Community Event / Creation Commander Grey's Elite Poetry Corner

So I realised if I keep making new threads for little poems/songs I write then I might flood the board too much, and it may be preferable to have them all in one place. Below I'll make a post for each poem (helps to have them separated). Comment at your leisure. Requests will be happily considered :)

(Aside: During the Kickstarter I considered going for a writer's pack to make a book of Elite-based poetry, but I'm not interested in making a profit and I'm not sure many would care about such a book, so instead I'll just post a load of unofficial stuff here ;) )
 
The Stars and I

Written by the renowned explorer Gart Bevelle in 3421. His empty ship was discovered stranded in space 3 years later, but his body has never been found.


Alone I fly through a womb of stars,
Their dense clouds birthing all we are,
Their light a comfort and a guide
Here I fly, the stars and I

My silence is rudely broken.
A stroke fired from a viper in the dark,
Some pirate or hunter after another mark

I spin, I thrust, the trigger pulled,
My lasers burst through shield and hull,
From split metal bright light briefly pours,
Before light and life are no more

Alone again amidst the stars,
In dark and light I quietly fly,
Here I live, the stars and I

But what if I were the one to fall?
My voided breath a silent call,
Metal tearing from my ship,
As soundless scream escapes my lips...

It may happen in this deadly place,
Our space filled with greed and pride
Where hunters lurk and pirates hide

But then a smile will cross my skull,
As briefly torn from metal hull
In the cold black I will freely fly!
There will be naught between the stars and I.
 
Last edited:
[Unnamed]

This is a popular lullaby in independent worlds. Its origin is unknown.


I know of where the stars are born, and there the stars will die,
The galaxy keeps spinning, as through the stars I fly,
But their starlight fades and falters, the black depths now enthral,
Past time or understanding, the darkness claims them all,

I sit lonely in my starship, in fear of black and cold,
I want to fly forever, to pass stars young and old,
So many stars for me to see, before I ever fall,
But the light must come to pass, and darkness claims us all.
 
A Thar-Girl’s Hull is Hard to Pierce

This song is sung to a pirate shanty tune. It is banned in most Federation worlds for its extreme lewdness, but it can be commonly heard in cheap bars in frontier systems, especially amongst groups of male pilots drinking into the cold hours. Though seemingly crude on the outside, some analysts consider it to be a cultural analogy of the difficulties of a pirate lifestyle, always seeking treasures out of reach.


Yar engines roar
Her engines sigh
Disappointment in her eye
Cause when ya bed
A Thargoid lass
Her thick hull ya’ll have ta pass!

Oh a Thar-Girl’s hull is hard ta break!
Won’t open to just any snake
Keep thrustin’ till yar weapon aches
But a Thar-Girl's hull’s too hard ta break!

Ya’ll track her down
Ya’ll break her shield
But that hull o’ hers sure won’t yield
Cold blue blood
And thick green skin
Don’t let warm members lightly in!

Oh a Thar-Girl’s hull is hard ta crack!
Ya may get that alien in the sack
Yar legs a-quiverin’, and yar knees a-wrack
But a Thar-Girl's hull’s too hard ta crack!

Cold as space
Hard as steel
Immune to all yar passioned zeal
Try yar moves
Use every ploy
But from yar weak weapon she’ll get no joy!

Oh a Thar-Girl’s hull is hard ta breach!
When her naked form ya finally reach
Ya’ll grab and grind and grunt and screech
But a Thar-Girl's hull’s too hard ta breach!

Many have tried
And many have failed
Ta seize that treasure so thickly scaled
Pity the pirate
With her as a goal
Cause he’ll struggle ta get up her wormhole!

Oh a Thar-Girl’s hull is hard ta pierce!
Ain’t a weapon known across the frontiers
That’ll overcome that barrier fierce
‘Cause a Thar-Girl's hull’s too hard ta pierce!

No pulse will do
No beam will faze her
Not even a particle accelerator
So when ya bed
A Thargoid girl
Bring a thousand megawatt mining laser!

