Braingle: 'Guards' Riddle

Guards

Riddles are little poems or phrases that pose a question that needs answering. Riddles frequently rhyme, but this is not a requirement.

Puzzle ID:	#6638
Fun:	(2.93)
Difficulty:	(2.72)
Category:	Riddle
Submitted By:	majd

We are many guards of a precious gate
Sometimes we lean backward and sometimes we stand straight
Some of us are short and some are tall
We never quit the fight but we might fall
We wear war paint and cover in black
We always defend but never will attack

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Comments

beth Aug 30, 2002	I have been attacked by an eyelash and let me tell you they can hurt.
majd Aug 31, 2002	Well, on a second thought, I do agree with you beth
ccccc Oct 17, 2002	good 1
candyko_2 May 11, 2005	hikhik..
moriarty94 Mar 03, 2008	Good one Majd.
JessicaG Mar 03, 2008	great riddle!!
puttumup Mar 03, 2008	how is youre eyes a gait????
bradon182001 Mar 03, 2008	Not sure what I think of this one. It was a nice riddle. I didn't get it, so would have to say it was hard. After reading the answer, everything seems to fit pretty well, so will say good teaser. Thanks for posting.
jabdr Mar 03, 2008	I didn't have a clue I was wroking with flowers,plant life, venus flytraps..surprised by the answer good one (be interesting to see if anyone 'gets' it.
doehead Mar 03, 2008	I thought stand tall and lean backwards were very deceptive and not fitting for the answer.Sorry,but I think this was poorly written.
Aarghonauts Mar 03, 2008	i would not have gotten that in one million years. make that a billion!
smartymarty Mar 03, 2008	I liked it. I was thinking teeth till I got to the part about black paint, then I thought eyelashes. Thanks
phyllisa Mar 03, 2008	I was way off, I thought of bowling pins (or something similar)!!!!!!
SSVillalobos Mar 03, 2008	Nice riddle - well written and tricky!
Eugeniuss Mar 03, 2008	I also thought teeth at first, but then also thought about the gates at a railroad crossing (being brightly colored, sometimes falling). The one clue that didn't fit was being covered in black.
bestgirl Mar 03, 2008	Cute.
auntiesis Mar 03, 2008	Stumped me, I never would have gotten it. Pretty good riddle though.
Kayla_Darkheart Mar 03, 2008	At first I thought it was teeth. Good one.
zaya Mar 03, 2008	Gotta go with puttumup's point. Your eye is not a gate, hence the fact that after Clue #1 none of us would have thought of eye lashes. Poor teaser.
mondayschild59 Mar 03, 2008	I got it right off the bat. It's really self explanatory. I guess it's easier for women to get it right since the black is mascara and the paint is eyeshadow. Great teaser. Loved it. Monday~
leroy_h Mar 03, 2008	I wouldn't have guessed this in 100 years. Its a great teaser tho.
Bastet Mar 03, 2008	I don't agree about eyes not being gates. The eyes are a gate between the outer world of visual stimuli and the brain. There's also the saying about eyes being the window to the soul. I don't know about the "wearing war paint" since it is the eyelids, not the lashes, that wear eye shadow, but the rest is very good.
pigsrock09 Mar 03, 2008	Most of it was good, but your eyelids protect your eyes, not your eyelashes.
WECoyote Mar 03, 2008	I thought nosehairs. Nice riddle.
shawneeo Mar 03, 2008	Great teaser! This one was better than most, it was different, and well written. AND, I got it, yay!!! Gee, some of y'all's criticisms are kinda harsh and petty! It's a riddle, so, something doesn't have to be LITERALLY a GATE in a riddle. It's part poetry! Any riddle uses metaphor, etc. Those that said it was "poorly written", are totally wrong. If you could only literally describe the thing, it wouldn't be a riddle!!! Also, the "war paint" is totally valid, because people wear other colors on their lashes except black. Also, the lashes DO PROTECT the eyes, that's why they are there!!! The lashes AND eyelids, both protect the eyes. Don't worry, maid, I think all the petty critics are just bitter because they couldn't solve it! If not, then I guess they're just bitter, because this was an EXCELLENT riddle, better than almost any I've read for a long time.
shawneeo Mar 03, 2008	Oh, sorry majd, I mistyped your username above.
UptheHill Mar 03, 2008	Sounds like a dumb blonde chick thought she was so smart, wait a minute I'm blonde, NOT!!!
avonma Mar 03, 2008	I must agree with Bradon. It was a good one, but I didn't get it. Just a little dense, I guess. But, thanks for posting.
bbwild95 Mar 03, 2008	to pigsrock09: Your eyelashes actually do protect your eyes. They help keep out dust and such out of your eyes. Great teaser! I totally didn't get it but once I read the answer I felt that everything matched up
majd Mar 10, 2008	Thank you guys for all the comments regardless of being positive or negative
crazy10man Mar 03, 2011	No way I could get this one. With that said, hasn't anyone heard the phrase, "The eyes are the gateway to the soul"? While I understood that part, some of the rest is a tad ambiguous: The eyelids wear the war paint, not the eyelashes. And yes, you have a certain poetic license as a riddle creator, but you should keep in mind what you're trying to make everyone guess. It's not an easy thing to do.
papiermeister Mar 03, 2011	Great riddle! I got this one rather quickly, but really fun!
lukasiwicz Mar 03, 2011	For those of you who carped about it being the eyelids, not the eyelashes, that wear "war paint," did you forget about mascara?
juju1946 Apr 04, 2011	I thought it was maybe some gnarly looking teeth at first. Eyelashes that grow the wrong way certainly do attack. Good riddle, but it needs a little refining, I think, before I'd call it great.