No Robin Hood: And Other Poems

By Earl Handley

No Robin Hood is a collection of poems created over a period of forty years by author Earl Handley. Most of the poems are humorous, a few are sentimental, some are cynical, some are factual, some are entirely fictional, and some are a mixture of fact and fiction. Some of his poems recount poignant times in his life, in A Perspective he talks about the death of his father, while in The Last Trout he talks about his love of fishing.

Many of the poems are about hunting with the bow and arrow. Although the author has brought home the bacon thirty-nine times using the bow, most of the hunting poems are about his unsuccessful hunts. He learned more from his failures than from his successes, which is evident throughout his poetry collection, No Robin Hood.

No Robin Hood
I was bow-hunting deer at Michaels place*.
I had on a camouflage -outfit and paint on my face.
I had been on my tree-stand since well before dawn.
But I had seen no deer, not even a fawn.
Then I saw him a six point buck
About sixty-five yards away. I was in luck.
I fumbled for my deer-call and gave it a blow.
But the deer just ignored it. Was volume to low?
The deer turned and disappeared.
Was he gone? That is what I feared.
Suddenly he popped out he was moving fast.
Before I could draw my bow, he ran past

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Jun 23, 2014
• ISBN: 9781480808386

Earl Handley

Earl Handley is a 1955 graduate from the University of Colorado, and a 1960 graduate (J.D. Law Review) from the George Washington University Law School. He is a retired patent attorney, who was employed by the DuPont Company for thirty-five years, eight months, and six days. He hunts deer with the bow. He resides in Delaware.

Book preview

Contents

My Secrets

No Robin Hood

Perhaps

Poetic License

The 747 Alcoholic

Retirement Speech

A Perspective

Opening Day

Closing Day

The Self-inflicted Wound

The Silhouette

The Part-time Atheist

Confession

December 31

Monday Morning

Why?

The Gift

Dad’s Rifle

Class Reunion

The Mercenary

Escape Velocity

On the Death of Peter Sellers

Nancy’s Smile

The Answer

The Hunting Accident

The Metamorphosis

On Deceit

The Bull-Durham Man

Tea Time

Self-Defense

The Dormitory

Sand, Sun and Sea

From a Tree Stand

The Dinner Theater

The Where-Am-I Days

The Hunt

Diogenes

The Cigar

The Heirloom

Shared Frustration

The Goose Hunt

The Inventory

The Last Trout

The Night

Flash Thoughts

The Happy Hour

Natural Justice

An Observation

The Posy

Clutter

The Appeal Brief

A Prescription For Scott

My Son’s Almost New Hunting Jacket

Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life

Shells

Deer in the Woods

T.O.

Death in the Early Evening

I’ve Been There

New Year’s Eve

Little Things Mean a Lot

The Trout

So Ends the Season

Mechanics Verses Law

Iran Rescue Attempt

I Guess You Had to Be There

My Secrets

Fact and fantasy are blended throughout.

The lines are so twisted that both are in doubt.

A fact may seem fantasy because it is so rare,

But you won’t know because you were not there.

No Robin Hood

I was bow-hunting deer at Michael’s place*.

I had on a camouflage -outfit and paint on my face.

I had been on my tree-stand since well before dawn.

But I had seen no deer, not even a fawn.

Then I saw him – a six point buck –

About sixty-five yards away. I was in luck.

I fumbled for my deer-call and gave it a blow.

But the deer just ignored it. Was volume to low?

The deer turned and disappeared.

Was he gone? That is what I feared.

Suddenly he popped out – he was moving fast.

Before I could draw my bow, he ran past.

I blew on my deer-call. He stopped and came back.

I blew once more. He stopped in his track.

I drew my bow. He was about twenty-five yards away.

And I had practiced that shot just for this day.

I released the string. The arrow slammed into his chest.

I had shot well – I had done my best.

The deer ran up the steep incline.

As I watched him go I thought: He is mine!

I waited a few minutes and got out of the tree.

I was sure I would find him very quickly.

I walked to where he was when I shot.

There was blood. He was bleeding a lot.

I followed the trail of blood up the hill.

It was very easy to follow until

I reached the edge of the woods and the grass.

I thought, Oh My God! I have reached an impasse.

The grass was wet with heavy dew.

And the drops of blood had disappeared from view.

I studied the grass with great care,

But I found no blood anywhere.

I crossed the grass and went into the brush.

I searched slowly. There was no rush.

But I found no trace of the wounded deer.

