The Sea Demon’s Promise (Part 1)

Part I: The Monk and the Stone

Some foreign fish, like fractured glass,

Shone beneath the rippling tide.

A kneeling monk cast there his gaze

Where it sparkled like a happy bride.

And the humble monk, rejoicing

At each gleam and glittering ray.

Yet, wondered if a gift or omen

The sea bore on this day.

The fish lay still. He wondered:

O, what creature could this be?

And reached into the biting cold

To claim or set it free.

The cold sea nipped his hand,

As if abrim with jealousy.

When he took the starry, glinting stone

Alight with mystery.

Then suddenly, afeared

That some temptation forth would spring,

He sought the golden altar,

To adorn it with this thing.

Not a fish, but precious gem

Not fit for humble men.

To the altar hence, or else,

Into the wide world to condemn.

Surely there beside the cross,

God’s praises it would sing,

And glory He that wrought him

To befit a crown for kings.

...

This is a poem I completed recently, and it's quite long so I'm posted it in its three separate parts. It's different from the things I've tried before. It's a bit medieval, a bit mythological, a bit fantastical. It's complex, but I've been told its comprehensible, and I hope the authority is good.