tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21204426199505022712024-02-21T01:34:43.311-07:00Of Poetry<br>"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for."
<br><br><br>~Dead Poet's Society~John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.comBlogger412125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-46939875334800261182020-12-21T20:46:00.006-07:002020-12-25T13:54:52.021-07:00On The Misuse of Scripture: A Collection of Poems by Daniel Klawitter<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwvKti1orH_9VSWYBqHVY0b9xlhgyZrQ83Dt7BlMQ2HQ37u2ERQEusGE7oJoDfwT_po7oH-SZBLUb-19Gld3Wk3qDUvWD-HVBaRjvctwmMZoEvFD76w-B-IZuoyyKresJT8iblUuPbBFs/s828/vfr.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="517" data-original-width="828" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwvKti1orH_9VSWYBqHVY0b9xlhgyZrQ83Dt7BlMQ2HQ37u2ERQEusGE7oJoDfwT_po7oH-SZBLUb-19Gld3Wk3qDUvWD-HVBaRjvctwmMZoEvFD76w-B-IZuoyyKresJT8iblUuPbBFs/s320/vfr.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of Colorado’s most prolific writers of poetry, <a href="https://coloradopoetscenter.org/poets/klawitter_daniel/">Daniel Klawitter’s</a> latest book is a delightful collection of both pensive and humorous poems that have for their origin of inspiration verses from the sacred text of the Bible. He calls his newest collection,</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Misuse-Scripture-Daniel-Klawitter/dp/1711015571">The Misuse of Scripture</a></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. In the collection, each poem is preceded by a quote from various places in the Old and New Testaments. The verses referenced are used as a sort of springboard for the poem that follows it. </span><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-a4defa3a-7fff-c5f6-648e-c6df20d13ccb"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I remember in the late ‘90s studying a branch of epistemology known as semiotics. Semiotics has to do with the way the human mind interprets signs and symbols. Within the study was a concept known as ‘unlimited semiosis’, where an idea will trigger a chain of associated ideas which, as the chain progresses, eventually seem unrelated to the initial idea. I might see a star, for example, and be reminded of the nativity of Jesus, which might produce the thought of him on a cross, which in turn might trigger a thought of a burning cross, then imagery of the KKK, then recollections of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., then John Kennedy, and so on. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The interesting relationship that Daniel’s poems have with the Bible verses that precede them have a similar effect. Take for example his poem, </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Red Stuff</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The quoted verse is from the Book of Genesis, chapter 25 verse 30.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">with that same red pottage; for I am faint. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From this verse Daniel proceeds to write what he calls a “list” poem—</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a free association</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> exercise that he wrote around Christmas 2017; a list of “red stuff I could think of that might fit.” The work is quite delightful, opening up with these lines:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Red snapper fish and red velvet cake—</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The famous red apple; the slithering snake. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The blood in God’s creatures—the sunset at dusk.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Indian corn concealed in its husk. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A fun and cognitively stimulating poem! Notice some of the Biblical references it opens up with?—the apple, the snake, God and his creation. I especially like the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_rhyme">internal rhymes</a> of lines 5 and 6, and the exceedingly humorous line 8:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The communist </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cadre</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">—the red-headed girl.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The socialist </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">padre</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">—the Eurasian red squirrel. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The crimson tide and the precious red rubies.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The color of nipples—on some people’s boobies.</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Haha … priceless.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Again, concerning the relationship between the Bible verse and the poem, Daniel goes on to explain, “The scripture verse itself is referring to a red lentil pottage...a kind of stew that Esau wanted to eat. So that poem is a good example of me using the scripture verse entirely for my own creative exercise without it being any kind of commentary </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">at all</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on the verse itself (emphasis added).”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And so, you can see how the poem can stand alone by itself without ever having known that verses from the book of Genesis spawned it</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">—</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">which, of course, they did. Hence the cryptic (and creative) title of his latest collection</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Daniel goes on to affirm this relationship between verse and work by explaining that the poems “may have either a direct or more indirect relationship to the poems themselves. They are all a way of framing the poem that follows them, but I definitely take some liberties on occasion in interpreting those verses for my own purposes. Thus, the title of the book (</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Misuse of Scripture</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) is a way to poke fun at myself as well.” </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On top of this—to elaborate on our poet’s particular style—this poem, although not written in a tight <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_(prosody)">metrical foot</a>, has a palpable ballad tempo to it that when read aloud causes one to recall some of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Frost">Frost</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._H._Auden">Auden’s</a> works. This primarily has to do with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetic_devices">poetic devices</a> that Daniel uses when constructing lines like the ones we just read. Daniel does much more than insert internal rhymes to support the rhythm of the approaching <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhyme">end-rhymes</a>. Remember lines 5 and 6? Note the obvious rhymes: </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The communist </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cadre</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">—the red-headed </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">girl</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The socialist </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">padre</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">—the Eurasian red </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">squirrel</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now notice the nearly <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliteration">alliterative</a> ‘</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ist’</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in each line coupled with the nearly <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assonance">assonant</a> ‘</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">eds’</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that weave the two lines tightly together—and this apart from the aforementioned rhymes! </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The commun</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ist</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> cadre—the r</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ed</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-h</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ead</span><span style="color: red; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">/</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ed</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> girl.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The social</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ist</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> padre—the Eurasian r</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ed</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> squirrel.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These two lines are so densely riddled with rhythmic devices that it seems impossible to overlook (or underhear) their musical tempo when read aloud. Couple this with an interesting list of red things and you have yourself a rhythmically fun and good read. The rest of his 16 line poem follows:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The planet called Mars—the sports car for sale.</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The fox in her den—your friend Abigail. </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The stop sign on First St.—the pimple that popped.</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mao’s little red book—the tomato you dropped.</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The cherries and peppers—the grapes on the vine.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The sweater for Christmas with its horrid design. </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The cat in the window—your heart and your kidneys.</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And good old St. Nick—coming down the red chimney. </span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*****</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Again, Daniel’s use of scripture as a springboard may or may not produce a poetic work that refers to or relates itself ‘theologically’ back to the verse in question, but some works are certainly closer in topic than others. Let us take a look at another one of his works—a poem titled: </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For What It’s Worth</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Here it is in its entirety: </span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For What It’s Worth</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">—Romans 8:24</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You flip the flashing coin—end over end—into the fountain. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sun strikes copper as you make your wish—the penny</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hits the water and sinks to the bottom. It is autumn </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And all things are returning to earth. For what it’s worth</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Your wishes have withered to a whimper. But when hope </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is a hard currency we remember a penny for our thoughts.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So many coins cast against gravity: terrestrial astronauts. </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><br /></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the opening notes of his book, Daniel states that his “hope is that [his poems] can be read fruitfully and with some measurement of enjoyment by almost anyone, including those with practically no familiarity with the Bible.” </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That statement certainly holds true for the poem above. Had I read this poem somewhere out in the world without having Romans 8:24 to precede it, I would have come up with roughly the same conclusion about the poem as I did when I first read it with the verse. That is to say, I would have concluded that the poem is suggesting that the tangible, ritualistic gesture of wishing upon a coin that you toss into a fountain is inferior to that of the raw, unassisted, intangible </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">act </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of hope. The ‘act’ of wishing upon a coin, as the poem suggests, indicates that our “wishes have [</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">already</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">] withered to a whimper.” It is only the “hard currency” of hope in itself and by itself that is of any enduring value. </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Notwithstanding, his use of Romans 8:24 as a ‘literary epigraph’ sheds light on and illuminates his poem. Either way the message is conveyed, whether one has knowledge of the Bible or not. Of course, I have to confess, when I read the opening verse from Romans I immediately remembered Hebrews 11:1, that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”, and this helped me appreciate Daniel’s poem all the more! </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A quick note on some of the poetic devices Daniel uses in this work. This might be a total reach on my part, but I like that the poem conveys its message within seven lines</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">—</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">seven signifying that which is sacred. I also like how line 1 and line 7 are complete sentences, as if bracketing in the more sensitive core of the poem. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And let us look at that core. It consists of all <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enjambment">enjambed</a> lines. In poetry, enjambment occurs when a sentence in a line of poetry continues unimpeded by the end-rhyme (if the poem rhymes) while adhering to regular syntax. Often, when the sentence terminates or resolves, it does so roughly in the center of the following line rather than comfortably at the end. The next sentence then picks up where the previous one ended, and so on. Note how Daniel enjambs every line from 2 to 6 (highlighted in blue).</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sun strikes copper as you make your </span><span style="color: #4a86e8; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">wish</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">—</span><span style="color: #4a86e8; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> penny</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hits the water and sinks to the </span><span style="color: #4a86e8; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bottom</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span style="color: #4a86e8; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> autumn </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And all things are returning to </span><span style="color: #4a86e8; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">earth</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span style="color: #4a86e8; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> what it’s worth</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Your wishes have withered to a </span><span style="color: #4a86e8; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">whimper</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span style="color: #4a86e8; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> when hope </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is a hard currency we remember a penny for our thoughts.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Note that line 6 is still an enjambed line since the sentence begins toward the end of line 5. And further note how Daniel exploits a couple of those enjambed lines by inserting rhymed words: </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hits the water and sinks to the </span><span style="color: #4a86e8; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bottom</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. It is </span><span style="color: #4a86e8; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">autumn</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And all things are returning to </span><span style="color: #4a86e8; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">earth</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. For what it’s </span><span style="color: #4a86e8; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">worth</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hmm? I can not recall a poet exploiting enjambment with rhymed words. I also can not recall a poet tethering an enjambed line of poetry together by using alliteration, like Daniel does in line 5: </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Your </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">w</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ishes have </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">w</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ithered to a </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">w</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">himper. But </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">w</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">hen hope </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Damn! Very cool. I could go on: there are just too many subtleties in Daniel’s works that it would require a volume or two just to cover a single one of his collections. To say the least, Mr. Klawitter is certainly—and in a rather stealthy way—a meticulous writer of poetry. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">*****</span></span></div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span><br /></span></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As mentioned in the beginning of this post, </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Misuse of Scripture</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> contains poems both pensive and humorous: pensive and sobering like the poem, </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Grief is…</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">; or humorously risqué like the poem, </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes, But Does He Write You Poetry?</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Others border on didactical reproaches such as, </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My Homophobic Friend</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and,</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I Hear That</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Daniel’s poem, </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Knowledge of Good & Evil</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, for some reason reminds me of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracy_Chapman">Tracy Chapman’s</a> song, </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIOAlaACuv4">Fast Car</a></span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Some of his other works are autobiographical, like, </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In Sickness and in Health</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and, </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fishing with Father</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. There is another little nugget in Daniel’s collection that I need to mention separately here. </span></p><br /><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Misuse of Scripture</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is divided into three parts: I, II and III. Parts I and III consist of all of Daniel’s well crafted poems. The whole of part II, however, consists of a ‘flash </span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">non</span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-fiction’ piece that takes us back to the mid ‘90s when Daniel was working in the Philippines with a nonprofit, social justice organization. The story is not only about a true event, it is also suspenseful, humorous, and well written—and if you would like to know what happens, I left a link to his book in the right column. </span></span><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqIwD_IUtA8aN2KVWqJa20vhASKop3Tbp2CEnqqoGdr7UjeqO_chjsHoL3g7j8zPzKDonAuP4F7iuzeITWDohOewt8KqseIabeT7jiNaNZ5D0KbuOK3MP5g7-g_YkRhZemd49nWEV1x64/s794/dan.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="655" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqIwD_IUtA8aN2KVWqJa20vhASKop3Tbp2CEnqqoGdr7UjeqO_chjsHoL3g7j8zPzKDonAuP4F7iuzeITWDohOewt8KqseIabeT7jiNaNZ5D0KbuOK3MP5g7-g_YkRhZemd49nWEV1x64/w165-h200/dan.jpg" width="165" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Daniel Klawitter</span></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-10458787147821339212020-10-03T17:22:00.001-06:002020-10-03T17:48:53.773-06:00To the Memory of My Mom, Beverly Ann Smith: Persephone<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b></b></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpFEP4B9VQyJKlDptlb-_7w_uabRbI1D162Z-mpb6VEsAxLulF7obUXE1r8y0Wp4TjE461wj_WW66N62c8ukMA3KdV6OAZohEhE4MVWkAqna_rIIb1ZaUpkyY87AvZvhlekCya7dHShnk/s784/Persephone.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="784" data-original-width="460" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpFEP4B9VQyJKlDptlb-_7w_uabRbI1D162Z-mpb6VEsAxLulF7obUXE1r8y0Wp4TjE461wj_WW66N62c8ukMA3KdV6OAZohEhE4MVWkAqna_rIIb1ZaUpkyY87AvZvhlekCya7dHShnk/s320/Persephone.jpg" /></a></b></span></span></div><span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Persephone</b></div></b><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><div style="text-align: center;">To my delight and too my pain,</div><div style="text-align: center;">I hear her laughter echo near;</div></span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><div style="text-align: center;">Though muffled by the veil of time, </div></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div style="text-align: center;">It comes obscured, yet still I hear. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The chords are faint, yet still resound, </div><div style="text-align: center;">And overwhelm my listless state, </div><div style="text-align: center;">Til all at once my heart gives way </div><div style="text-align: center;">To joy and grief that will not wait. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Oh would that I could reach my hand </div><div style="text-align: center;">Through that thick darkness we call death, </div><div style="text-align: center;">And draw her out to me again, </div><div style="text-align: center;">Restoring laughter and her breath.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">But mortals may not thus retrieve</div><div style="text-align: center;">The ones we’ve lost, who’ve gone before, </div><div style="text-align: center;">And so, to hear her laughter clear, </div><div style="text-align: center;">I’ll have to pass through Hades’ door.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">—jwm</div></span></span><p></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Of the Poem</b>
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Stanza Type: Quatrain Meter: Eight lines per stanza (i.e. tetrameter) </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rhyme Scheme: xaxa xbxb xcxc xdxd (where ‘x’ represents unrhymed lines) </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Composition: April – May 2016
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In <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_mythology">Greek mythology</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persephone">Persephone</a> is the daughter of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeus">Zeus</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demeter">Demeter</a>. Demeter loved Persephone so much and cared for her innocence that she was exceedingly protective of her and utterly opposed to allowing her into marriage, believing any possible suitors to be unworthy of her. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hades">Hades</a>, who loved Persephone, was well aware that Demeter would certainly deny him her hand.