I returned to the grass. I was beginning to

Reviews for No Robin Hood

[books9n9pickles · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Live fast, die young.I read this book aaaaages ago. Middle school? I think that's when I read a bunch of these Puffin Classics. This is definitely exciting action adventure, with Green giving the action most of the emphasis. We're told often that Robin robs the rich and gives to the poor, but despite hearing how he takes hundreds of pounds from corrupt church officials, we don't get much indication of where that money goes. At one point he's raising a ransom of King Richard, and later we're told he sent it, but...when and how did it go?In Green's telling, Robin's adventures are concise and quick--the chapters would make excellent campfire reading. As an older reader, there were several interesting undercurrents I picked up on:>> The simmering tensions between the Saxons and the Normans. In history class, invasions, occupations, and colonization often ends up seeming like a done deal, but here's the evidence that all is not well even a hundred years after 1066. I was rather impressed that at two points, Norman fathers whose daughters had married Saxons eventually chose to give up their anger for the sake of family. >> Clergy were almost entirely corrupt, including Friar Tuck--I remembered (okay, okay, with help from the Russel Crowe movie) that he wasn't exactly a paragon of virtue, but he extorted tolls from travelers! How was that much better than the other clergy? >> I was happy to see that Marian had as active a role as I remembered--yeah, it's not modern feminism, but she was basically her own action star AND she had some women friends as well, one of whom weilds a mean cudgel. >> It was also interesting to see how often Robin was beaten by others, and how often he took it in good cheer and invited them to join him, not something you'd associate with gung-ho masculinity these days. >> I picked up, too, on some dissatisfaction in the ranks for how often Robin Hood would get bored with the regular robbing-the-rich routine and wander off into trouble. >> He's also not a perfect angel in contrast to the villains, though most movies make him out to be so: in one particularly dark scene (though I'm sure we're meant to see it as justice) he shoots down fifteen men tangentally involved in the death of his good friend. >> There's more than a whiff of British classism showing through Green's interpretations, with the strict heirarchy of serf, yeoman, judge, knight, lord, etc., treated as the natural order of things; no one who's not insisting that Robin's an outlaw doubts that he is rightfully a lord. King Richard remains a perfect ideal from a distance, despite the fact that he--unlike Robin Hood--cannot escape but needs to be ransomed. And the King is, of course, stronger than Friar Tuck, Little John, and Robin Hood together. Like Robin, despite his responsibilities, he faffs around playing at the Black Knight before announcing himself. Way to get back to work, dude!But most of the stories are light and airy, tales about Robin winning competitions; going in disguise to humiliate the Sherriff of Nottingham, the local bishop, and Prince John, rescuing friends (he doesn't actually rescue Maid Marian--she gets away from her father, Guy of Gisborne, and Prince John all by herself); and getting into friendly fights that end with a new recruit. There is a weird story with a witch in it, which just seems wildly different from all the rest, and stuck out so much from the other stories that I remembered bits of it over the years even if I didn't remember Will Scarlett or Allan-a-Green, etc. The biggest story of Robin's giving-to-the-poor kindness is when he helps a knight pay off a debt on his lands; other than that, it's all telling rather than showing. I remember being surprised when I read this book for the first time that it actually ended with Robin's early death. He doesn't get a happily ever after: King John gets his revenge, forcing Robin, Marian, and Little John to flee their estate. In escaping, Robin is mortally wounded, though he somehow manages to play pirate with severe internal injuries before limping his way to the nunnery where Marian has holed up. At least he manages to see her and Little John on his deathbed.All in all, good fun. Now I can read some of the Robin Hood retellings that I've been meaning to get to!

[jknuts1-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was a good version of the Robin Hood tale. I especially liked the occasional black and white illustrations added to the text since it broke up the long read. It allowed you to construct your own visualizations of the characters and setting, but brought you back on track for some clarification and extra details here and there. I also liked the way that he wrote Marian's character differently than most. In this version, Marian was a fighter, and didn't just fill the role of pretty girl needing to be rescued. The big idea of this book is not lawless-ness, but the need for righteousness!

[sarahdowning · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As some of the other reviews states this is a telling of Robin Hood based on old ballads etc.

What I remember most strong from reading it years ago is maid Marian, disguising herself as a forester and beating/almost beating Robin Hood in a quarterstaff fight, and threating to climb out of a window if her father imprisoners her to prevent her seeing robin hood.

[rosenstern · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was always a big fan of Robin Hood. These were a bunch of short stories based on Robin's adventures. I guess it's the legend that surrounds him, and how he helped the poor. I rooted for him the whole way through. Worth it, if only for the legends.

[.monkey.-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Initially, I wasn't too sure what to make of this. There's a lot of action going on, as everyone knows of Robin Hood, but the writing doesn't really have that sort of tone. And, because he collected the stories from the various places that they're found and put them essentially in order, to try to make a fairly chronological account come together to make a novel, some of it is a little repetetive and a little disjointed. But, I started to get a lot more into it more around halfway in, and found it more engaging. Plus I had no idea that the "real" Marion was so amazing!! All the movies stick her in the trite old damsel in distress role (ugh!), but as it turns out, she's every bit as badass as Robin, and probably even more clever. I was astonished, and thrilled! Also, Green put pieces from the old text/songs at the start of each "adventure," which I thought was interesting and clever.This wasn't one of my top favorite reads, but I'm really glad that I picked it up, and I'd encourage others to do the same!

[sailorfigment · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I liked this edition because the author started out chapter with its corresponding lines from the ballads.

[katttsu · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This story is very exciting. But when I read ending of this book, I was sad.I respect Robin Hood!!

[drewandlori · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very good version of the Robin Hood legend. Lots of fun.

[benjaminhahn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A great collection of Robin Hood folktales. Originally collected in the 1950's by R.L. Green, the various stories tend to flow well together. I particularly like the political flavor added by the references to the Norman/Saxon tensions during the time. The very much like the way the collection ends in a not so happily ever after sense. I would very much like to see a collection of the primary sources that are used as openers in each of the chapters.

[osbaldistone · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A wonderful collection of familiar and less familiar Robin Hood tales. Green gives the storytelling and dialogue the feel of older English without making the language a barrier to the younger reader. This is a great choice to read with your children, though it's not a bad read for anyone interested in tales of Olde England. Nearly every chapter is a nice little story of it's own, and of a length just right for a bedtime story.The Folio Society edition of 2001 is marvelous to look at, wonderful to hold in the hand, and easy on the eyes when reading in the dim light of bedtime.