By adewpearl
I once watched stately flowers drink the rays
directly from the wellspring of the sun.
I gathered up their blossoms in bouquets
as gold as Rumpelstiltskin ever spun.
But then the waning sun made splendor fade
as petals withered on their drooping stems,
and blooms once bright with gold on stalks of jade
no longer gleamed like royal diadems.
As fields once sprayed with luster turned to rust,
these favored flowers seemed no more than weeds
that spurn rich soil to gather in the dust,
but only then I saw their hidden seeds.
I had not witnessed beauty at its death,
but only as it paused to take a breath.
| Author Notes |
The English sonnet is a 14 line poem written in iambic pentameter - each line consists of 10 syllables in iambic meter, a pattern of alternating unaccented and accented syllables - daDUMdaDUMdaDUMdaDUMdaDUM. There are three quatrains featuring alternating rhymes - abab cdcd efef. The poem ends with a couplet - gg. There is often an upward turn in the final quatrain or in the couplet, where a situation that seemed helpless or tragic improves.
a wellspring is a source of continued or abundant supply Rumpelstiltskin is the title character in a fairy tale. A miller, hoping to improve his situation in life, lies that his daughter can spin straw into gold. The greedy King, hearing the rumor, locks the miller's daughter up, demanding she produce the gold by morning. When she, of course, can't make gold appear from straw, Rumpelstiltskin, a gnome/troll who can pull off the trick, makes the gold in exchange for her promise that she will one day give him her firstborn. |
By adewpearl
A fog had settled, hindering my view,
each passage blocked by new impediment,
and though I sought new pathways to pursue,
I could not find a way to circumvent
obstructions hidden in the misty haze.
No matter which direction my steps turned,
I landed in the dead end of a maze
and not the place for which my heart had yearned.
But just as I to blindness felt resigned,
your love burnt off the haze that blurred my eyes.
No longer was my vision undermined
as fog began to lift from clouded skies.
Now light has every lake and hilltop kissed
as sun streams through the early morning mist.
| Author Notes |
The English sonnet is a 14 line poem with each line written in iambic pentameter, meaning each line is 10 syllables long with a pattern of accented syllable/unaccented/accented and so on - daDUMdaDUMdaDUMdaDUMdaDUM.
The rhyme scheme is ababcdcdefefgg. |
By adewpearl
There comes into each life a troubled time
when thorns and brambles line each stumbling path,
when boulders loose and threaten every climb,
when every dawn reveals storm's aftermath.
On such a day when nettles stung my soul,
when one vexatious step led to the next,
when life was spinning far from my control,
when every question left me more perplexed,
I wandered from the dark into the light
and came upon a cool and calming lake,
a balm that soothed the sting from every bite,
a cure that pulled the pain from every ache.
I still rejoice that day I chanced upon
silk waters barely rippled by a swan.
| Author Notes | In the early years of Christianity, the swan was a popular image on Christian lamps and other ornamentation. The whiteness of the swan and its life upon the water implied purity. The swan became an emblem of perfect love and light, just as Christ was known as the "light of the world." (John 8:12) The swan also holds positive symbolic importance in the Hindu religion and has also been important in the iconography of many cultures. |
By adewpearl
I once thought night a predatory time
when jackals yowled upon the brutish plain,
a place of savage sounds devoid of rhyme,
a field of sorrow, destitute of gain.
Conspirators used cloak of black to scheme,
all evidence concealed of their cabal.
Enlightenment not possible to dream,
no elevated thoughts among banal.
But then I set my eyes upon the stars
that pierced the dark, illumining the void,
and in that moment cast away the scars,
which once I thought my joy in life destroyed.
I now can sleep and put aside my fright,
accepting all the beauty of the night.
| Author Notes |
This is a traditional English sonnet, a poem in 14 lines that consists of three quatrains and a concluding couplet. All lines are in iambic pentameter, and the rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg. There is a turn in line 9 in which the poem moves from a negative perspective to a more positive one, which is characteristic of the sonnets of Shakespeare, for instance.
This contest is to honor the life and work of Michael Cotner, a Fan Story member who died at the end of June. While he was a master of free verse, he also loved the classical poetic forms such as the sonnet. His sonnets were true to tradition, with elevated diction and inspired thought. I have done my best to write in a style that honors his commitment to this tradition. A nocturne is a musical composition inspired by, or evocative of the night. And yes, Michael, I know how much you detest author's notes that explain anything to the reader. :-) |
By adewpearl
Peace dies a thousand deaths as bullets fly,
Each day in which new flags drape fresh-dug graves.
A widow bows her head as children cry --
Can consolation come when we're war's slaves?
Earth turned to battlefield can yield no fruit,
By rivers red with blood no one's refreshed.
Engaged to kill or fall in war's pursuit,
We soon forget the calm felt by the blessed.
I know I can't alone effect great change,
That peace may be impossibility.
How long the world has lived with hate's exchange,
Yet let the road to love begin with me.