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One day, as Persephone was gathering flowers in the meadows of Enna, a jagged fissure ripped the earth wide open and Hades emerged out of the twisting and rumbling. Seizing Persephone, Hades descended with her instantly into the Underworld—the fissure closing behind them. The event occurred so quickly that even those who were gathering flowers nearby did not notice Persephone was missing.
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Demeter was beside herself and writhed in despair upon the discovery of Persephone’s abduction. Crippled by agony, Demeter neglected her supervision as goddess of fertility and harvest and the earth began to reel in degeneration- crops began to fail, fruits and all manner of nourishment began to dry up and wither away, people and animals began to perish beneath the growing famine, along with countless other miseries.
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Hearing the cries below Mount Olympus, Zeus confronts Hades and persuades him to release Persephone from his bonds, but not before Hades tricks her into tasting a few pomegranate seeds—fruit of the Underworld, of which those who partake are filled with an overwhelming desire to stay in the Underworld.
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Restored to her relieved mother, Persephone expresses a desire to return to Hades and this, of course, infuriates Demeter. Demeter threatens to let the earth perish if Persephone leaves her side. A compromise was ultimately made: Persephone is permitted to spend a given duration with Hades below, and a given duration with Demeter above.
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It is said that for this reason, when Persephone abides with Hades, autumn strips trees bare and winter ravages the land—this as a result of Demeter’s indignation; and that when Persephone is with Demeter, spring’s vitality returns and summer feeds the earth with warmth and light.
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That is one way of telling Persephone’s story. Inasmuch as the poem </span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Persephone </span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is concerned, I wanted to imagine the agony and sorrow Demeter felt upon the discovery of Persephone’s abduction by Hades (represented by death in the poem) and imagine beyond the crippling grief the inexplicable joy she must have felt upon being reunited with her daughter.
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<i>Persephone</i></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is dedicated to the memory of my mom, <a href="https://www.vaildaily.com/news/obituaries/vail-daily-column-beverly-ann-smith-1956-2015/">Beverly Ann Smith</a>, who died October 3rd, 2015. Like Demeter, my heart perpetually writhes in crippling pain at her departure. Memories of her sustain me from despair: her angel-voice, her beautiful face, her unique and punctuated laughter, her love for me. Unlike Demeter, however, I am unable to call her back from the other side of that dark veil, and so my inexplicable joy awaits me on the other side, where I will see her again.
<br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>To the memory of my mom ... </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHof0i044byrRz9rlcHxPicpXB1mJC9P1Dc8AnysIBdDtl-OkfBlgEhatbx3eXpBWxdA_qhJmRTwGySLTbRqpb7eQx3hL_kygnE6BQ56kg649WmjFjczmnu5sUy6ZfITbqxmymvOj0QGk/s362/mom.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span><img border="0" data-original-height="362" data-original-width="247" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHof0i044byrRz9rlcHxPicpXB1mJC9P1Dc8AnysIBdDtl-OkfBlgEhatbx3eXpBWxdA_qhJmRTwGySLTbRqpb7eQx3hL_kygnE6BQ56kg649WmjFjczmnu5sUy6ZfITbqxmymvOj0QGk/s320/mom.jpg" /></span></a></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">
</span></span></p>John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-37752830482388130042020-07-11T16:54:00.003-06:002020-10-03T17:44:37.317-06:00Jonah, Nineveh, Poetry and Prejudice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrt22GoWpXgeweVIdYJpCgbc-Zhe7WIZNpP47ovGBFbunc6IGho2pRcCqKlW2No_8wL-b4V-Yw6aUUXNbImKB_7pCN46-18EWIdnGlnl3F4ZZzmm6sBYAc03NUuooNgDwIubta6B-ll-A/s1600/Jonah_Walking_Toward_the_City_of_Nineveh+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="1000" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrt22GoWpXgeweVIdYJpCgbc-Zhe7WIZNpP47ovGBFbunc6IGho2pRcCqKlW2No_8wL-b4V-Yw6aUUXNbImKB_7pCN46-18EWIdnGlnl3F4ZZzmm6sBYAc03NUuooNgDwIubta6B-ll-A/s320/Jonah_Walking_Toward_the_City_of_Nineveh+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span><b>Nineveh</b><br />
<br />
He sees me, but with eyes unbrotherly<br />
And blind. I want to reach beyond the wall—<br />
Now shrouded with corroded, twisted vines—<br />
And show him we are one. Will God not call<br />
<br />
Another reluctant prophet to go<br />
Beyond the city walls and through the streets,<br />
Preaching repentance (like Jonah of old),<br />
Teaching them our hearts like theirs also beats?<br />
<br />
Me perhaps? Why? For the hated object<br />
To teach love and equality seems strange,<br />
So for the shores of Tarshish travel I …<br />
Nineveh must teach Nineveh to change.<br />
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—jwm<br />
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineveh">Nineveh</a> was an Assyrian city that thrived in ancient Mesopotamia’s northern region, near modern-day Mosul, Iraq. At one point it was the largest city of the ancient world—until it violently fell in 612.<br />
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This city was held in deep antipathy by Israel as a result of the perpetual and bitter conflict they had with the Assyrian empire, as can be seen by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonah">Jonah’s</a> (almost comedic) response to the Lord’s call:<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. ~ Jonah 1:1,2 </span><br />
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Jonah, as the story continues, boarded a ship at the port of Joppa and was off for Tarshish. His plans, however, were thwarted when the Lord intercepted the ship with a violent tempest. It was revealed to the crew that the cause of the storm was Jonah, and Jonah was eventually thrown overboard.<br />
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As many know, Jonah was then swallowed by a great fish, and while in the belly of that fish gave a prayer of repentance and the Lord heard him. The fish vomited Jonah out on dry land and Jonah proceeded to Nineveh where he would deliver God’s message and ultimately His salvation to that city.<br />
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It is clear from the story that Jonah resented the fact that God wanted to bring salvation to a city of people who Jonah (and Israel) considered an enemy nation. This is also clearly a story about prejudice and the need for repentance. Nineveh hated Israel, and Israel along with Jonah hated Nineveh. God, however, loved them both, and wanted nothing more than to bring salvation to them and any of His other children abroad.<br />
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In the above poem, Nineveh is symbolic for the antagonist who has a deep hatred for the narrator. For whatever reason it is—homophobia, racism, xenophobia, whatever—the antagonist is blinded by the hatred that governs his disposition and perspective.<br />
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Unlike Jonah, the narrator (uncalled by God) desires to reach past this barrier of hatred with the hope of showing the antagonist that there is more that unites them than divides them, to show him how alike they are and that they are even deemed kindred and one in the eyes of God. The narrator, unlike his self-made foe, is looking through brotherly eyes.<br />
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But hatred is sometimes too much of a barrier, and in this poem it is a wall that has been there a long time: choked and covered with dying vines. The image of a walled city comes to mind, and the narrator wonders if God will call someone, a prophet perhaps, to go beyond these walls and to encourage, indeed, to warn its inhabitants to repent and change their ways for fear that they die in that state of hatred. If only they could see that the lives of those they hated mattered, or that their hearts like theirs also beats, perhaps this would facilitate for them a desire or motive to see things differently, and to change.<br />
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As if being asked, the narrator declines being such a messenger, believing it to be strange that the responsibility of teaching love and equality should lie on the shoulders of those being held in antipathy. If anyone ought to coax the inhabitants of that city to change their ways, it ought to be the people living within it. Any change that is not from within will be a show of pretense and therefore meaningless. Ultimately, it is Nineveh that must change Nineveh.<br />
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And so, like Jonah, the narrator’s attention is fixed not on Nineveh, but on Tarshish.<br />
</span><div>
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John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-85126553302787086332020-05-25T16:35:00.002-06:002020-10-03T17:45:22.335-06:00Ayame (彩女) of the Clan Azuma: a Poem<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfaFH9ByuazTvDSYvzKr7zbY3-5K3x-QQG6tQpRpDlsD7ZV8n5gxMYWkN4F-UVEraD24w-S5jP4xlwE-ygO3evG6B8t6Kty929XCRdROHt5NaLCavC-Bu6vr0oZO3pyUsCCJk5J3RXgCw/s1600/tenchu__ayame2__by_saskeni-d6iv9jp%255B1%255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="537" data-original-width="1024" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfaFH9ByuazTvDSYvzKr7zbY3-5K3x-QQG6tQpRpDlsD7ZV8n5gxMYWkN4F-UVEraD24w-S5jP4xlwE-ygO3evG6B8t6Kty929XCRdROHt5NaLCavC-Bu6vr0oZO3pyUsCCJk5J3RXgCw/s320/tenchu__ayame2__by_saskeni-d6iv9jp%255B1%255D.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-ab18efb1-7fff-63d1-3636-25a9ddea183d" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ayame</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (彩女)</span></span></b></div>
<span><b></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
</span><div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A moonless night filled the feudal estate—</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">No silver-gilding glow would help them see</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The approaching danger, their coming fate,</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Stalking the compound from the distant trees.</span></span></div>
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
</span><div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Out from the darkness a warrior came—</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A shadow within the shadow’s shadow—</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An Azuma ninja, O dreaded name:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ayame</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">—scourge of her trembling foes.</span></span></div>
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
</span><div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now death’s dark shadow through the castle creeps,</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And it follows Ayame’s crimson path</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Up to the chambers where the cruel lord sleeps,</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Who will soon feel the shadow’s fatal wrath.</span></span></div>
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
</span><div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And soon, guard after guard will disappear,</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And Kiku will too from their clutch be saved—</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">That child-princess whom the clan holds dear, </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Whom the lord of this compound had enslaved.</span></span></div>
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
</span><div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Let no more guards my way impede or fight, </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Or by these swords, none will survive this night.”</span></span></div>
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
</span><div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">-jwm</span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of the Poem</span></b>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The above poem is the result of a request by my daughter to write something pertaining to the video game series, <i><a href="https://tenchu.fandom.com/wiki/Tenchu_Wiki">Tenchu</a></i>. My daughter had previously written a poem about a character in the same series who goes by the name <a href="https://tenchu.fandom.com/wiki/Rin">Rin</a> (凛), a poem she titled: <i>I am Rin of the Benyia</i>.
Since I knew a great deal about <i>Tenchu</i> in general, and <a href="https://tenchu.fandom.com/wiki/Ayame">Ayame's</a> character in particular (my daughter and I played this game together often), and because she did a really good job with her poem, I thought it would be fun to try and put something together.
So who is this Ayame character? <span id="docs-internal-guid-b95dcd8a-7fff-9604-f244-7aee98b9d2d5" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ayame (彩女, pronounced 'aye-yom-ee') is a fictional character in the stealth video game series <i>Tenchu</i>. According to that series, which takes place in a fantasy 16th century feudal Japan, Ayame was found abandoned in Kyoto as a very young child after a devastating battle that took place during the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sengoku_period">Warring States period</a>. She was adopted and eventually trained as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunoichi">kunoichi</a> (female ninja) by a grand master named <a href="https://tenchu.fandom.com/wiki/Shiunsai_Azuma">Shiunsai Azuma</a> (東 紫雲齋.) </span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">When she was </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">twelve, Ayame trained as an equal along side two other male ninjas, <a href="https://tenchu.fandom.com/wiki/Tatsumaru">Tatsumaru</a> (龍丸) and <a href="https://tenchu.fandom.com/wiki/Rikimaru">Rikimaru</a> (力丸). She would eventually become one of the most feared assassins serving the House of <a href="https://tenchu.fandom.com/wiki/Matsunoshin_Gohda">Lord Gohda</a> (<span class="t_nihongo_kanji" face=""helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" lang="ja" style="border-bottom-color: currentcolor; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: currentcolor; border-left-color: currentcolor; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: currentcolor; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: none; border-top-color: currentcolor; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-width: 0px; color: #3a3a3a; font-style: inherit; font-variant: normal; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">郷田 松之信) and dedicating especially her time and loyalty to the young <a href="https://tenchu.fandom.com/wiki/Kiku">Princess Kiku</a> (菊姫, pronounced 'key-koo'), whom she treated as a younger sister.<br /><br />In the poem above, I depict Ayame infiltrating an enemy castle at night in stealth, assassinating the rival clan leader, and rescuing Princess Kiku who had been kidnapped and held there as a hostage<span id="docs-internal-guid-b95dcd8a-7fff-9604-f244-7aee98b9d2d5" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">—</span>events that did not occur in the game's storyline, but certainly could have.<br /><br />To stay as true to the character as I could, I had the conclu<span style="color: black;">ding couplet refer to 'two swords' that Ayame swears on. Throughout the entire <i>Tenchu</i> series, Ayame's primary weapons were two <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodachi">kodachi</a> (小太刀)—that is, two short swords (swords that were commonly used by samurai during Japan's feudal period).<br /><br />Before closing I might add that my poem </span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">was initially meant to be a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet">sonnet</a>, but my daughter thought that I should include what is now the fourth stanza</span></span></span><span id="docs-internal-guid-b95dcd8a-7fff-9604-f244-7aee98b9d2d5" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">—a stanza that I had been experimenting with. After having done that, and after having read the poem through, I felt the addition of that stanza not only fit well, but added wonderfully to the story. For that, I have her to thank.