Edit: And here's an mp3 of how it sound be sung.
 
Last edited:
The Slave-Boy with a Mighty Python

This song is particularly renowned for being drunkenly chanted by the female spacewardens of the Imperial Navy. Though frowned upon by some senior officers in the Empire, none dare rebuke the famously impassioned and dangerous pilots. Many a tale does tell of Elite commandos on shore leave forcibly stripping slave-boys or even free citizens to see if they bear a "python"...


Oh pirate with your little Krait
My hungers you will never sate
You like to flash your weapon about
But it’s far too small to make me shout!

Oh policeman with your Viper fast
Have you got the strength to last?
I want much more than just quick thrills
And you fire too soon to meet my fills!

Oh trader with your Cobra proud
You brag of your supplies so loud
But I’ve seen the wares you like to pimp
Out of date and oh so limp!

Oh explorer flying your sleek Asp
Can you make me moan? Make me gasp?
Leave me begging for some more?
No. Your slow moves make me bore!

But once there was a young slave-boy
Who taught me true the meaning of joy
No other man can now compare
To the gift that boy did princely bear

His muscles firm, his eyes so blue
And oh the touches this boy knew!
But the shock when I saw beneath his nylon
The slave-boy had a mighty Python!
 
Nice work!

I really enjoyed reading through them.
Saving listening to the live rendition of the pirate shanty as a treat for later.:cool:
 
Hyper

This poem is the last known writing of the Arcturan astrophysicist Johannes Crawley, renowned for his advanced hyperspace studies. In 3278 his body was found in his lab without a head - the head has never been located. We would like to take this moment to remind travellers that you are advised to not, I repeat *not* stare directly into the hyperspace tunnel.


Hi, high, hype, hy, Hyper!
Swirling noise amidst the patterns
Shining space in glowing black
The route to dreams and nightmares deemed
Too dreadful tearing at the seams
Of minds collapsing ‘neath the beaming light of
Yowling mouths all screaming
Hyper!

When? Where? How? Why? Hyper!
We know, we don’t, pretence is dear
As travellers ignore all fear
Don’t ask why in this empty sky
An opening should scry into your soul,
Your thoughts afly as holes bore low and high
Through questions, queries, science shattered,
The only vision in your clouded eye is
Hyper!

I, aye, i, nigh, Hyper!
It’s close, it’s far, all distance lost
Shrink before infinity’s creation
Whilst the shining witches
Dance so grand, their movements hand in hand
In circles expanding and contracting,
Oscillations that demand no explanation
As our instruments cannot withstand the
Hyper!

He, ho, ha, hi, hyper!
I laugh before the face of
Analysis so empty, blank as death,
Naught can appease the inquiring mind,
Yet naught can please the questions that arise,
My curiosity a disease that will not cease
Its torture till I somehow release that painful
Piece of brain and give it to the
Hyper!
 
Last edited:
The Jontybass Rap

In the 3280s a wave of Corporation-sponsored songs hit the popular music charts, and briefly were in vogue amongst Federation youth who claimed to "like them ironically". Big hits included 'Why So Sirius?', 'You Fer de Lanced My Heart', and 'Baby, You Make Me G-Asp'. But by far the biggest hit was one that initially took several weeks to rise up the charts before gaining popular appeal: from Europa Fisheries, 'The Jontybass Rap'.


Hey man! You want a good eat?
Seameat so sweet that tastes elite?
A treat to your palate that can't be beat?
Then a Jontybass grill's right up your street!

Yeah the Jontybass!
Get some Jontybass!
The finest fish from Europan ice!
Ooh the Jontybass!
Taste that Jontybass!
The meal a steal to your open eyes!

Cut the carp!
This ain't no pollocks!
A Jontybass meal is the real dog's bo----
Lutefisk! It don't compare
To the fine white flesh of a Jontybass rare.

