Picture courtesy: A Close-up Shot of a Cocktail, Pexels.

Good evening, my fellow dVerse Poets!

Sanaa here, aka adashofsunny, and once again it’s time for my favorite of all prompts, the Quadrille. This feisty little poem is an invention of our own design: precisely 44 words (not counting the title) including the word that we provide.

Today, I’d like you to ponder upon the word “Spell.”

Plainly speaking, in English language, the word “Spell,” has three distinct homographs, which means that the word’s ancestry has three etymological branches.

In Middle English, Spell meant “to signify,” it is considered to probably be a shortening of Old French word “Espeller,” from the German base of spell.

Spell referring to magic incantation is of an entirely different origin. The word (again, German in origin) meant “to talk”, “storytelling”, “gossip”, and a “sermon”. It also is the derivative of gospel (which translates to “good tale”) and is the source for the magical power and enchantment senses of spell.

English poet Edmund Spenser ties those senses of the word together in his epic poem The Faerie Queene (1590):

In fact, the Bard used both literal and figurative senses in his plays:

In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo’s declaration that he and Juliet have a mutual love appears to mollify the Friar somewhat, but he doesn’t let Romeo entirely off the hook. The Friar says of Rosaline, “O, she knew well / Thy love did read by rote and could not spell.”

Picture courtesy: Brown concrete building by Maksym Harbar, Unsplash

And last but not the least, as a verb, the word “Spell,” means to allow someone to rest briefly by taking their place in carrying out the activity.

Misspelled, Gospellers, Bespelled, Spellcraft, Spellbinder, Counterspell, Fingerspelling, Dispeller, Spellcheck, Spell-out.

Go ahead, leave no possibility unexplored. Surprise us! Invent a new word that knocks our socks off. Whatever you do, just be sure to include some form of the word “Spell,” in your poem.

New to the Q? Here’s what to do:

• Carve us a poem out of the word “Spell,” and make it precisely 44 words long, not counting the title ofcourse.
• Post the poem on your own blog and link it up via Mr. Linky below. Then partake of all the incredible poems conjured in the blogosphere.
• The Quadrille is open all week, so be sure to come back and read (and write) some more!