Thank you for stopping by. If you have played <i>Tenchu</i>, or are familiar with the series, I would love to know what you think of the poem. Was Ayame depicted well, did you like the storyline? Do you wish they would come out with another <i>Tenchu</i>? Let me know ...
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span><span style="color: black;"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWeEtjy5rPkc1j5ts-3Jfq-J8m9eZMicaDVmwzSEh0FaB9QwnLPwUEzxvJFlSTilLywc68AgIvUlL0Z45FtNVUls48Ibq8h412qLsZxL4YblcifX5uD7CEdR4Zug8isfqSNRh_LApgv14/s1600/AyameRender%255B1%255D.png" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="390" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWeEtjy5rPkc1j5ts-3Jfq-J8m9eZMicaDVmwzSEh0FaB9QwnLPwUEzxvJFlSTilLywc68AgIvUlL0Z45FtNVUls48Ibq8h412qLsZxL4YblcifX5uD7CEdR4Zug8isfqSNRh_LApgv14/s200/AyameRender%255B1%255D.png" width="163" /></a></span><b><i><u><sub><sup><strike><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /></strike></sup></sub></u></i></b></span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-90633080433128483952020-05-16T20:21:00.002-06:002020-10-03T17:42:25.613-06:00A Prayer to the Lord<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-603123b9-7fff-8a81-44d6-7e74efc5fb2c" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>A Prayer</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wash us clean, O Lord, and teach us your ways—</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Draw us up and out of prison</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And help us to rely, in faith, on these:</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Your cross, your blood, and you risen. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-jwm</span></div>
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John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-87629868171625427062020-04-05T15:59:00.000-06:002020-04-05T15:59:41.362-06:00Michael Longley Quote<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPX_JPiejrK2QR5tSh7lERvOBe5_onwq3roTAEtQMySngYJ8_GEmzORQ3SZDO_yXefz1Rr4fv5gecpnloULInhoagBMunzrwABHBCJVgVeQel-DlV3YVz0xWMcYGfWfHw7ZzIuEehzuuw/s1600/i3%255B1%255D.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPX_JPiejrK2QR5tSh7lERvOBe5_onwq3roTAEtQMySngYJ8_GEmzORQ3SZDO_yXefz1Rr4fv5gecpnloULInhoagBMunzrwABHBCJVgVeQel-DlV3YVz0xWMcYGfWfHw7ZzIuEehzuuw/s320/i3%255B1%255D.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-39127482481064513982020-04-05T15:34:00.001-06:002020-04-05T16:00:53.170-06:00Michael Longley's Poem: Ceasefire<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1sMJ14XodQRw7fpJh5uS0X20J2Cht4pbUmu82XANrioeePTrvQLTjybUrcFONGh2NNpGPQtZwgRGNOaLSKcDYhlZ3Yqk3eLK9gx4P_1ZkHSt7y6VGPTpjnyN872r-ItIJ8DGGqMNEDzg/s1600/Colin-Davidson-Michael-Longley-lead-2-768x834%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="834" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1sMJ14XodQRw7fpJh5uS0X20J2Cht4pbUmu82XANrioeePTrvQLTjybUrcFONGh2NNpGPQtZwgRGNOaLSKcDYhlZ3Yqk3eLK9gx4P_1ZkHSt7y6VGPTpjnyN872r-ItIJ8DGGqMNEDzg/s320/Colin-Davidson-Michael-Longley-lead-2-768x834%255B1%255D.jpg" width="294" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 13.33px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">I</span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 13.33px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">mage by Colin Davidson</span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-0124faf9-7fff-6243-24b0-a4ec17caabf9" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A couple years ago a friend of mine sent me a YouTube clip of a poetry reading by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Longley">Michael Longley</a>, Ireland Professor of Poetry from 2007–2010. The subject of the poem revolved around the clandestine meeting between King </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priam">Priam</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of Troy and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achilles">Achilles</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the warrior who killed and kept the body of Priam’s son, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector">Hector</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. For some reason the poem has been on my mind for the last month, and so I thought I would post it here for others to also enjoy.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The poem, Longley states, was inspired by a declaration of an IRA ceasefire in the mid ‘90s. At the time Longley happened to be reading </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer">Homer’s</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliad">Iliad</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">—an epic poem about the conflict between the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Achaeans and Trojans. The combination of these events produced Longley’s poem, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ceasefire</span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here is a very brief backstory. Achilles and Hector battled blade-to-blade and Hector fell. Achilles strapped the corpse to his chariot and ruthlessly drug it through the dust back to camp. Priam, later guided safely by Hermes to Achilles’ tent, woefully pleaded with the warrior to return his son’s body to him. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Pope">Pope</a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> renders a beautiful but solemn plea to Achilles by Priam for his son’s body:</span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Think of thy father, and this helpless face behold</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">See him in me, as helpless and as old!</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Though not so wretched: there he yields to me,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first of men in sovereign misery!</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thus forced to kneel, thus groveling to embrace</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The scourge and ruin of my realm and race;</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Suppliant my children’s murderer to implore,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And kiss those hands yet reeking with their gore!”</span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Longley’s poem, written in 1994, is his depiction of the same events recorded in the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Iliad</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. His is a four part poem consisting of three unrhymed quatrains and a powerful concluding rhyming couplet. The poem wants to elicit a sense of empathy on the part of Achilles, his ultimate willingness to concede to Priam’s pleas, and Priam’s willingness to humble himself—even before an enemy—to achieve a higher goal. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I imagine that the notion of mutual self-abasement and even a sympathetic understanding in order to achieve a higher and more noble end was in Longley’s mind when scripting this work out. These dispositions certainly seem a prerequisite to any meaningful ceasefire whether it manifests itself in a contemporary armistice, or whether it does so in a temporary annulment of conflict somewhere near the ancient shores of Troy.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Below is Longley’s poem along with his reading of it. Hope you enjoy them both.
</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ceasefire</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Put in mind of his own father and moved to tears</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Achilles took him by the hand and pushed the old king</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gently away, but Priam curled up at his feet and</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wept with him until their sadness filled the building.</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">II</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Taking Hector's corpse into his own hands Achilles</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Made sure it was washed and, for the old king's sake,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Laid out in uniform, ready for Priam to carry</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wrapped like a present home to Troy at daybreak.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">III</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When they had eaten together, it pleased them both</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To stare at each other's beauty as lovers might,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Achilles built like a god, Priam good-looking still</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And full of conversation, who earlier had sighed:</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">IV</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">'I get down on my knees and do what must be done</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And kiss Achilles' hand, the killer of my son.'</span></div>
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John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-54771188668168900462020-03-14T21:48:00.001-06:002020-03-14T21:48:26.061-06:00Einstein and Apple Pi<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPOJCX4idRFSN6EsvQh4yelaR-5VY0ifwgdnxAGuptxaedBc6uTERZN5o5f44PzwUAxlFBteXmGWeq4uNmtacjRpcM24DaMTz3VmqZNZI1Kl1HWudoy8uRSOEHjz1iIm_H-00BStICIug/s1600/ES.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="595" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPOJCX4idRFSN6EsvQh4yelaR-5VY0ifwgdnxAGuptxaedBc6uTERZN5o5f44PzwUAxlFBteXmGWeq4uNmtacjRpcM24DaMTz3VmqZNZI1Kl1HWudoy8uRSOEHjz1iIm_H-00BStICIug/s320/ES.jpg" width="297" /></a></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-5a67afe7-7fff-5ff3-c284-771b3c83bc2d" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>“Pure mathematics is in its way the poetry of logical ideas.”</i></span>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein">Albert Einstein</a> (born this day in 1879)
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-cda836c8-7fff-2785-d372-689f3b36ea6c" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">Hope everyone had a nice<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi_Day"> Pi Day</a> … 3.14
</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifJN3gdgJSd8_3zJNNCPBVwVtLerC3rcL7a5Cu7K4uzE018pgwFm2VMsKEAKbZMeoumrmjPaAHJUg8H5NyrFgFi3X4TlZOvX9DZ3LHG2udhyZ8JPKbcbrk5f7lV0S7t-t6fGcMdyOH_0M/s1600/Apple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifJN3gdgJSd8_3zJNNCPBVwVtLerC3rcL7a5Cu7K4uzE018pgwFm2VMsKEAKbZMeoumrmjPaAHJUg8H5NyrFgFi3X4TlZOvX9DZ3LHG2udhyZ8JPKbcbrk5f7lV0S7t-t6fGcMdyOH_0M/s320/Apple.jpg" width="240" /></a><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifJN3gdgJSd8_3zJNNCPBVwVtLerC3rcL7a5Cu7K4uzE018pgwFm2VMsKEAKbZMeoumrmjPaAHJUg8H5NyrFgFi3X4TlZOvX9DZ3LHG2udhyZ8JPKbcbrk5f7lV0S7t-t6fGcMdyOH_0M/s1600/Apple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-76216275446030429282020-03-08T14:03:00.001-06:002020-03-11T11:19:10.042-06:00Edward Rodeson Taylor: The Poet and The Poem<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-J3H8uR6ILvOnpZUFgNmefpnwUcCzs8Qqq-bcjgDJyC3U7tf4yQv8Qi37SMYhTaJKBxOthobXEIeCL_LaypCWIbEJg80TNk7L78vfXxcqKOD4yVsYEYrFaht1rCUoHYUDxneynWNyQ18/s1600/Calligraphy%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1064" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-J3H8uR6ILvOnpZUFgNmefpnwUcCzs8Qqq-bcjgDJyC3U7tf4yQv8Qi37SMYhTaJKBxOthobXEIeCL_LaypCWIbEJg80TNk7L78vfXxcqKOD4yVsYEYrFaht1rCUoHYUDxneynWNyQ18/s320/Calligraphy%255B1%255D.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-fa5cee7f-7fff-498b-47b0-8eb364b8054c" style="color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 400 16px/1.38 "times new roman"; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have, of late, steeped myself in a depth-study of a poet most people seem to be unaware of. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Robeson_Taylor">Edward Robeson Taylor</a> is an incredibly talented and prolific writer of <a href="https://myopicpoets.blogspot.com/2020/02/a-widely-unacknowledged-sonnet-form.html">sonnets</a>. His sonnet of choice seems to be the French and the Italian forms. I intend to elaborate a little more in detail on this poet in an upcoming blog post, until then I thought I would share a couple of his short poems. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 400 16px/1.38 "times new roman"; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a side note, and I have mentioned this <a href="https://myopicpoets.blogspot.com/search?q=john+milton">elsewhere</a>, I am nothing less than astounded when it comes to how much content can be expressed in just a few smart lines of a poem. This astonishment is what first drew me to poetry, and the beauty of so many works read have since then kept me captive. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Poet</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 400 16px/1.38 "times new roman"; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He crushed his heart for wine of song</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 400 16px/1.38 "times new roman"; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The sordid souls of men to glad,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By him passed the scoffing throng,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nor dreamed he was divinely mad. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">—Edward Robeson Taylor</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Poem
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All Beauty’s magic-weaving airs</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blow through the Poet’s answering soul, </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Til thrilled with ecstasy he dares</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The building of some flawless whole.
