08-01-2012, 11:13 PM
Thank you both so much for your invaluable guidance - I have not really written verse before, mainly prose, so the meter is the mystery. I will now read the linked article, which is very concise and perhaps try to rewrite. I deliberately used the cliche 'stone dead' as the huge stones have people climbing all over them and having their picture taken on them - due to the size of them, thus giving the impression they are alive from afar. Is it not done to deliberately use a cliche if you invert its meaning or does it just not work? Please feel free to add to and be as critical as you wish - it really is exceptionally helpful - I just don't seem to be able to get any self-critical perspective on verse it is just so much harder to judge than prose - thanks again, very best wishes SM