FOR THE EMPEROR!

When I heard that the assignment for this Sonnet was to take an epic story and retell it, I began to think about Epic Poetry. Which led me to think about great heroes and warfare, which eventually brought me to something that is buried so deep into the depths of nerdhood that I don't think anyone who is in this class, or who has taken this class before, has heard of it. Which is a shame.

I speak of a game called Warhammer 40,000. (Or WH40k, as it is abbreviated.) Originally it was a "war simulator" style of game played on a tabletop using miniature figures and dice. Since then it has expanded into the realms of books, tabletop role playing, and even a handful of video games.

I have known about WH40k for a long time now, but only recently did I start to examine it in detail. I don't play the original game, because as a hobby it is prohibitively expensive for a young college student. (Some of the individual miniature figures can cost over $150.) However, the details of the world in which these mock battles take place is readily available, and a lot of the other media produced in the setting is able to be found for very cheap. I won't go into advanced detail about it, but I will link a very brief video that explains the absolute basics of the lore in about 60 seconds (and doesn't even begin to scratch the surface.) That video is HERE. I just happen to find the lore to be amazingly cool, and decided to write a Sonnet about it.

The sonnet about this world is below. I used the Italian Sonnet style as opposed to the Shakespearean style, as it sounds even more pointlessly ornate. (Which is a major theme of Warhammer 40k.)

The Emperor sits on his Golden Throne
A corpse kept living by their sacrifice
a thousand souls per day the vicious price
ensures that we the Emp'ror's death postpone.
When Horus wrought that Heresy well known
To take our Terra was his sick device
The Emperor's death for Horus would suffice
and he would take our Terra for his own.
But lo, the Emperor would not be spurned
The prodigal that he had once adored
The heretic who now could not be turned
The Emperor would strike down with the sword
and through his wounds, the lesson would be learned
The Emperor protects, our Deathless Lord