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">—Edward Robeson Taylor
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8mLDPCrCN70Wx287idha4tbkS0f7nM79yeHspdbu2JzTcge9sB6oVv9Flg9UKCQsPP1WEFqhhZXKYJiPSKMKwHOZuPGwEkGREChTrs8g3AKbolxPZLJr9LKnVq90lGyBJCLjiQRPe93A/s1600/480x480%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="365" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8mLDPCrCN70Wx287idha4tbkS0f7nM79yeHspdbu2JzTcge9sB6oVv9Flg9UKCQsPP1WEFqhhZXKYJiPSKMKwHOZuPGwEkGREChTrs8g3AKbolxPZLJr9LKnVq90lGyBJCLjiQRPe93A/s320/480x480%255B1%255D.jpg" width="241" /></a></div>
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John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-32601383670548497242020-03-05T15:48:00.000-07:002020-03-05T15:48:49.983-07:00Warfare in Homer's Iliad<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Lj9CC7Ztw-CMBW3-Gp1g1YFMar3qZySLBYwpp51jOtVf-wyOX-gTbGWC244cGRDuNldnwXZgIAdQOqcra1AjU9Qt7BH2fwm4_z8zL-5eNa9f3W5hh4M2c6dXTt6Jsh_yfyLHLC8gmPY/s1600/war.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="783" data-original-width="1152" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Lj9CC7Ztw-CMBW3-Gp1g1YFMar3qZySLBYwpp51jOtVf-wyOX-gTbGWC244cGRDuNldnwXZgIAdQOqcra1AjU9Qt7BH2fwm4_z8zL-5eNa9f3W5hh4M2c6dXTt6Jsh_yfyLHLC8gmPY/s320/war.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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In no manner do I glorify warfare, nor am I a devout pacifist. I have mentioned before that the prospect and reality of warfare both <span id="docs-internal-guid-346db9a5-7fff-e844-7708-73b39cf388bd" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">horrifies </span>and <span id="docs-internal-guid-07c1b166-7fff-c78c-b6d7-6c491bd5dfdb" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">fascinates </span>me at the same time. I cannot fathom the fact that we have it in ourselves to utterly vanquish one another by means of brutality that darkly transcends the violence we see in the animal kingdom; and at the same time, the methods and strategic means by which we wage war, the competitive ebb and flow of it, intrigues my imagination.
</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Devoid of any morbid fascinations <span id="docs-internal-guid-3a96ba04-7fff-2964-ad15-4b79ed54b0ac" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">with </span>warfare, it utterly amazes me every time I read passages from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer">Homer’s</a> <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliad">Iliad</a></i> how descriptive and poetically visual he renders the violent acts of combat. One of my all time favorite quotes from the Iliad, as I have mentioned in the past, comes from Book 7, lines 275–281:</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“War—I know it well, and the butchery of men</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well I know, shift to the left, shift to the right</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My tough tanned shield. That’s what the real drill</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Defensive fighting means to me. I know it all</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How to charge in the rush of plunging horses—</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I know how to stand and fight to the finish</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twist and lunge in the War-god’s deadly dance.”</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Inasmuch as Homer’s descriptive passages are concerned, and with regard to the language he uses to make their violent acts visibly accessible, below are a hand full that I found to be especially impressive.</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“With that he hurled and Athena drove the shaft and it split the archer’s nose between the eye—it cracked his glistening teeth, the tough bronze cut off his tongue at the roots, smashed his jaw and the point came ripping out beneath his chin. He pitched from his car, armour clanged against him, a glimmering blaze af metal dazzling round his back—the purebreds reared aside, hoofs pawing the air and his life and power slipped away on the wind.”</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Eurypylus, chasing Hypsenor fleeing on before him, flailed with a sword, slashed the Trojan’s shoulder and lopped away the massive bulk of Hypsenor’s arm … the bloody arm dropped to the earth, and red death came plunging down his eyes, and the strong force of fate.”</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“… Agamemnon lord of men spilled the giant Odius, chief of the Halizonians off his car—the first to fall, as he veered away the spearhead punched his back between the shoulders, gouging his flesh and jutting out through his rids—he fell with a crash, his armour rang against him.”</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Antilochus winged a rock and smashed his elbow—out of his grip the reigns white with ivory flew and slipped to the ground and tangled in the dust. Antilochus sprang, he plunged a sword in his temple and Mydon, gasping, hurled from his bolted car face first, head and shoulders stuck in the dune for a good long time for the sand was deep—his lucky day—till his own horses trampled him down.”</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Meriones caught him quickly, running him down hard and speared him low in the right buttock—the point pounding under the pelvis, jabbed and pierced the blatter—he dropped to his knees, screaming, death swirling around him.” </span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-62425886171045586382020-02-29T16:52:00.000-07:002020-06-21T16:48:03.557-06:00Frank Tenney Johnson's Night at the Trading Post [Poet]<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCkJzYmnMRsG75cB0lvWp1h781iv0W_5gMGfSPpGRiqGj6HAFxs_2qebIoutkXUs5WN2U_y_ysXTGc2p2HQIAtnXKxj3yp3iZHg-uI_g4EB8rpDlCQTHy9CfJwyLQW_fGhg5lRWK62C0E/s1600/Poet+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCkJzYmnMRsG75cB0lvWp1h781iv0W_5gMGfSPpGRiqGj6HAFxs_2qebIoutkXUs5WN2U_y_ysXTGc2p2HQIAtnXKxj3yp3iZHg-uI_g4EB8rpDlCQTHy9CfJwyLQW_fGhg5lRWK62C0E/s320/Poet+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font: 400 16px/1.38 Times New Roman; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUUJk3uUPsXuYAwP_kooo4fXQ2DzJdCeF3hFHGRw9QmRyZh5Lv3DkzVSmrK5EeL53p1xmLiefzvEZvn_OpFBJiaJbqG44HGQKIG2QGYmSKqwVF7nh22a6sH47bOmBl1X6RDadshzemmik/s1600/Poet+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
There is a painting hung in the hallway near the main cafeteria of the hospital where I work called, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/detail.php?ID=121130">Night at the Trading Post</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. It was painted in 1928 by the American Old West painter, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Tenney_Johnson">Frank Tenney Johnson</a>. Interestingly, while searching out the background of this work, I came to find out that the hospital actually owns the original. Very cool. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anyhow, I walk by this work nearly everyday and I always look at it in passing because—prior to knowing who the painter was, or what the work was titled—I always wondered why the word ‘Poet’ was painted on the sign above the horse (click to enlarge)
</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUUJk3uUPsXuYAwP_kooo4fXQ2DzJdCeF3hFHGRw9QmRyZh5Lv3DkzVSmrK5EeL53p1xmLiefzvEZvn_OpFBJiaJbqG44HGQKIG2QGYmSKqwVF7nh22a6sH47bOmBl1X6RDadshzemmik/s1600/Poet+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1006" data-original-width="1600" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUUJk3uUPsXuYAwP_kooo4fXQ2DzJdCeF3hFHGRw9QmRyZh5Lv3DkzVSmrK5EeL53p1xmLiefzvEZvn_OpFBJiaJbqG44HGQKIG2QGYmSKqwVF7nh22a6sH47bOmBl1X6RDadshzemmik/s320/Poet+2.JPG" width="320" /></a><b><i><u><sub><sup><strike><br /></strike></sup></sub></u></i></b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After having looked up the artist and discovering what the title of the painting was, I have to admit, I felt a little silly for not taking a few minutes to solve my baffling question. Trading Post … of course. </span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But truth be told, every time I pass by this painting, and despite having learned what the sign above the horse is meant to read, I can still mentally see Poet.
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John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-4110762682486906292020-02-27T16:34:00.000-07:002020-02-27T16:46:04.454-07:00Walt Whitman: The Amiable Poet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIdmeimuUgs48EhUsCJKN8t26l2rXszMbyRC4wJrRnQmsaXKSPRlzr1QWkstkY6_y_5eAcsZK-MRgR9H5-UWVxGhTvevUUQyNwF_LmX86M3OKjethBUFRxlfuxGvKzNSmlCIJ4TalwiGc/s1600/Walt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="1050" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIdmeimuUgs48EhUsCJKN8t26l2rXszMbyRC4wJrRnQmsaXKSPRlzr1QWkstkY6_y_5eAcsZK-MRgR9H5-UWVxGhTvevUUQyNwF_LmX86M3OKjethBUFRxlfuxGvKzNSmlCIJ4TalwiGc/s320/Walt.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-22b1708d-7fff-5c6d-1cc2-bea30795b996" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
One of my all time favorite books to read is actually a series of lectures given by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_James">William James</a> at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland in the beginning of the twentieth-century. Collectively these lectures are called, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Varieties_of_Religious_Experience">The Varieties of Religious Experience</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The lectures are a psychological <span id="docs-internal-guid-dad21b16-7fff-687f-3065-ea46e2d5fc5a" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">exploration </span>of various individual types of religious experiences and their commonalities.
</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In his fourth lecture—a lecture which investigates individuals with a healthy-minded religious perspective—James appends commentary written by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Maurice_Bucke">Dr. Richard Maurice Bucke</a> that pertains to the amiable disposition of America’s great poet, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Whitman">Walt Whitman</a>.
</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I found that this little nugget hidden away in all these lectures provided some wonderful insight into the kind of person this poet was, and I thought of no better place to share this insight than here:
</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">“His favorite occupation,” writes his disciple, Dr. Bucke “seemed to be strolling or sauntering about outdoors by himself, looking at the grass, the trees, the flowers, the vistas of light, the varying aspects of the sky, and listening to the birds, the crickets, the tree frogs, and all the hundreds of natural sounds. It was evident that these things gave him a pleasure far beyond what they give to ordinary people. Until I knew the man,” continues Dr. Bucke, “it had not occurred to me that anyone could derive so much absolute happiness from these things as he did. He was very fond of flowers, either wild or cultivated; liked all sorts. I think he admired lilacs and sunflowers just as much as roses. Perhaps, indeed, no man who ever lived liked so many things and disliked so few as Walt Whitman. All natural objects seemed to have a charm for him. All sights and sounds seemed to please him. He appeared to like (and I believe he did like) all the men, women, and children he saw (though I never knew him to say that he liked any one), but each who knew him felt that he liked him or her, and that he liked others also. I never knew him to argue or dispute, and he never spoke about money. He always justified, sometimes playfully, sometimes quite seriously, those who spoke harshly of himself or his writings, and I often thought he even took pleasure in the opposition of enemies. When I first knew [him], I used to think that he watched himself, and would not allow his tongue to give expression to fretfulness, antipathy, complaint, and remonstrance. It did not occur to me as possible that these mental states could be absent in him. After long observation, however, I satisfied myself that such absence or unconsciousness was entirely real. He never spoke deprecatingly of any nationality or class of men, or time in the world’s history, or against any trades or occupations—not even against any animals, insects, or inanimate things, nor any of the laws of nature, nor any of the results of those laws, such as illness, deformity, and death. He never complained or grumbled either at the weather, pain, illness, or anything else. He never swore. He could not very well, since he never spoke in anger and apparently never was angry. He never exhibited fear, and I do not believe he ever felt it.”
</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Often we read the poems of poets without a clue of who these men and women were or are. I am, for my own part, almost always pleased to hear details about a poet’s personal background, especially when the details indicate (insofar as we can know) what kind of man or woman the individual was or is—and most especially if it imparts an idea of how poetic inspiration came about and swayed their musings.
</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">If you have any similar excerpts like the one above, excerpts that reveal a little bit more about a poet’s character, how they derive inspiration, or even just little facts <span id="docs-internal-guid-4cb0f107-7fff-adb1-54a7-8795e016344d" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">about </span>them that most people otherwise would not know, please, copy and paste them in the comments area. In fact, if you have any interesting tidbits that pertain to artists of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">any </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">kind, we would love to hear about them—I will do the same and add more to the comments area as I learn little things about other poets as time goes by.
