What's Your WQ?
Crown of Heroic Sonnets Please see notes60 total reviews
Comment from N.K. Wagner
Nope I didn't even come close. Wasted too many years doing the mommy/Army wife thing for hubby and 3 kids. A fun exercise in self-evaluation, Steve. :) Nancy
reply by the author on 24-Mar-2014
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Nope I didn't even come close. Wasted too many years doing the mommy/Army wife thing for hubby and 3 kids. A fun exercise in self-evaluation, Steve. :) Nancy
Comment Written 23-Mar-2014
reply by the author on 24-Mar-2014
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Thanks, Nancy.
Of course the test isn't fair or even logical - the interesting part is seeing the diverse reactions!
Steve
Comment from amahra
Wow this was a lot of work for any contest. But I really like it. I thought the writing was excellent. It sounded like what was written during the Shakespearean era. Loved the fascinating art work.
reply by the author on 24-Mar-2014
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Wow this was a lot of work for any contest. But I really like it. I thought the writing was excellent. It sounded like what was written during the Shakespearean era. Loved the fascinating art work.
Comment Written 23-Mar-2014
reply by the author on 24-Mar-2014
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Thank you!
Steve
Comment from visionary1234
But WHAT IF YOU'RE SELF EMPLOYED????? Shame on you for intellectual bias dear heart. This one just HAS to be your MASTERPIECE Steve, no matter how ill-informed. But you can't help it ... we all know where you live, right? (Ok, ok ... your nom de plume may have been a bit of a hint ...)
reply by the author on 24-Mar-2014
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But WHAT IF YOU'RE SELF EMPLOYED????? Shame on you for intellectual bias dear heart. This one just HAS to be your MASTERPIECE Steve, no matter how ill-informed. But you can't help it ... we all know where you live, right? (Ok, ok ... your nom de plume may have been a bit of a hint ...)
Comment Written 23-Mar-2014
reply by the author on 24-Mar-2014
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Thanks, Sharyn!
I am afraid I have deeply offended some people with the in-validity of my nonsensical test - this may be my first contest entry to get minus votes!
Steve
Comment from Eternal Muse
Steve, this is a brilliant work. Six is cumulative for originality, content, execution, and educating us with WQ. I haven't taken the test yet, but beg to plead my fifth (this is an American slang for asserting a fifth amendment which is our Constitutional right not to answer a question, lol).
This was a real breath of fresh air, and your light-hearted approach diluted the seriousness of some entries. I enjoyed it enormously. Your award-winning author notes deserve a particular praise. I am sure, you will be getting a lot of PM's with scores, smile.
Favorite lines, among so many:
And yet one job will never be enough;
With lowly types and labourers you mix.
In Struggle Street just getting by is tough;
They speak a different tongue: "How 'bout dem Knicks?"
From water-cooler gossip you can learn
The ins and outs of human nature's maze.
There's tragedy and comedy in turn,
The grist that's ground in Arthur Miller plays.
These drew a big smile from me:
Great leaders and the tyrants mad for power,
The heroes and the villains you recall,
There's Gandhi, Stalin, Hitler, Eisenhower,
And Churchill, Mussolini and de Gaulle.
Excellent use of female syllables (though they are not my favorite, and were kind of forced on me with one contestant asking if they were allowed and me conceding to it, could have put my foot down as a contest organizer, lol)
Superb "d" alliteration in these lines:
The denizens of dumpsters, dens and dives (wow)
Great "b" alliteration in these:
Sagacity's imbibed with boom and bust -
and "s" in those:
Steer clear of rocks and shallows, reefs and shoals.
I like the way you structured your crown, each sonnet for the points that would go into calculating the Wisdom Quotient. There are colleges in America that give credits for life experience, did you know that?
This part of your author notes made me laugh out loud:
"My proposal is that no-one who is not Kish-Plus should be allowed to stand for Congress or Parliament and anyone wishing to be head of state should be at least double-Kish - that should knock out pretty well all current heads of state". Loved your Kish-plus and how you arrived at this word.
There is very little to pick on here, but I noticed that you used "so" twice in your first two lines. Since these are the lines that introduce your work, they were kind of noticeable:
To be as wise as Solomon so famed -
How do you reach a goal so far aloft?
Perhaps, find a replacement word for "s" in the second line?
A brilliant crown, Steve. Flawlessly executed from a technical standpoint, boasting the use of many poetic devices, and showing the IQ (pun intended) of a genius. Bravo is in order, my friend!
reply by the author on 25-Mar-2014
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Steve, this is a brilliant work. Six is cumulative for originality, content, execution, and educating us with WQ. I haven't taken the test yet, but beg to plead my fifth (this is an American slang for asserting a fifth amendment which is our Constitutional right not to answer a question, lol).
