7:28 PM :: Stephen (contact)

Christmas cheer: Inspired by Sasha Volokh, who translated "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" into Latin (as well as rewriting it in Catullan hendecasyllables), I decided to attempt the following as my ninth Shakespearean sonnet:

No. 9. "Ode to Rudolph"

I sing of RUDOLPH, antler'd, red-nosèd,
   Most fearless Rangifer, who serv'd as guide
   To sainted NICHOLAS, of bearded head,
   Throughout a foggy globe-encircling ride.
A new DIOGENES, both beast and god,
   An outcast from his fellow caribou;
   No mind paid he to the mean ground he trod--
   No games played he, but rather did pursue
A harder path, through cloud-encrusted night.
   For who, so burdened with a load of toys,
   Could hope, without the benefit of light,
   To cheer the well-behavèd girls and boys?
Fair CLIO, Muse, in poetry and prose,
Sing of RUDOLPH, of luminescent nose.

UPDATE: Old English joins the list.