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John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-85458311515234664422020-02-23T13:31:00.000-07:002020-02-23T13:33:59.535-07:00Existentialist, Karl Jaspers: A Quote<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">“To decide to become a philosopher seemed as foolish to me as to decide to become a poet.”</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Jaspers">Karl Theodor Jaspers</a> (1883 – 1969)</span></span><br />
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Born 137 years ago on this day, I first came to know </span></span><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Jaspers after having read his cross <a href="https://archive.org/details/socratesbuddhaco00jasp">analysis</a> of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates">Socrates</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha">Buddha</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius">Confucius</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus">Jesus</a>. I remember delighting in the fact that he was a sort of existential psychologist, and one who was willing to embrace theological considerations within his philosophical worldview.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Jaspers helped reinforced in me the idea that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism">existentialism</a> was by no means the philosophical endeavor of atheists (a claim latently implied by some of the French existentialists); and that, as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle">Aristotle</a> might say, it is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.</span></span><br />
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John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-24576322027044804582020-02-22T22:53:00.001-07:002020-06-21T16:36:31.579-06:00Hope's Epoch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaMhiWAVCBnBEXVXp1jNxoKlRRmhuA-lptpbo1V7v1iFSVja-gshcMbE_va93xY5_tyWVfWFnM9RzEpUlJqwCQLQUFRN9O4SigxOQUID4aQNdo2nXAIT7LfO6cgUJgVqwqY1si4rofUwE/s1600/biberman_chain%255B2%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="294" data-original-width="720" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaMhiWAVCBnBEXVXp1jNxoKlRRmhuA-lptpbo1V7v1iFSVja-gshcMbE_va93xY5_tyWVfWFnM9RzEpUlJqwCQLQUFRN9O4SigxOQUID4aQNdo2nXAIT7LfO6cgUJgVqwqY1si4rofUwE/s320/biberman_chain%255B2%255D.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hope’s Epoch</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How amazing to me the dawning light</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gilding with rosy flames the purple clouds</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As His children below head out in crowds</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To front another day with renewed might.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fairer still, there below that amber height,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My varied kin wandering to and fro,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blessed with many joys but besieged by woe:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These I love who conquer their daily plight …</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These people my brothers and sisters are,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whether known or unknown, or near or far.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May our common enemy, hate and fear,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Slip into oblivion’s lasting state</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Til alas we with love will deem each dear,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And finally take hold of a noble fate.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-jwm</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of the Poem</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Inspired by the poet <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Robeson_Taylor">Edward Robeson Taylor</a>, and the many beautiful <a href="http://myopicpoets.blogspot.com/2020/01/ulysses-and-calypso-by-edward-robeson.html">sonnets of his</a> that I have recently come to know and appreciate (his classical style is for me refreshing beyond expression), I thought that I might humbly attempt one myself.</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To my regret, I believe I may have written no more than a handful of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet">sonnets</a> over the last decade, and of these the poetic form that I chose was that of an English sonnet—otherwise known as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare%27s_sonnets">Shakespearean sonnet</a>.</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Taylor, who arduously experimented with the sonnet form, seems to have favored the Petrarchan model as typified by the French poets—a form whose poetic parameters seem to have been largely overlooked here in the United States. If you are visiting this page and have any interest, there is a recent article I posted which talks about the unique parameters of a <a href="http://myopicpoets.blogspot.com/2020/02/a-widely-unacknowledged-sonnet-form.html">French sonnet</a> (other major sonnet forms are also highlighted there).</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Inasmuch as my attempt at a French sonnet was concerned, and the subject of it, I initially began the first half of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octave_(poetry)">octave</a> praising the beauty of the sunrise as it occurs in my hometown of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora,_Colorado">Aurora, Colorado</a>. The second half of the octave was supposed to elaborate on the grunginess and beauty and diversity of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the people</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of Aurora—all of whom I love and wanted to boast about.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My initial endeavor was to personify Aurora as a sort of mother’s beauty brooding carefully over her children as a new and renewed day approached them.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How amazing to me your dawning light,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gilding with rosy flames the the purple clouds,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As your children below head out in crowds</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To front another day with renewed might …</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">… children “bedeviled about by so many cares” and just desiring happiness. But the poem took a turn as a result of other things I was studying.</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was reading a powerful poem written by Jamaican poet, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_McKay">Claude McKay</a>. The poem, which is a sonnet and a must needs read, is called </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_We_Must_Die">If We Must Die</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. It is a poem about brutal oppression, the inability to tolerate it anymore, and an invocation to fight violently against it. The poem was essentially a response to a series of violent racest riots that occurred in 1919, a period known historically as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer">Red Summer</a>.</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After having read about these terrible events a sort of hopelessness and grief lingered with me, a sadness within me that we humans have it in us to be so hateful—murderously hateful—toward one another. It never seems to end, and when I begin to believe that humanity is progressing toward some higher goodness, invariably it seems that some next-level, monumental evil comes in and eclipses that hope. Still, I had to remind myself, if any of us wants to see change we cannot stop hoping for it, and the only way of effecting change is to change ourselves.</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was on this thinking that I began to edit the octave of the poem I began about my hometown and the diversity of its people, and began to ‘universalize’ it. I had the poem open with a new day, a new dawning light as the world (His children) sets out to face and make something of it.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Note the human condition as laid out in the octave: ‘fronting existence’, wandering to and fro (as if lost), besieged by woe, and yet still having within ourselves many joys. Note also how the narrator deems the diversity of the human race (my varied kin) as more beautiful (fairer still) than even that of the dawning morning sky—he especially has love for those who endeavor to overcome their plight (i.e. the human condition).</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In a French sonnet the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volta_(literature)">volta</a> or turn in the poem occurs in lines 9 and 10 where a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Couplet">rhyming couplet</a> is employed. In the case of this poem, the volta is an open acknowledgement that all people, whether known or unknown, are as close family to the narrator, and that this perspective must be held if effective and meaningful change is to occur in the world (as the following lines indicate).</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quatrain">quatrain</a> which then follows concludes with the idea that the enemy we face is not one another, it is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenophobia">xenophobia</a> (fear) and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism">prejudice</a> (hate), and that these must of necessity be lifted if there is to be any hope for humanity. Indeed, the narrator suggests, it is only by banishing these in ourselves that one can even engender the kind of disposition that can love others as if they were our closest kin and family.</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Imagine if this were the general disposition or creed of the American population of 1919, one could hardly imagine that the race-hating atrocities which occurred that year would have happened as it did, or at least not to the scale that it did. Imagine, what if this were the general disposition of people globally? What a difference it would make … we might even be able to change our fate.</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are visiting this page and read this article, I would love to know your thoughts. How did you come to find interest in poetry? Have you written a French sonnet (or any other sonnet types)? How do you like the poem posted in this particular post? Any views on xenophobia and/or prejudice that you might have seen? If you are from another country, what kind of racial issues occur where you are from, and what solutions are being employed there to reduce it? I could go on and on. Nevertheless, I would love to hear from you. Thanks for stopping by.</span></div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-51837218658375181922020-02-15T15:09:00.002-07:002020-02-16T05:49:31.554-07:00A Poetic Fragment by Lt. Commander Data: A Sunset Bloom<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwSWUYCA-uM_VdH28XgeLZHubeql1s7vaO6k0VHJGmAOdnAvQMcr5Vv7-nD6ptl5zaqiFDFA6xYlRsdNvRFPL7PQivy1G6uX0yLzsE0z4hJPvjeNRI_cORlzlRAtABoAE0GKlL5x8QQpE/s1600/3AD6D855-CF49-493C-AF1D-46E90B3EF5D0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="736" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwSWUYCA-uM_VdH28XgeLZHubeql1s7vaO6k0VHJGmAOdnAvQMcr5Vv7-nD6ptl5zaqiFDFA6xYlRsdNvRFPL7PQivy1G6uX0yLzsE0z4hJPvjeNRI_cORlzlRAtABoAE0GKlL5x8QQpE/s320/3AD6D855-CF49-493C-AF1D-46E90B3EF5D0.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The last two stanzas of a poem written by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_(Star_Trek)">Lieutenant Commander Data</a> (2338 – 2379), from <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation">Star Trek (The Next Generation)</a>: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schisms_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation)">Schisms</a>, Season 6 Episode 5</i>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A SUNSET BLOOM</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Then we sat on the sand for some time and observed</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">How the oceans that cover the world were perturbed </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">By the tides from the orbiting moon overhead</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"How relaxing the sound of the waves is," you said.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I began to expound upon tidal effects</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">When you asked me to stop, looking somewhat perplexed</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So I did not explain why the sunset turns red</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And we watched the occurrence in silence instead.</span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of the Poem</span></b><br />
<b></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Stanza Type: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quatrain">Quatrain</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Meter: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anapestic_tetrameter">Anapestic tetrameter</a> (i.e. four sets of "<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed" one per line)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Rhyme scheme: <i>aabb ccdd</i> </span></span><br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Composition: Stardate 46154.2</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br />
It is said that, in reality, the poem was written by the visual effects artist of <i>Star Trek (The Next Generation), </i>Clay Dale. Others believe that it was written by <i>Star Trek</i> producer and writer of the above episode, Brannon Braga. Whoever wrote these stanzas, my hat is off to you. Very enjoyable read, and I especially enjoyed hearing Data read them on that episode. I only wish that I could have read the poem in its entirety, or heard the Lieutenant read it.<br />
<br />
If you would like to hear Data recite a poem in full, <i>Ode to Spot</i>, click on the <a href="https://myopicpoets.blogspot.com/2014/02/a-poem-by-lieutenant-commander-data_15.html">link</a> and check out a post I did some years ago.<br />
<br />John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-35652010353635772292020-02-09T19:18:00.000-07:002020-02-18T19:34:15.457-07:00A Widely Unacknowledged Sonnet Form<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyZEMc1HxtR4FXF2jvV2xQwZ_BLEuIbLQ6ZNSYCKzgeAlAdKX2XWrU277xKv6blAby10KUUvFgT_Vw3tA2SUXbanJOv_EJI0burcZJPIBrInpPGpZyhd4RCp2x0KJrvBpkF8oDFw22rUs/s1600/Sonnet-18-banner-crop%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="770" data-original-width="1163" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyZEMc1HxtR4FXF2jvV2xQwZ_BLEuIbLQ6ZNSYCKzgeAlAdKX2XWrU277xKv6blAby10KUUvFgT_Vw3tA2SUXbanJOv_EJI0burcZJPIBrInpPGpZyhd4RCp2x0KJrvBpkF8oDFw22rUs/s320/Sonnet-18-banner-crop%255B1%255D.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Intro: A Touch of Astonishment
</span></span></b><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After having read a significant number of poems written by poet and sonneteer,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Robeson_Taylor">Edward Robeson Taylor</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, I began to see that of the many varieties of his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet">sonnets</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, there was one in particular that he was employing which I had not been aware of (at least not </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a sonnet); a form that seems to have gone by either unnoticed, neglected, or unacknowledged—at least here in the U.S. I felt somewhat ashamed that I had been unaware of this sonnet form, and was equally disappointed that, upon searching the internet for various sonnet types and their structures, this particular one had been overlooked.
</span></span></b><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Turns out that, equally overlooked, Edward Robeson Taylor seems to have been the only American poet who actively utilized this form to express rich and mesmerizing poetic ideas—and did so prolifically.
</span></span></b><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But how can this be? How is it that I have never heard of Taylor spoken of in mainstream poetic circles? How have hundreds and hundreds of classically themed poems written by this man gone unnoticed by the American literary community for over 122 years? Astonishment is the only emotion that seizes me when I consider these questions. This oversight seems impossible to me, and yet not a single soul I know has heard of this master </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">poet.
</span></span></b><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I briefly mentioned this unacknowledged sonnet form in a post I did on one of Taylor's poems, <a href="http://myopicpoets.blogspot.com/2020/01/ulysses-and-calypso-by-edward-robeson.html"><i>Ulysses and Calypso</i></a><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>.</i><span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span></span>I intend to post more about Taylor and his works, but first, in this post, let us talk briefly about sonnets, and perhaps rediscover a sonnet form that has been overlooked for far too lon</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">g.
</span></span></b><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Sonnet Types
</span></span></b><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First, a few things about</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></a>sonnets<span style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. All sonnets have 14 lines. Their metrical structures are typically that of an</span><span style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iambic_pentameter">iambic pentameter</a><span style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (i.e. ten stressed and unstressed syllables per line). Sonnets usually have a sudden shift or turn in their subject or story. This shift or turn is called a</span><span style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volta_(literature)">volta</a><span style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and usually occurs toward the midsection or end of a sonnet depending on the type.
T</span></span></b><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">o the popular understanding, there are four primary sonnet forms (others might include more, and that is totally fine). It is important to know, however, that what primarily makes sonnet forms different from one another is the</span><span style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhyme_scheme">rhyme scheme</a><span style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> they employ</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">—t</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">he Miltonian sonnet being the exception. Let us, therefore, list below these particular types along with their particular rhyme schemes and other devices.
</span></span></b><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Petrarchan or Italian Sonnet</b></span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrarchan_sonnet" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLLam8auLpwC8AqhgwSwUVzfZPMixIrDmZOU9oRwNtpqW6byhTlXy0mGbVZq33LD-G3u5XWRD4dKba-aQpb8bGe_vkduJmAikib9umn7O_uSRgaCL2M4Uo24-FFOSLGWnwinjuuuLIxgs/s1600/Petrarch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="745" data-original-width="821" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLLam8auLpwC8AqhgwSwUVzfZPMixIrDmZOU9oRwNtpqW6byhTlXy0mGbVZq33LD-G3u5XWRD4dKba-aQpb8bGe_vkduJmAikib9umn7O_uSRgaCL2M4Uo24-FFOSLGWnwinjuuuLIxgs/s320/Petrarch.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
The name ‘sonnet’ comes from the Italian word </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sonetto</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">meaning ‘little song’. The oldest known sonnet form, to my knowledge, emerged around the thirteenth-century within the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_School">Sicilian School</a> of poetry headed by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giacomo_da_Lentini">Giacomo da Lentini</a>.
</span></span></b><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The form seems to have been standardized by the time Tuscan poet, Guittone d'Arezzo (1235 – 1294), adopted it. The sonnet would eventually be named after the famous fourteenth-century Italian poet, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrarch">Francesco Petrarch</a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, who mastered the form with great beauty and eloquence.
