In this article, we’re going to talk about poetry in Mount & Blade: Warband. You’re going to learn everything about poetry in this game: what do they do, how do you learn them, what are the poems you can learn and how to use them properly. If that sounds like something you’d be interested in, read on.
What are poems in Mount & Blade: Warband?
Poems exist in both Mount & Blade: Warband and Mount & Blade: Viking Conquest. Once your character learned a poem, he can then use it to woo the ladies, raising his relationship points with them, and eventually marrying them. That said, if you chose a female character, poems would be pretty useless. You can learn all of them, but they serve no purpose other than raising the character’s known poems stats.
There are different types of poems in Mount & Blade: Warband. When you learn a poem, it can be comic, epic, tragic, mystic or allegoric. One poem can amuse a lady while being neutral to others, and some even being repulsed by it. So it’s critical to use the right poem with each lady. To learn about this, you can ask Wandering Poets to know what type of poems a lady likes.
How to learn poems in Mount & Blade: Warband?
To learn poems in Mount & Blade: Warband, you need to talk to the Wandering Poets. They can be found in the taverns of different towns. After you pay 300 denars, it will take some time for your character to learn the poem and use it. There are only 5 poems in total that you can learn in the game, and if you want to know more about them, read the section below.
5 poems you can learn in Mount & Blade: Warband
1. An Argument in the Garden
All the silks of Veluca, all the furs of Khudan
Would buy you not the briefest kiss
What I bestow, I bestow for love
And the sake of my own happiness
But brought you a gift? Let us see! Let us see!
Or should tell my father how you came to see me?
This is a comic poem. The poem is a funny story that makes fun of the rules of courtly love. A man sneaks into a lady’s garden and tries to persuade her to let him kiss her. But she shoots down all his advances one by one. Then, when he is sad, she takes him in her arms and tells him that she wanted him all along – but only on her own terms, not his.
An Argument in the Garden is a poem that appeals to ambitious ladies, as they find it amusing. But if you read it for others, they might feel like they are the ones who are being made fun of.
2. Helgerad and Kara
A light pierced the gloom over Wercheg cliffs…
Where charge of surf broke on shieldwall of shore
Grey-helmeted and grey-cloaked the maiden stood
On wave-steed’s prow, the sailcloth snapping
Over din of oars, of timbers cracking
She cried out to her hearth-brothers, arrayed for war
This is an epic poem of blood, love, and revenge. Kara, the shieldmaiden, falls in love with the warrior Helgered, as he is the only man who can defeat her in combat. However, Kara’s father disagrees his daughter’s decision, comes to kill Helgered with his sons and huscarls. They fight, and Helgered and Kara slaughter the entire host except for Kara’s beloved younger brother. But alas, he grows up to avenge his father by slaying Helgered.
The tale of Helgered and Kara will be loved by tomboyish ladies. They find it appealing to see a warrior and shieldmaiden depicted as equals. Other women, however, will be shocked and repelled by a mail-wearing, blood-splattered heroine.
3. Kais and Layala
The wind that blows the dry steppe dust
Stir the curtains in your tower
The moon that lights my drunken path home
Looks on you sleeping in your bower
If I cried out to the wind
Could it carry a message from my lips?
If I wept before the moon
Would it grant me just a glimpse?
This is a tragic poem, a sad and simple tale. Kais is a shepherd boy, and Layala is a nobleman’s daughter. They love each other, but they can never be together. They can’t get married because of the difference in their social classes. Kais walks around alone, driving himself mad because of his unwillingness to forget their love.
All the conventional ladies will be moved by the sweetness and sorrow in Kais and Layala story. However, Kais’ self pity will bring out the contempt in other ladies.
4. The Heart’s Desire
You are the first and the last
the outer and the inner
When I drink from the cup of love
I escape the tread of time
A moment in solitude with you
Would have no beginning and no end
This is a mystic poem, a lyrical poem that can be interpreted in two ways. The first way is by looking at it erotically, and the second way is by looking at it spiritually. The lover realizes the greatness of the divine by looking at the body of his beloved. Romantic ladies will love The Heart’s Desire, while others will be bored by it.
5. The Storming of the Castle of Love
I deflected her skeptical questioning darts
with armor made of purest devotion
purged in the forge of my heart
from the slag of any baser emotion
This is an allegoric poem, full of symbols and metaphors. The story is about a brave warrior who wins the heart of his lady by learning the virtues of chivalry. He becomes a true and noble knight.
Moral ladies like The Storming of the Castle of Love because they like the idea that a woman’s role is to inspire a man and make him civilized. Not all women feel this way, however.
Final thoughts
So there you have it, all the poems in Mount & Blade: Warband, and how to use them. We don’t often cover topics like this, but hopefully it’s been helpful to you. If you’re in the mood for some poetry, here are some suggestions:
Thomas Dao is the guy who created Poem Home, a website where people can read about all things poetry related. When he’s not busy working on his next project, you can find him reading a good book or spending time with family and friends.