This was a real breath of fresh air, and your light-hearted approach diluted the seriousness of some entries. I enjoyed it enormously. Your award-winning author notes deserve a particular praise. I am sure, you will be getting a lot of PM's with scores, smile.
Favorite lines, among so many:
And yet one job will never be enough;
With lowly types and labourers you mix.
In Struggle Street just getting by is tough;
They speak a different tongue: "How 'bout dem Knicks?"
From water-cooler gossip you can learn
The ins and outs of human nature's maze.
There's tragedy and comedy in turn,
The grist that's ground in Arthur Miller plays.
These drew a big smile from me:
Great leaders and the tyrants mad for power,
The heroes and the villains you recall,
There's Gandhi, Stalin, Hitler, Eisenhower,
And Churchill, Mussolini and de Gaulle.
Excellent use of female syllables (though they are not my favorite, and were kind of forced on me with one contestant asking if they were allowed and me conceding to it, could have put my foot down as a contest organizer, lol)
Superb "d" alliteration in these lines:
The denizens of dumpsters, dens and dives (wow)
Great "b" alliteration in these:
Sagacity's imbibed with boom and bust -
and "s" in those:
Steer clear of rocks and shallows, reefs and shoals.
I like the way you structured your crown, each sonnet for the points that would go into calculating the Wisdom Quotient. There are colleges in America that give credits for life experience, did you know that?
This part of your author notes made me laugh out loud:
"My proposal is that no-one who is not Kish-Plus should be allowed to stand for Congress or Parliament and anyone wishing to be head of state should be at least double-Kish - that should knock out pretty well all current heads of state". Loved your Kish-plus and how you arrived at this word.
There is very little to pick on here, but I noticed that you used "so" twice in your first two lines. Since these are the lines that introduce your work, they were kind of noticeable:
To be as wise as Solomon so famed -
How do you reach a goal so far aloft?
Perhaps, find a replacement word for "s" in the second line?
A brilliant crown, Steve. Flawlessly executed from a technical standpoint, boasting the use of many poetic devices, and showing the IQ (pun intended) of a genius. Bravo is in order, my friend!
Comment Written 23-Mar-2014
reply by the author on 25-Mar-2014
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Thanks, Yelena and thanks again for organising the contest.
A few reviewers took this too seriously, even though they obviously recognized the attempts at humour - they were upset by perceived bias and unfairness - oh, well, it is every poet's dream to get a strong reaction from the reader!
Point noted about the opening lines - should have picked that up myself.
perhaps the wisest people so far have been those who said, "I'm not going to take your silly test!"
Steve
Comment from Sanku
That was a wonderful mock heroic poem,very new in concept .I liked the idea of WQ it is actually really meaningful.You have gone through different stages of a man's growth and development in the poem.I enjoyed every stanza, so quoting a few would be difficult .I calculated my wq and it has come to only 200! and I refuse to accept that I am kish minus. I have a degree in Botany, a post graduate degree in English Literature, my marriage is 35 years strong ,I have two sons ,one a successful Chartered Accountant and the other a post graduate from LOndon School of Economics. They are married and of the age 33 and 31, live abroad .I have visited 5 countries and I can talk and write 3 languages.My pet hate is war(you should have added a few points for this)and I also feel I must get some extra points for opting to stay at home to bring up my children.
being an Indian I think I should object to "loincloth in Bangalore'-but still the poem was so breezily intellectual that I forgive you for that.(and also for a little bit of cheeky superiority in calculating the WQ)
Thank you for the poem .I am going to discuss and and dissect this with my husband to determine your psychological profile!(he is a H.R person) *******-one extra star from me.
reply by the author on 25-Mar-2014
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That was a wonderful mock heroic poem,very new in concept .I liked the idea of WQ it is actually really meaningful.You have gone through different stages of a man's growth and development in the poem.I enjoyed every stanza, so quoting a few would be difficult .I calculated my wq and it has come to only 200! and I refuse to accept that I am kish minus. I have a degree in Botany, a post graduate degree in English Literature, my marriage is 35 years strong ,I have two sons ,one a successful Chartered Accountant and the other a post graduate from LOndon School of Economics. They are married and of the age 33 and 31, live abroad .I have visited 5 countries and I can talk and write 3 languages.My pet hate is war(you should have added a few points for this)and I also feel I must get some extra points for opting to stay at home to bring up my children.
being an Indian I think I should object to "loincloth in Bangalore'-but still the poem was so breezily intellectual that I forgive you for that.(and also for a little bit of cheeky superiority in calculating the WQ)
Thank you for the poem .I am going to discuss and and dissect this with my husband to determine your psychological profile!(he is a H.R person) *******-one extra star from me.