</span></span></b><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrarchan_sonnet">Petrarchan sonnet</a>, also called an Italian sonnet, consists primarily of an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octave_(poetry)">octave</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (i.e. an eight-lined stanza written in iambic pentameter, sometimes called and octet) coupled with a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sestet">sestet</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (i.e. a six-lined stanza likewise written in iambic pentameter).<br /><br /><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An </span><a href="http://www.thepoetsgarret.com/quatrain/italian.html">Italian quatrain</a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> consists of a closed rhyme scheme of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">abba</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. That is, the end-rhymes of a given quatrain might look like this:<br /><br /><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">O joyous, blossoming, ever-blessed </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">flowers</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">‘Mid which my pensive queen her footstep </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sets</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">;</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">O plain, that hold’st her words for </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">amulets</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And keep’st her footsteps in thy leafy </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bowers</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">!<br /><br /><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In a Petrarchan sonnet the octave consists of two Italian quatrains combined: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">abbaabba</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. So, therefore, it might look like this:<br /><br /><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">O joyous, blossoming, ever-blessed </span><span style="color: #4a86e8; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">flowers</span><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">!</span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">‘Mid which my pensive queen her footstep </span><span style="color: red; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sets</span><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">;</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">O plain, that hold’st her words for </span><span style="color: red; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">amulets</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: red; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: red; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And keep’st her footsteps in thy leafy </span><span style="color: #4a86e8; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bowers</span><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: red; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: red; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: red; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">O trees, with earliest green of springtime </span><span style="color: #4a86e8; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">hours</span><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: red; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: red; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: red; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: red; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And all spring’s pale and tender </span><span style="color: red; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">violets</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; 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vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: red; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: red; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: red; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: red; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: red; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: red; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: red; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: red; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His blithe rays gild the outskirts of thy </span><span style="color: #4a86e8; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">towers</span><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></span></span></b></b></span></span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></b></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is what the octave of one of Petrarch’s sonnets looks like, as translated by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Wentworth_Higginson">Thomas Wentworth Higginson</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The octave usually represented the ‘proposition’ of a given subject, while the sestet represented the ‘response’ to it. </span></span></b></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;">
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One might say that a sestet is a combination of two <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tercet">tercets</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">—a tercet being a three-lined stanza. I suppose this is fine. However, it should be noted that in an Italian sonnet the rhyme scheme of a sestet often varied. That is to say, it could be </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cde cde</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> or </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cdc dcd</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, or perhaps some other combination. In the sonnet we are using, Higginson translates the original poem’s rhyme scheme: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cdcdcd</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></b></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;">
</b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">O pleasant country-side! O limpid </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">stream</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That mirrorest her sweet face, her eyes so </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">clear</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And of their living light canst catch the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">beam</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I envy thee her presence pure and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">dear</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is no rock so senseless but I </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">deem</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It burns with passion that to mine is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">near</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></b></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;">
</b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And so, in this example, a Petrarchan sonnet will have a rhyme scheme corresponding to the following: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">abbaabbacdcdcd</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.
<b>Shakespearean or English Sonnet</b></span></span></b></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border-image: none; border: currentColor; display: inline-block; height: 281px; overflow: hidden; width: 320px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img height="281" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/upHhK7nvgLI2TLY1ze6kcxsRZ5GMsBVRF6rEw_pt-d0gLBqf2REjmFPJTXIFzn-KZJw_W8rUY9tNkiM4dbp2jFpHLbOYUWTELIVgbZDKrHxSafs86mh_QptfvAJeqbcqS0C0sR1A" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="320" /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">By the sixteenth-century, the sonnet, as typified by Petrarch, was introduced to England by both <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Wyatt_(poet)">Sir Thomas Wyatt</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Howard,_Earl_of_Surrey">Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey</a>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The most popular and most recognizable sonnet form in English was developed by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, but was popularized by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare">William Shakespeare</a> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and named after him. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Following the basic parameters of a sonnet (14 lines, iambic pentameter, a volta), a <a href="http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/sonnetstyle.html">Shakespearean sonnet</a> differs from a Petrarchan sonnet in that it combines three quatrains for the body of its story and concludes, often quite dramatically, with a rhyming <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Couplet">couplet</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">parts</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of a Shakespearean sonnet would therefore look like this: abab cdcd efef gg (example below).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shall I compare thee to a summer’s </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">day</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thou art more lovely and more </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">temperate</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rough winds do shake the darling buds of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And summer’s lease hath all too short a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">date</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">;</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sometime too hot the eye of heaven </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #6aa84f; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shines</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And often is his gold complexion </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff9900; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">dimm'd</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">;</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And every fair from fair sometime </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #93c47d; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">declines</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By chance or nature’s changing course </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff9900; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">untrimm'd</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">;</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But thy eternal summer shall not </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #9900ff; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">fade</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nor lose possession of that fair thou </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #a64d79; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ow’st</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">;</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #9900ff; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shade</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When in eternal lines to time thou </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #a64d79; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">grow’st</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So long as men can breathe or eyes can </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">see</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So long lives this, and this gives life to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">thee</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have always loved Shakespeare’s use of the couplet, especially in his plays! Powerful device.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It should be noted that, although this sonnet form was made popular by Shakespeare, of his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare%27s_sonnets">154 sonnets</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, there are a few that do not correspond to his standard sonnet structure. For example, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet_99">sonnet 99</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> opens with a</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000120; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintain_(poetry)">quintain</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and only then is followed by two quatrains and a rhyming couplet—15 rather than 14 lines.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet_126">Sonnet 126</a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is written in iambic pentameter, but consists of six couplets and is only 12 lines long. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet_145">Sonnet 145</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a strange creature: three quatrains and a rhyming couplet (14 lines), but all written in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iambic_tetrameter">iambic tetrameter</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">All this tells me is that Shakespeare, like any true artist, was experimenting with various forms while refining his own style.
</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Spenserian Sonnet</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border-image: none; border: currentColor; display: inline-block; height: 320px; overflow: hidden; width: 315px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img height="320" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/ysVyHFQah9d9yTnjUVOfOVVVrCpyt9bTdZmKODXuob9dOG7JNrkSKYEws3XJ68HzZwEm0jQoaVchhAY9n8Ds1zCqugld2B1KK5_VmiHYFnWlOkp8ToiMskkA4s-j4M7cnF2GDYwi" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="315" />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Spenser">Edmund Spenser</a> (1552–1599) created a sonnet style that is an interesting variant on Shakespeare’s. It shares the common parameters: 14 lines, iambic pentameter, and a volta. Like Shakespeare’s sonnet, <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Spenserian_sonnet">Spenserian sonnets</a> have three quatrains and a concluding rhyming couplet. But as was said before, what makes sonnet types different are their rhyme schemes.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spenser’s sonnets have an interlocking rhyme scheme, where the last end-rhyme of the first two quatrains carries over into the following stanza: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">abab bcbc cdcd</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, so that the rhyme scheme of the quatrains looks like this:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One day I wrote her name upon the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">strand</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But came the waves and washed it </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">away</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Again I wrote it with a second </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">hand</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But came the tide, and made my pains his </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">prey</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Vain man," said she, "that dost in vain </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">assay</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A mortal thing so to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #93c47d; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">immortalize</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">;</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For I myself shall like to this </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">decay</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And eke my name be wiped out </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #93c47d; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">likewise</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Not so," (quod I) "let baser things </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #93c47d; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">devise</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #93c47d; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To die in dust, but you shall live by </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff9900; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">fame</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My verse your vertues rare shall </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #93c47d; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">eternize</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And in the heavens write your glorious </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff9900; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">name</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then, of course, the concluding couplet:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Where whenas death shall all the world </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">subdue</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our love shall live, and later life </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">renew</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
<b>Miltonic Sonnet</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border-image: none; border: currentColor; display: inline-block; height: 320px; overflow: hidden; width: 277px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img height="320" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-GOHO_y013h5MQqqPfMrnlr2EF1dffPVo_B-IAZJFUuVeh0rfqAZXUptLtuY3WfbxT95-2UjatCeLPcLxZmZfFPpC4cqmXZfvVKdpDPage2rib2Q3xAS-wqU0dEPDhtkt5Chz0I1" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="277" /></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the seventeenth-century,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #000020;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton">John Milton</a> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">wrote <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost">Paradise Lost</a></i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, a wonderful epic poem written entirely in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blank_verse">blank verse</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">—that is, verse written in iambic pentameter and having no end-rhymes. One of the primary poetic devices used when writing blank verse is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enjambment">enjambment</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Milton hands down perfected the use of enjambment.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In poetry, enjambment occurs when a sentence in a line of poetry continues unimpeded by the end-rhyme (if the poem rhymes) while adhering to regular syntax. Often, when the sentence terminates or resolves, it does so in the center of the following line rather than comfortably at the end. The next sentence then picks up where the previous one ended, and so on. An example, written in blank verse (iambic pentameter, no end-rhymes), can be taken from Shakespeare’s, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Winter%27s_Tale">The Winter's Tale</a></i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am not prone to </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">weeping, as</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> our sex</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Commonly </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">are; the</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> want of which vain dew</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perchance shall dry your </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">pities; but</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I have</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That honourable grief lodged here which burns</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Worse than tears drown.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Note how the sentences carry over to the following line without any ‘poetic regard’ for the end-point of each line. Also, highlighted in blue, note how the sentences pause or resolve ‘within’ each line. This is what an enjambed line of poetry looks like.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now, back to Milton.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Milton adopts Petrarch's sonnet form: an octave (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">abbaabba</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) combined with a sestet (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cdecde</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">), but what he adds to it is <a href="http://poetscollective.org/everysonnet/miltonic-sonnet/">a heavily enjambed sonnet</a>. Note how Milton employs this technique throughout one of his most famous poems.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I consider how my light is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">spent</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ere half my days in this dark world and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">wide</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And that one talent which is death to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">hide</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lodg'd with me </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">useless, though</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> my soul more </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bent</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To serve therewith my </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maker, and</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">present</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My true </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">account, lest </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">he returning </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">chide</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">;</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Doth God exact </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">day-labour, light</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">denied</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">?"</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I fondly </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ask. But</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Patience to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">prevent</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That murmu</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">r, s</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">oon replie</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">s: "G</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">od doth not </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff9900; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">need</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff9900; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Either man's work or his own </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">gifts; who</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #93c47d; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">best</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #93c47d; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bear his mild </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">yoke, they</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> serve him </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">best. His</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #9900ff; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">state</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #9900ff; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kingly. Thousands</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> at his bidding </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff9900; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">speed</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff9900; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And post o'er land and ocean without </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #93c47d; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">rest</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They also serve who only stand and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #9900ff; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">wait</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, three things. Note the Petrarchan rhyme scheme (in highlights). Note how the sentences often carry over to the following line without terminating on or yielding to the end-rhymes (I count nine times). And finally, note how the enjambed end-points occur almost unpredictably within some of the lines throughout the poem (all underlined).</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br />Terza Rima Sonnet</b></span><a href="http://www.thepoetsgarret.com/sonnet/rima.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some have considered</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Frost">Robert Frost's</a> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">poem,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acquainted_with_the_Night">Aquainted With the Night</a></i><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, to be a sonnet form. I suppose it could be. Did Frost claim it to be? It consists of four</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terza_rima">terza rimas</a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (three-lined stanzas) with a concluding rhymed couplet (14 lines). The rhyme scheme is laid out like this: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">aba bcb cdc dad aa</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Each stanza is interlocked with the following stanza until, at line 11, the initial rhyme of lines 1 and 3 are taken up again and form the basis of the concluding couplet’s rhyme. Here it is, what do you think?