Saint Catherine bless the riders on the field,
And those who tend the ground upon which they ride.
Let none forget those who by service abide,
And train the use of lance and sword and shield.
Cross bearing nobles.
By mother dragon honored,
Falcon’s beloved.
Two have served in peace and war,
Through the long passing seasons.
In hospitality they’ve set their seals,
And welcomed guests from all around the world.
Their mottoes writ, their proud banners unfurled,
To see all friends welcomed their sworn ideal.
Tea’s steam in winter;
And in summer holidays,
Chilled sake to share.
Riders, warriors assured;
Loyal servants most of all.
And now let the honored pair be honored more,
A gleaming ruby upon a feathered breast.
The saddles that they have brought to foreign shore,
By the King and Queen and people now be blessed.
A patent let them now add to their décor,
For their worth is by a Pelican expressed.
Sato and Ise,
White belt clad and laurel clad,
Worthiest of all.
This day by Emperor made,
Order of the Pelican.
__ day of March, in the 57th year of the Society.
Logan Ylva
(The text requested was to combine an Italian form for Ise with a Japanese form for Sato. Rather than have one be in poetry and one in prose, I decided to attempt to combine different poetic forms. The goal was a feeling like the Italian and Japanese poetry were having a conversation, lauding the two recipients in their own ways.
The Italian is in the form of a modified Petrarchan sonnet. Petrarchan sonnets normally use an ABBA ABBA format for the octave—the first two stanzas—and commonly CDECDE or CDCDCD for the final sestet. This is modified because the rhyme scheme is ABBACDDC EFEFEF.
The Japanese are a series of three tanka, the poetic form which predates the more well-known Haiku. The form is lines of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables, frequently employing natural imagery. The line ‘summer holidays’ is an English adaptation of a Japanese kigo—a seasonal word of either five or seven syllables which employs imagery nearly universally understandable and evocative in the original. The line about long passing seasons is original, but an attempt to capture similar things in English.
It was specifically requested to mention several things in the text. These include the Company of St. Catherine, the hospitality and tea ceremonies and sake parties, service to equestrian and holding officer positions, and encouraging equestrian. The invocation to St. Catherine was for the first; the mentions of hospitality, steaming tea, and chilled sake the second; mention of training and service in war and peace the third; and the frequent references to riders the last.
The mention of banners and mottos is a reference to their camp at Lilies, which is how the author first met them at his first Lilies.)