Idols

MEME EXPRESS
http://memeexpress.blogspot.com/2009/05/idol.html
suggests 'IDOL'


In my poem she gets two for the price of one. But she's probably never heard of either of them! Much too young!


IDOLS

Movie idols of the past
Towered over the minor cast.
Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn

Put the movie world in a spin

When they donned their silken hose

And struck a grand Swashbuckler's pose.

At the vision of their thighs,

All the ladies uttered sighs.

Their plumes would wave and their swords would rattle

As they went prancing into battle,

Swinging from the chandeliers,

As lovesick girls cried salty tears.
*
As 'Swashbucklers' the two were noted.
And how the movie public doted!

So they 'swashed' and 'buckled' too....

But what did 'swashbucklers' really do?

A buckle was a shield, it seems,

Designed to save men from extremes;

Designed to prevent a nasty slash,

Causing blood and guts to splash.

A 'swash' was simply a fighting noise,

Made even today by little boys.

'Swash!' goes a sword ripping through the air,

Held by a man with a martial air.
*

So when a sword 'swashed' on a shield,

The foe would wilt and often yield.

However, some just made a show,

'Swashed' about but feared the foe;

Made a lot of fuss and flurry

But quit the battle-field in a hurry;

Pirouetted, twirled and spun

But didn't damage anyone.

These were called swashbucklers then;

Not at all heroic men.
*
Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn

Fought duels but were sure to win,

So why did they earn a soubriquet

That seems to point the other way?
Great idols of the stage and screen
These two men were often seen
Swashing their buckles with panache!
Acting with derring-do and dash.

It seems 'Publicity' hit on the word,

But the 'cowardly' part they never heard.
They simply thought the title suited
These actors whom the world saluted.

 That's how 'swashbuckling' came to mean

Heroic acts on the movie screen.

'Idols' certainly still exist.
But add these Swashbucklers to your list!

For another aspect of early  film see here:
http://rinklyrimes.blogspot.com/2008/07/52-legs-labours-lost.html