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have been one acquainted with the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">night</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have walked out in rain—and back in </span><span style="background-color: white; color: red; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">rain</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have outwalked the furthest city </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">light</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have looked down the saddest city </span><span style="background-color: white; color: red; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">lane</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have passed by the watchman on his </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #ff9900; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">beat</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #ff9900; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And dropped my eyes, unwilling to </span><span style="background-color: white; color: red; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">explain</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have stood still and stopped the sound of </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #ff9900; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">feet</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #ff9900; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When far away an interrupted </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #9900ff; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cry</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #9900ff; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Came over houses from another </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #ff9900; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">street</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But not to call me back or say </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #9900ff; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">good-bye</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">;</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And further still at an unearthly </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">height</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One luminary clock against the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #9900ff; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sky</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #9900ff; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #9900ff; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">right</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have been one acquainted with the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">night</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Unacknowledged French Sonnet</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Given the structure and parameters of the sonnets we reviewed above, it would seem that there are at least four intrinsic properties that every sonnet, in the traditional sense of the word, have:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. A total of 14 lines (no more and no less, despite other claims)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. A metrical structure based on an iambic pentameter</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. A given rhyme scheme</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. And finally, a punctuated shift or turn within the poem—that is to say, a volta that is usually connected to the aforementioned rhyme scheme</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A brief note on the volta. One could argue that almost every poem contains, to a greater or lesser degree, a shift within it that alters the directional mood of it. To call what seems normal for most poems an intrinsic feature for a sonnet seems a little overkill. Still, the way the octave and sestet intermingle in a Petrarchan sonnet, and the way that the three quatrains and concluding couplet ‘speak with each other’ in a Shakespearean sonnet, almost necessitates a shift.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In a Petrarchan sonnet, for example, the transition from octave to sestet is a transition in tempo. One finds it hard to believe that, superimposing a subject onto that tempo, there would not be a change there as well. We would be hard pressed to find a sonnet unaffected by a palpable shift in both tempo and subject. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now, as early as the sixteenth-century, French writers began appropriating the sonnet structure as it was laid out by Petrarch. The oldest dated French sonnet was written by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cl%C3%A9ment_Marot">Clément Marot</a> between June and July of 1536. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This appropriation of the Petrarchan form took an interesting turn in French hands. They kept Petrarch’s opening octave, but made a significant change to his sestet. Rather than using a variant of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cde cde</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> as is customary with Petrarch’s sestet, the French poets used a rhyming couplet (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cc</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) and followed this by one of two quatrains whose primary rhyme variants were:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">deed</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">dede</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For example, we can see the Petrarchan octave at play in the opening of </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_de_Ronsard">Pierre de Ronsard’s</a></span><span style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> poem, </span><span style="color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.sonnets.org/ronsard.htm">His Lady’s Tomb</a></span><span style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (as translated by </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Andrew Lang</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">):</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As in the gardens, all through May, the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">rose</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lovely, and young, and fair </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">appareled</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Makes sunrise jealous of her rosy </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">red</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When dawn upon the dew of dawning </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">glows</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">;</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Graces and Loves within her breast </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">repose</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The woods are faint with the sweet odor </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shed</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Till rains and heavy suns have smitted </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">dead</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The languid flower, and the loose leaves </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">unclose</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,—</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The octave of the French sonnet is then followed by a rhyming couplet which constitutes the poem’s volta (below):</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So this, the perfect beauty of our </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff9900; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">days</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When earth and heaven were vocal of her </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff9900; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">praise</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This fundamentally changed the rhythmic tempo of the poem so that the volta, beginning at line 9, is much more punctuated by the double-barreled rhyming couplet. The power of the couplet to do this—to mark a shift or palpable turn—can be easily seen in the English sonnet. The couplet’s power to do this is so much so that Shakespeare even used them to conclude passages that were entirely composed of blank verse: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “The spirit that I have seen</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May be the devil: and the devil hath power</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Out of my weakness and my melancholy,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As he is very potent with such spirits,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Abuses me to damn me: I'll have grounds</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More relative than this: the play 's the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">thing</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">king</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.”</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">—Hamlet Act 2 Scene 2</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Following the couplet in the French sonnet, two primary quatrain types help to either rapidly descend on the poem’s conclusion (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">dede</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">), or to softly alight thereupon (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">deed</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">). The first has a sort of boxing tempo to it: ‘right, left, right, left’; the second almost seems to contemplatively slow down, mimicking the broad rhythmic gaps of the octave’s combined quatrains. If you think about it, the design is pretty clever and user-friendly: a subject platform expressed through an octave (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">abbaabba</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) that abruptly transitions with a couplet </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(cc</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">), this followed by a quatrain which the poet can use to speed the poem’s subject to its conclusion (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">dede</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">), or to slow it down (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">deed</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">). </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pierre de Ronsard’s</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> poem concludes with the latter:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The fates have slain, and her sweet soul </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #9900ff; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">reposes</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">;</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And tears I bring, and sighs, and on her </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #93c47d; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tomb</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pour milk, and scatter buds of many a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #93c47d; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bloom</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That dead, as living, she may be with </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #9900ff; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">roses</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And so the rhyme scheme of </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ronsard’s </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sonnet would follow this pattern: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">abbaabbaccdeed</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some have argued that the English sonnet may have in fact been influenced by the French rather than the Petrarchan model. We know for certain the Wyatt and the Earl of Surrey translated French sonnets, including those of </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ronsard’s. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Indeed, it only takes placing the couplet at the end of a French sonnet, and then converting the octave into two standalone quatrains with their own rhyme schemes, before you have a English sonnet. One wonders, if the English sonnet was influenced by Petrarch, where did the use of the couplet come from?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wish I could say that I was fluent in the French language, that would of course be untrue. I have no idea how popular a form the French model of the sonnet currently is in France, but I do know that from Clément Marot to the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parnassianism">Parnassian poets</a> of the nineteenth-century, this sonnet form was employed frequently in that country. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An internet search for ‘sonnet forms’ almost never mentions the French model. Is it perhaps because of a language barrier that the English speaking world is cut off from the use of the French sonnet? This would make little sense to me. One could argue that that form is easier to employ in the French language, and is a difficult one to achieve in English. I would have to deny that claim as well. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">American poet Edward Robeson Taylor is the only English speaking poet that I am aware of who used the French model with prolific frequency and with remarkable talent. Others, like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Gabriel_Rossetti">Dante Rossetti</a> for example, have employed this model as well, but hardly to the degree we find in Taylor’s.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An example of the French form may be seen in one of my favorite poems of Taylor’s, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gethsemane</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (note the rhyme pattern and how the volta functions within the poem).</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gethsemane</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thou Mount of Olives, what a crown is thine, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In splendor growing since that night when He, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Within thy lonely, gloomed Gethsemane,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Besought His Father’s will in prayer divine.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The bitter cup, Renunciation’s wine</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Would fill to brimming at the fatal tree, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He nerved His soul to drain, nor cared to see</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aught but the fulgence of heavenly sign . . . . </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">O Lord, on this thy crucifixion’s day,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At thy pierced feet in humbleness we pray</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That we our own Gethsemanes may bear;</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That thy great message we may newly scan, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And in the bosom of thy boundless care</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Learn what it is to love our fellow-man.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Such a beautiful poem. Notice how the ellipsis in line 8 anticipates the volta of line 9? If you scroll back up to </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ronsard’s poem you will see an </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">em dash</span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> functions the same way. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And note also how in line 9 the poem goes from the octave’s contemplation of that Gethsemane night to a direct prayer and appeal to the Lord?
</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Conclusion: An Appeal
</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The French sonnet is a wonderful poetic form to play with. I mentioned this before, but Taylor has written hundreds of these, and the diversity of poetic ideas capable of being expressed through this form is inexhaustible. It would be a terrible shame, at least here in America, to allow this sonnet form to disappear into oblivion. An internet search for the diverse types of sonnets should easily include the French form as one of the primary forms that exist, and English writers would do it justice to employ it in a few of their own works—I certainly have and intend to more.
</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moreover, the French sonnet ought also to be formally named. Petrarch was not the inventor of the Italian sonnet that bears his name, nor is the English sonnet the creation of Shakespeare’s for whom it is named. We may not know for absolute certain who </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">wrote </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the first French sonnet, but it would be a memorial to France and her people if the French sonnet form bore the name of one of their own. What do you think? </span></span></div>
</b><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span>John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-27160758959755643142020-02-02T13:54:00.000-07:002020-02-02T13:54:21.532-07:00The Poetry Club Raffle: Winner!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEFWQYlmLji7R8ZJLcHgfhH2pbprX1X_XpBgJaOdyqJJP_sddhMOwzuOiWB0Y8-2H9FHHtdkUgF9_Cym6JkZcvjilCNHcSjHUyZhuFQOe03iaLugNxs_qcSRa6j2hMzXtEcsNoTW1TGHk/s1600/thumbnail%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEFWQYlmLji7R8ZJLcHgfhH2pbprX1X_XpBgJaOdyqJJP_sddhMOwzuOiWB0Y8-2H9FHHtdkUgF9_Cym6JkZcvjilCNHcSjHUyZhuFQOe03iaLugNxs_qcSRa6j2hMzXtEcsNoTW1TGHk/s320/thumbnail%255B1%255D.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Very cool. I won a raffle sponsored by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/561935077912436/">The Poetry Club</a><span id="docs-internal-guid-e3dc24c0-7fff-0fd0-be2a-74fc7079f264" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">—the prize: <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dared-Done-Marriage-Elizabeth-Browning/dp/0679416021">Dared and Done: The Marriage of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning</a>,</i> written by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/225857.Julia_Markus">Julia Markus</a>. Has anyone read this before? It looks like an excellent read, and </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I cannot wait to sink my teeth in it! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Thank you, Noreen ...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-51401685374907530182020-01-31T19:37:00.000-07:002020-02-20T12:06:20.794-07:00Ulysses and Calypso: by Edward Robeson Taylor<div class="separator" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: both; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /><span style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Ulysses
and Calypso</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><b></b><br /></span><span style="line-height: 107%;">For
that they slew the cattle of the Sun</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ulysses’
comrades sank to death while he,</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Borne
on the billows of the friendly sea,</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Calypso’s
lovely isle in safety won;</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Where
filled with soothing rest his days did run</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">To
murmous music’s luring notes as she</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Bound
him in coils of such captivity,</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But
that for Zeus his soul had been undone.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The
God’s decree the enamored nymph obeyed,</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And
helped the hero as his raft he made,</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">While
brimmed her heart with desolation’s tears.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">His
glimmering sail she watched till in the sea’s</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Great
void ‘twas lost, then moaned because her years</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Were
not as mortal as Penelope’s. </span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of
the Poem</span></b></span></div>
</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<b></b><br /></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Wow!
That is an excellent and powerful poem on many levels. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Robeson_Taylor">Edward Robeson Taylor</a>
did an amazing job capturing the feeling behind this myth and used wonderful imagery
from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer">Homer’s</a> classic read, the <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey">Odyssey</a></i>. The story and that last line, man! What a read. And
the structure of the poem—believe it or not, this is a widely unacknowledged sonnet form, and Taylor makes great use of it in a significant amount of his works. </span></span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We will touch on this in another post, but for now, about the poem.</span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<b></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The
poet Homer—whether this is an individual or a collective of individuals is an
entirely different blog post—is said to have written two major epic poems: the<i> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliad">Iliad</a></i><i> </i>and the <i>Odyssey</i>. </span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The
<i>Iliad</i> is about the ten-year siege of the city Troy and the war between the
Trojans and Achaeans (Greeks). This war is well known to have been provoked by
the ‘abduction’ of Helen by Paris, prince of Troy. It is a wonderful classic
and an intense read (totally recommend). </span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The
<i>Odyssey</i> immediately follows the fall of Troy and is about Ulysses (Odysseus),
the king of Ithaca, and his arduous ten-year journey home. The stories of his
journey and the crazy events told are many, but for the sake of time and to
prevent the temptation of tangents, let us stick with a brief outline that puts
Taylor’s poem into some context. </span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Because
the Trojan war lasted ten-years, and because it took Ulysses ten-years to get
back home (you can do the math), by the time he arrived it had been long
assumed that Ulysses perished in the war with the Trojans. Because of this,
many suitors desiring kingship competed eagerly for the hand of Ulysses’ wife,
Penelope. Ulysses was quite aware that he needed to get back to his wife and
let her know he is still alive, and still king.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Sailing
on his way back, Ulysses and his exhausted crew land on the island of the sun
god Helios. When Ulysses fell asleep his men, starving as well as exhausted,
fell upon the cattle of the sun god and ate them. Retribution for this act came
as they all took sail again: Zeus sends a thunderbolt down utterly destroying
their ship. Because “they slew the cattle of the Sun / Ulysses’ comrades sank
to death”, while he (Ulysses) won safety on “Calypso’s lovely isle”.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The
goddess Calypso, so beautiful that even the gods swoon over the sight of her,
finds herself irresistibly enamored by Ulysses—so much so that she prevents him
from leaving the celestial paradise of her island: </span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"></span><i></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>To
murmous music’s luring notes as she</i></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Bound
him in coils of such captivity</i></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"></span><i></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ulysses
is stuck there for seven years, and may have been hopelessly stuck there for the
rest of his mortal days had Zeus not intervened by sending Hermes to Calypso
demanding our stranded hero’s release. As much as she loved Ulysses, Calypso
was forced to comply.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>But
that for Zeus [Ulysses’] soul [would have] been undone</i></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>The
God’s decree the enamored nymph obeyed</i></span></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"></span><i></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Calypso
then helps Ulysses “as his raft he made / While brimmed her heart with
desolation’s tears.”</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It
is only latently implied in the final line of the poem, but before Calypso
helps Ulysses build a raft to sail away on, she offers our hero immortality and
a life in eternal paradise if only he would choose to stay with her. By the end
of the poem his answer to her is an obvious one. </span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The
poem concludes with Ulysses’ raft disappearing over the horizon of the “sea’s
Great void”, and with our goddess
mourning and wishing herself to be mortal like Penelope—ultimately wishing
herself dead—than to live eternally without him who she so loved. </span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"></span><i></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>His
glimmering sail she watched till in the sea’s</i></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Great
void ‘twas lost, then moaned because her years</i></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Were
not as mortal as Penelope’s.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-18aa58d4-7fff-8015-5cad-9e6fb6b0b2b5" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">Yes! Wonderful subject, excellent write, and enjoyable read. I sometimes wish I could speak with some of these poets of the past and ask what inspired this or that particular topic of the poem, or why they chose the poem’s perspective to be from this or that particular person’s. Notwithstanding, what a great poem.
</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now, about this poem being <a href="http://everysonnet.blogspot.com/2012/11/french-sonnet.html">an unacknowledged sonnet form</a>, suffice it to say (in this particular post) that Taylor's poem <i>is</i> a sonnet, and that that widely unacknowledged form is the creative byproduct of brilliant French poets. I will dedicate a thorough post to this fact in days to come.
Meanwhile, I would love to know what you think of Tayor's poem. Have you ever hear of Edward Robeson Taylor? If so, do you have a particular poem of his you really enjoyed? Or, even better, have you ever written a sonnet based on mythology, or recommend one? I would love to read it if you have, or hear your thoughts with regard to this post. I will do my best to respond to each comment.