Mmm, the Jontybass!
Eat that Jontybass!
Ain't a fish in space that tastes so great!
Get some Jontybass!
Cook with Jontybass!
No dish so ace to place on your plate!

Jontybass steamed!
Jontybass grilled!
A Jontybass bake will make you thrilled!
Jontybass poached!
Jontybass fried!
A Jontybass pie will satisfy!

Don't settle for lesser or smaller or thinner
Do the right thing and Jonty your dinner!
 
I think, as a special treat for those who pledged for the anthology in paper format, they should get a treat with these added to the back or as a separate booklet. Is there enough in the kitty to get this printed as well.
I am not saying this in order to get it since I didn't have enough funds to join that kickstarter but think that they should be included somewhere and the anthology is the correct place in my view. Get in touch with them and ask.
Or you can ask David Braben if his favourite one can be printed on the elite boxset special collectors edition (either inside or on the side or back or on a cd to be included), now I am being selfish as that means I will get a poem. :)

I like the fact that some of the poems have a background history to them - I wonder if that derelict explorer ship belonging to Gart will be in the game for us to discover!
 
These are immensely unofficial! And I'm careful not to include any writer's forum knowledge in them, so they're not in any way accurate to the context of the game. Just treat them as a bit of fun :)
 
If anybody would like to attempt a rap rendition of this the Lave Crew would happily take it and do our best to create some musical accompaniment around it and potentially use it as an advert spot.

:)

(N.b. I have tried and failed horrendously!)
 
I think some of them should be beat poems... lol

I could try a train spotting esq version if someone had a backing...

I don't mind trying.. but I am no oooh hold on!! Rap ist.. RAPPER!!!

Bloodyhell..
 
Elite Prince

Cross-posting here for posterity...


Now, this is a story all about how
Elite got flipped-turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute
Just sit right there
I'll tell you how it became Dangerous with a Kickstarter...

In the heart of Cambridge born and raised
Elite was a space game ahead of its days
Trading and shooting in a procedural universe
Bounties, Pirates, Thargoids, Vipers, and challenges diverse
Scooping fuel, docking ships, flying through witchspace
You could even become “Elite” if you were real ace!
From Braben and Bell with their mastery of games
Came a title that put all rivals to shame.

Years passed, Elite spread, but technology evolved
And its graphical fidelity now seemed poorly resolved
So Braben got to work on a successor to Elite
Thus was born Frontier, and oh what a treat...
Planet-landing, mining, factions, physics, missions full of risk
The whole galaxy fit on a single floppy disk
Numerous ships to fly through millions of stars
And it got even better with First Encounters

Then things went quiet
Nothing seemed to stir
And in spite of the rumours we saw no Elite IV
Some kept faith
But others drifted away
It seemed Elite had had its day...

But at the heart of Frontier, David still dreamed
Of a new Elite that could be deemed
A successor to the crown of the classics of old
That would tower above all of modern gaming gold

So Dangerous was Kickstarted for over a million
And the fans all chanted, “Take my money, this is brilliant!”
There were doubters and detractors shouting “greed” and “shame”
Yet every Elite player knew they wanted this game

To return to the stars,
To captain our own ships,
The dream had never left us! Elite was still worshipped!
The cash soon flew in thick and fast
In two months the goal was reached at last!

It finally came home at £1.6 mil
The target was smashed, this game will now be brill!
So no room for doubt,
Nothing left to slander,
Just three words: Right On, Commander!
 
Blazer Fazer

Blowing **** to pieces
In my overpowered Cobra
Here I go again, leaving your burning remain
Another Python crumbles, as my lazer rumbles

Im here again, on ur tail
My Cobra snatches after ur booty
For some juicy looty
Kiss my red hot beam
Let me let of some steam

Another bites the dust as I leave him to rust
In remains of smoldering astroids and junk
I celebrate with a missile up ur trunk

Let me sell ur cargo
Before I smoke up narcotics
There is no embargo
For a blazer fazer Cobra pirate

Booooom!
 
Back
Top Bottom