One step toward peace I'll take and take it now --
Upon each orphaned child I make this vow.
| Author Notes |
Besides being an acrostic for Peace Be With You, this is a traditional English sonnet, which consists of four quatrains and a couplet. The rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg, and each line is written in iambic pentameter.
"Peace be with you." John 20:21. I searched quotes about peace for about an hour - I found 13 letter quotes, 15 and 16 letter quotes - this is the only 14 letter quote I could find. Though it quotes Jesus, I do not in any way mean for it to be a sentiment that excludes people of other faiths and cultures. |
By adewpearl
What color might make warm your cooling heart?
Should I pour crimson petals on your sheets,
or would a wine from purple grapes impart
the ardent wish which in my bosom beats?
Could I entice with golden threads of silk
wove into yards of pale champagne brocade,
or would chiffon as creamy white as milk
help find the love you lately have mislaid?
Perhaps a peacock feather's sapphire blue
encased in emerald green might please your eye.
I'd pull a rainbow from the sky for you
if that is what it takes to draw you nigh.
To you I offer gifts in every shade,
and pray from them a true love will be made.
| Author Notes | This contest calls for a love sonnet. This sonnet is written in classical Shakespearean form - a 14 line poem composed of three quatrains and a couplet. The verses are in ABABCDCDEFEFGG rhyme scheme, and all lines are 10 syllables long in iambic pentameter. |
By adewpearl
If Orpheus could cross the River Styx
to beg death's gods return Eurydice,
If Hades by this plea could be transfixed,
where is the hero come to rescue me?
If Philemon and Baucis with last breath
were by a pledge forever intertwined,
If Zeus could grant this couple's clasp past death,
where is the suitor fated to be mine?
If Aphrodite's tears at lover's blood
could turn each drop into a crimson flow'r,
If such devotion causes blooms to bud,
where are the blossoms on my trellised bow'r?
Ye gods who've granted love's requests before,
please plot a path that stops at my front door.
| Author Notes | Write a sonnet which includes both a mythical and romantic theme. Sonnets consist of 3 quatrains plus a couplet. They're written in iambic pentameter. Ten syllables each line. Rhyme scheme need be ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. No additional author's notes allowed. |
By adewpearl
The lighthouse beams its beacon from the shore
to keep ships safe from crashing on the shoals.
Its lamp, a signal since most ancient times,
has saved the lives of countless storm-tossed souls.
When rugged rocks have formed a craggy coast,
when wind-swept waves have done their worst to thwart
the journey of seafarers coming home,
by light they've found sure passage into port.
I've never been a passenger at sail
whose life depended on a lamplight's beams.
I have, however, suffered through life's storms
and known the dark that douses hopes and dreams.
Just as I thought no one could hear my plea,
you, like the steadfast lighthouse, rescued me.
| Author Notes | Modern sonnets, while having the basic structure of a sonnet, do not necessarily adhere to all the traditional rules - while this one is in iambic pentameter, it only rhymes in the second and fourth lines of each quatrain. This is allowable by modern sonnet standards. I admire and love traditional sonnets - this just isn't one. :-) |
By adewpearl
The stone they share for all eternity
Refuses all pretense of sweet repose.
Its carving cries of death's finality
With image not of poetry but prose.
No tree of life or sunbursts symbolize
A passage of their souls to lasting peace.
The coffin stark in which the mother lies
Is pictured with no hope for death's release.
Beside her in this portrait on their grave
Her stillborn child lies stiffly in her arm.
No crowing cock or angels sent to save,
Not one thing to suggest surcease of harm.
I can't begin to fathom husband's grief
That stripped him in that moment of belief.
| Author Notes |
The Mary Harvey and child slate gravestone, dated 1785, sits in a Deerfield, Massachusetts cemetery. The inscription reads: "In Memory of Mary the Wife of Simeon Harvey who departed this Life December 20th 1785 in 39th year of Her age on her left Arm lieth the Infant which was Still Born."
Unlike many graves of the same time, there are no symbols to adorn this stone that soften the image of death. The symbols mentioned in the sonnet: the tree of life, angels, the crowing cock and sunbursts were among those frequently used to depict the promise of Heaven and resurrection. This slate stone has only a carving of an unadorned coffin, lying horizontal, containing a primitively drawn woman and baby. One has to wonder what her grieving husband felt as he lost his wife and stillborn child five days before Christmas. |
By adewpearl
How often I've stormed headlong into life,
assaulting what would better be embraced.
My urgency incising like a knife
all things that might slow down my frantic pace.
My pride has been to follow a straight line,
that fabled shortest distance 'tween two points,
to never deviate from my design,
to stay on task lest I should disappoint.
How many golden daffodils have danced,
then wilted since I've read a Wordsworth rhyme?
How long since I upon a stream have chanced
and stopped to skip a stone and waste some time?
So stroll I shall by cool, meandrous stream
to step by measured step my soul redeem.
| Author Notes | I know winter is not half over, but I've had enough and am already daydreaming about fields of daffodils. The Wordsworth poem alluded to here is "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" or "Daffodils" from 1804. |
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