</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-71163117912530184312020-01-25T17:11:00.000-07:002020-01-25T17:11:38.738-07:00Socrates on Duty<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyM1bM9sskebJGqSeCDReKsX4-NupXVxW9opwtSoNNOqeG337OnlgxngPhD7wRHIanftkKBpFwwcC2x0EMfoSnAibsWZisHI_vSZJdDlms5qGODxFv5hbW52cUetTYJE9F1vhl0DZ0Fwo/s1600/storm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="599" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyM1bM9sskebJGqSeCDReKsX4-NupXVxW9opwtSoNNOqeG337OnlgxngPhD7wRHIanftkKBpFwwcC2x0EMfoSnAibsWZisHI_vSZJdDlms5qGODxFv5hbW52cUetTYJE9F1vhl0DZ0Fwo/s320/storm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-ebc91e86-7fff-cb5c-7f8c-500903a866e4" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font: 400 16px/1.38 Times New Roman; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[From a Facebook post four years ago on this date.]
Saw this photo and was immediately reminded of an old quote by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates">Socrates</a>- even had to go find the book. </span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font: 400 16px/1.38 Times New Roman; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Lora,serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"For wherever a man's place is, whether the place which he has chosen or that in which he has been placed by a commander, there he ought to remain in the hour of danger, taking no account of death or of anything else in comparison with disgrace. And this, O men of Athens, is a true saying."
</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1N5XVtQ1kgiJyp0akS1A6tqHJkLHV2_SN_rstckFDq7HbGeTHsMuRJgBhqRQ2eB3mLMEO19zzYJXPMDUC-M-ZbMxAztGR1eSf_YtVp4MzNsL_jY2GgPnM1U8YI1llWB2zfmSFqxCO3uY/s1600/book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1N5XVtQ1kgiJyp0akS1A6tqHJkLHV2_SN_rstckFDq7HbGeTHsMuRJgBhqRQ2eB3mLMEO19zzYJXPMDUC-M-ZbMxAztGR1eSf_YtVp4MzNsL_jY2GgPnM1U8YI1llWB2zfmSFqxCO3uY/s320/book.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-87339019216017384472020-01-19T13:55:00.001-07:002020-01-20T05:50:39.859-07:00Our Past as a Dream: Edgar Allan Poe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkxqtcZE7ssc0sMufHeaiHj-KwY0MbF29GjY-C4vwuWoVwgaPTBV8fWJ-uPnW1pROiSUVy-7AZ02gobI8wx7P7E-sE5M2eI8pczkUHby_OoFdExxsvNd2wOHHLmCtQgn4oKXTt0C9UxyQ/s1600/90%255B1%255D.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="840" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkxqtcZE7ssc0sMufHeaiHj-KwY0MbF29GjY-C4vwuWoVwgaPTBV8fWJ-uPnW1pROiSUVy-7AZ02gobI8wx7P7E-sE5M2eI8pczkUHby_OoFdExxsvNd2wOHHLmCtQgn4oKXTt0C9UxyQ/s320/90%255B1%255D.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-74ecb0b0-7fff-eeda-9f70-9420a69cd893" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font: 400 16px/1.38 Times New Roman; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"></span>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">“It is by no means an irrational fancy that, in a future existence, we shall look upon what we think our present existence, as a dream.”</span> </span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">I cannot agree more with Poe’s statement here. Even within the stream of a single lifespan our distant past presents itself often as if it were a dream. One wonders: Is the life of the caterpillar a dream to the <a href="http://myopicpoets.blogspot.com/2017/06/about-dream-i-had.html">butterfly</a>? </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">Let us entertain the thought that life persists after death (for myself, I believe it does). Just what will we remember of this existence? Will we remember the taste of the foods we enjoyed while we were here? Will we remember the cold sensation of winter breezes, the ancient auburn hue hovering over falling autumn leaves, the perfumed smell of loam-drenched trees after a summer thunderstorm, or the distant melodies of tiny birds greeting spring’s sunny advent? </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">One thing is certain, if life does persist after the death of our bodies, then Poe—at this very moment, wherever he is out there—knows the answer to our inquiry, and the truth of the above quote of his. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Allan_Poe">Edgar Allan Poe</a>: January 19, 1809 — October 7, 1849
Happy 211th, dear poet</span><br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-10277123070133500772020-01-06T19:49:00.002-07:002020-01-06T20:10:23.403-07:00John McWhorter on Poetry: Meter vs Vers Libre<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Poetry that tames language into tight structures and yet manages to move us comes off as a feat, paralleling ballet or athletic talent in harnessing craft to beauty. When poetry is based on a less rigorous, more impressionistic definition of craft, its appeal depends more on whether one happens to be individually constituted to “get it” for various reasons. The audience narrows: poetry becomes more like tai chi than baseball.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">–Linguist, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McWhorter">John McWhorter</a>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-67827243891715974252019-05-19T17:07:00.000-06:002019-05-20T12:58:55.325-06:00Jean-François Millet's The Gleaners and Poetry<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVMnM6lCMuzkcFXHvajT-V4pi5lAN7MxgiB7TCCaKcARBJzpbhpwIAHxZ0aPvuVaDAkKfH049AuvhuGaYLVKaby-pH5sYFoZogOKP-OeYacCXBJthytYGDZObEmAqPf9kASMn-u3dmv8I/s1600/Jean-Fran%25C3%25A7ois_Millet_-_Gleaners_-_Google_Art_Project_2%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1197" data-original-width="1600" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVMnM6lCMuzkcFXHvajT-V4pi5lAN7MxgiB7TCCaKcARBJzpbhpwIAHxZ0aPvuVaDAkKfH049AuvhuGaYLVKaby-pH5sYFoZogOKP-OeYacCXBJthytYGDZObEmAqPf9kASMn-u3dmv8I/s320/Jean-Fran%25C3%25A7ois_Millet_-_Gleaners_-_Google_Art_Project_2%255B1%255D.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><strong>The Wheat Fields<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></strong></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Lo, the drowsy heat of summer</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Hanging humid, low and near,</span></span><br />
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">As peasants gleaning frail and humble</span></span></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Thank the Lord whom they revere.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Lo,
the wheat-line yon receding</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Into gray obscurity—</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">How
thankless greed absconds with nature</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">And
her virgin purity …</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">-jwm</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><b>Poetic
Parameters:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Stanza
Type: Quatrain</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Meter:
Line 1 in each stanza is eight syllables; lines 2 and 4 in each stanza is seven
syllables; and line 3 in each stanza is nine syllables</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Rhyme
Scheme: <span style="font-family: "times new roman";">x</span></span><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">axa
xbxb (where ‘x’ represents unrhymed lines)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Composition:
May 19, 2019</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">This
poem was inspired by an 1857 painting titled, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gleaners">The Gleaners</a></i>; a work of art produced by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-François_Millet" name="_Hlk9169723">Jean-FrançoisMillet</a> (1814 – 1875). One of the founders of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbizon_school">the Barbizon School</a>, Millet’s
realist style significantly helped usher in the modern period of art.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Millet
had an empathetic eye for conditions surrounding the rural life of peasant
farmers, as he himself grew up in these conditions. After having trained in
Cherbourg and the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and after the French
Revolution, Millet moved to the village of Barbizon to paint the harsh life of
rural peasantry.</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The Gleaners</span></i><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">
was first exhibited in Salon in 1857. It was initially received with criticism
as it seemed to glorify the arduous existence of the impoverished- an implicit
condemnation of the middle- and upper-class tiers of society. It did not help
that the poor significantly outnumbered the rich, and that there was a palpable
tension between the lower-class and those who were well off. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Lo,
the drowsy heat of summer</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hanging
humid, low and near,</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">As
peasants gleaning frail and humble</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Thank
the Lord whom they revere.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The
first stanza of the poem focuses on the peasants who are gathering up scraps of
leftover wheat grain. Despite the wafting heat of the heavy summer day, and
despite the scarcity of wheat left, I wanted the stanza to depict the poor as
thankful that Providence has brought them the opportunity to gather food
together. I wanted to depict them as grateful harvesters of nature’s bounty. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWpcHtUdgJ4vGG5PklCSKbrfLGI7zuhgHrBo5Tqd8BTEfQa_QYh1pD-04_Rc9RpI6XC6luecHJ60msFdPLTkF0b67PdYaiZC95Nqq59i2rjvbM6AFFxFUgRFY8uXq6l5g8opLKUH-UmTc/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="1600" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWpcHtUdgJ4vGG5PklCSKbrfLGI7zuhgHrBo5Tqd8BTEfQa_QYh1pD-04_Rc9RpI6XC6luecHJ60msFdPLTkF0b67PdYaiZC95Nqq59i2rjvbM6AFFxFUgRFY8uXq6l5g8opLKUH-UmTc/s320/2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Lo,
the wheat-line yon receding </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
Into gray obscurity—</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">How
thankless greed absconds with nature</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And
her virgin purity …</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span><br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The
second stanza is an entirely different story. The abundance of wheat, if you
look off into the distance of the painting by clicking the image, seems to be disappearing at an
alarming rate, as if being devoured by some ravenous entity.</span></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Wholescale
farming is, of course, necessary, but the poem wants to do two things. It wants
to magnify the rapacious indifference of the process- a sort of<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>thankless, and even violent apathy with regard to what is
being done, as if nature <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">herself</i> were
being plundered. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The poem also wants to show the disparity between the poor and the
rich: between the peasants who are both humble and thankful; and the
overabundance achieved by insatiable greed (represented by the overseer on the horse).<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "californian fb";">In short, the second stanza is a diatribe aimed at greed- whose destructive proclivity wreaks havoc on both nature and humanity.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The
last element of the poem is the ellipsis at the end, an indicator that this
marauding of nature is ceaseless.</span></div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-49487790878728170822019-02-09T17:09:00.000-07:002020-01-04T20:42:47.946-07:00An Idyll of Virtue<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An Idyll of Virtue</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When Virtue grows weary within and is old</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And all signs of her youth disappear</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You will note how the sky will seem paler and cold</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And how autumn seems eerily near</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When alas she departs and slips into night </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You will note how the maples are bare</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When her voice isn’t heard and when gone is her light</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You will know then that winter is here</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-jwm</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of the Poem</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An Idyll of Virtue</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a tragic cautionary poem about the decline of moral propriety within an individual, or a group of individuals, or even a nation.</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Modeled on</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theocritus" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #58bb25; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Theocritus’</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #58bb25; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(270 BC) ten</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastoral" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #58bb25; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">pastoral poems</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, an</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idyll" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #58bb25; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">idyll</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a pastoral work that meditates upon themes revolving around nature, rural existence, the seasons, and other such agrarian topics. The word itself comes from the Greek word </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">eidyllion</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (ειδύλλιο), meaning ‘little picture’ or ‘short poem’.</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The title of the poem is a play on words, where </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">idyll</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> serves as an allusion to ‘idleness’- indicating therefore an idleness with regard to a virtuous disposition.</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The pastoral elements that I draw upon are the environmental changes that are emerging as a result of seasonal changes from autumn to winter- where autumn is contrasted with old age (propriety in decline), and winter is contrasted with death (a state of being morally reprobate).</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was hoping in this particular work to represent Virtue’s old age as a sort of process of desolation, and to compound that representation with autumn- a season where blue skies are made deathly pale, and all of the green foliage begins to wither away as winter’s desolation swallows everything up.</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When our conscience ceases to call, and when we are no longer guided by truths (‘when her voice isn’t heard and when gone is her light’) it is a grim sign of moral and spiritual privation (i.e. winter), so the poem warns.</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is said that we are governed by the principles we assume. I wrote this poem as a sort of reminder to be diligent with regard to the kind of person I want to be, to hold on to principles that are pleasing to the Lord, that are useful to my neighbor, and that are edifying to me.</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Poetic Parameters</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stanza Type: Quatrain</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meter: The first line of each stanza contains eleven syllables; the second and fourth lines of each stanza contains nine syllables; and the third line of each contains twelve syllables. </span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rhyme Scheme: abab cbcb</span></div>
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Composition: February 5</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 0.6em; vertical-align: super;">th</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, 2019</span></div>
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</span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-18564913307431942922018-01-27T14:00:00.000-07:002020-01-06T19:56:08.926-07:00Of Rilke<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #76a5af;">“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.” </span></div>
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<span style="color: #76a5af;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainer_Maria_Rilke">Rainer Maria Rilke</a></span></div>
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John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120442619950502271.post-17112725811088776542017-08-20T22:20:00.000-06:002017-08-21T20:56:29.785-06:002017 Eclipse<div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed" id="id_599a584c1d9429302085411">
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.. faith without works is dead ..</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Praxis</i></span><br />
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Oh, let me not just overreach <span class="text_exposed_show"><br /> And force what You would have me learn<br /> Unduly, early, what You teach<br /> Despite my pensive yearn</span><br />
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Upon Your precious Word I fall<br />
So eagerly, and wanting more<br />
And yet, so calmly, comes Your call<br />
To love as those of yore<br />
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So guide me, Lord, and show me how<br />
To live a life of love as You<br />
I’ll leave this ‘learning’ here and now<br />
If You can draw me through<br />
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-jwm<br />
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John W. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10462966253651386355noreply@blogger.com0