Comment Written 23-Mar-2014
reply by the author on 25-Mar-2014
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Thanks, Sanku.
I hope the psychological profile is conducted with a little more seriousness and scientific rigour than my WQ Test!!
Although there is a little logic underpinning it, it is still seriously flawed as some all too serious readers have pointed out. They haven't had the wisdom to treat lightly the possible offensive nature as you have.
Breezy, yes, intellectual, no and cheeky certainly. I did put Gandhi first in the list of leaders - do I get brownie points for that?
Steve
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of course you do .And my husband proved that my maths is not very strong. I get about 275! I dont think it was that flawed for i can understand every principle underlining your calculations.contentment and happiness leads to wisdom.Any way your poem was so different from the usual ones in terms of content , i loved it.
Comment from GWinterwin
Good poem with words that tell quite a message. Good word flow as you speak of education along with all that one needs to make the WQ score good.
reply by the author on 25-Mar-2014
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Good poem with words that tell quite a message. Good word flow as you speak of education along with all that one needs to make the WQ score good.
Comment Written 23-Mar-2014
reply by the author on 25-Mar-2014
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Thanks for reviewing!
Steve
Comment from Gypsy Starchild
I absolutely love everything about your poem, but I am certain that the WQ scoring system is rigged/flawed... LOL, but I'm just The Fool, what would I know? :)
reply by the author on 25-Mar-2014
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I absolutely love everything about your poem, but I am certain that the WQ scoring system is rigged/flawed... LOL, but I'm just The Fool, what would I know? :)
Comment Written 23-Mar-2014
reply by the author on 25-Mar-2014
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Both rigged (in my favour) and seriously flawed I should think.
The wisest people of all are those who have declined to take the test!
Thanks for the review.
Steve
Comment from Righteous Riter
Good string of sonnets. Good end rhyming. Good perfect rhyming with best/rest...say/way...Rome/home...lives/dives...greed/creed...must/bust...fears/tears...fears/years...fill/will...meet/feet...woes/goes...wight/night...say/day...day/say...looks/books...born/worn...count/mount...well/sell. Good description and alliteration. Good complimentary photo followed by a clear message.
reply by the author on 25-Mar-2014
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Good string of sonnets. Good end rhyming. Good perfect rhyming with best/rest...say/way...Rome/home...lives/dives...greed/creed...must/bust...fears/tears...fears/years...fill/will...meet/feet...woes/goes...wight/night...say/day...day/say...looks/books...born/worn...count/mount...well/sell. Good description and alliteration. Good complimentary photo followed by a clear message.
Comment Written 22-Mar-2014
reply by the author on 25-Mar-2014
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Thanks for the warm review.
Steve
Comment from Giddy Nielsen-Sweep
Wow! This was a marathon for sure, Steve. It was a marvellous progression through life and brought a lot of smiles on the way through. You may deserve six, but I deserved 12 from doing it twice, once for me and once for Pete. It was quite a feat... A wonderful effort, Giddy
reply by the author on 25-Mar-2014
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Wow! This was a marathon for sure, Steve. It was a marvellous progression through life and brought a lot of smiles on the way through. You may deserve six, but I deserved 12 from doing it twice, once for me and once for Pete. It was quite a feat... A wonderful effort, Giddy
Comment Written 22-Mar-2014
reply by the author on 25-Mar-2014
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Thanks, Giddy.
Yes, it was a bit of an Odyssey all right - think I'll stick to shorter pieces for a while.
Steve
Comment from strandregs
For a whole one dollar it is my pleasure to inform you that my mother would say :
Kish myne tuches!
In English that would be :
Kiss my Ass
Just a thought my friend.
Be ware the wisdom of your abbreviations (in good humour).
Actually I only read the first stanza
Which showed up my kish to be almost as low as my tuches.
And then I went to the notes which ashamedly I enjoyed tremendouzly.
Now I'll go and read the rest.Z.
reply by the author on 25-Mar-2014
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For a whole one dollar it is my pleasure to inform you that my mother would say :
Kish myne tuches!
In English that would be :
Kiss my Ass
Just a thought my friend.
Be ware the wisdom of your abbreviations (in good humour).
Actually I only read the first stanza
Which showed up my kish to be almost as low as my tuches.
And then I went to the notes which ashamedly I enjoyed tremendouzly.
Now I'll go and read the rest.Z.
Comment Written 22-Mar-2014
reply by the author on 25-Mar-2014
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Thank you. Actually my original idea was to write the theory up as a prose piece, but then I conceived how I could wrangle it into shape for this Crown of Sonnets contest that Yelena was nagging me to take part in.
Steve
