
though afterwards the distance grew
'till one day she claimed to love another
and I stepped aside though I knew it untrue
I returned to Europe ; took a wife
though she could never ease my saddness
I killed her and later staged my death
and it was said I fell to maddness
In the following years I watched my Empress
from the shadows of the Russian night
I wept as her face grew older
and knew the end had come in sight
Then on the 6th day of November
as a haunted snow fell silently
I felt the weight of my lovers death
crush the heart inside of me
I killed the guards around her tomb
and lay there in the fozen night
I watched the moon and winter clouds
and knew , though immortal , I had died
For 24 years I had wandered
lost without her mortal love
I dream of our days in The Winter Palace
and I long for everything that was...
and everthing that shall not come again.
Copyright ©
doug
... [
2006-11-21 17:28:58]
(Date/Time posted on
site)
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Re: The Winter Palace ( A Russian Love Story)
(User Rating: 1 )
by True on
Wednesday, 22nd November 2006 @ 12:01:49 AM AEST
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Info | Send
a Message)
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| wow. I loved this one. It's very moving. I love your use of historical characters with the fictitious twist. |
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Re: The Winter Palace ( A Russian Love Story)
(User Rating: 1 )
by MisfitMe on
Wednesday, 22nd November 2006 @ 05:26:00 PM AEST
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Info | Send
a Message)
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"Listen to the pictures flow...across the room into your mind they go..."~G.Lightfoot
WOW!!! The mastery of your story telling is just,just...WOW!!!
BigLoveMuchPeace,
MisfitMe |
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