07-17-2013, 09:28 PM
(07-17-2013, 10:12 AM)billy Wrote: don't be so despondent, try and do an edit, (i'll be editing one of mine todayThanks Billy, I look forward to reading your edit.) if you don't feel up to it know, come back to it in a week or two. the great thing is that you're trying to achieve something. most of the my remarks while seeming large are actually smaller points than you think,.
for instance, if you fix a refrain you fix 5 or six linesif you get two refrains that work well that's two thirds of the poem that are done well. constructive feedback can make a poet feel like shit, just stick with it because the pay off is worth it, i'm still waiting for my pay off but i really am expecting it to be worth it

(07-17-2013, 09:22 AM)Heslopian Wrote:Great comments thanks for your time.(07-17-2013, 02:30 AM)Brownlie Wrote: It’s autumn, leaves are falling down to EarthSome very good, subtle lines, and an overall sense of majestic sunlit calm, distinguish this poem. It could do with a stronger initial refrain and a lot of smoothing, as the lines feel tortured into shape at times, but it's a really good go at a villanelle. Thank you for the read
From branches slowly shedding organs meant
To catch the sun that dries the fluids of birth. The leaves are the organs? I'm not sure what the "fluids of birth" are, but I think that they're connected to the leaves, whose shedding is being compared to birth.
In every day a morning dew with mirth
Like dawn will dry throughout with moistness spent. There's a lot going on in these two lines, which is a recurrent theme throughout the poem. You're clearly forcing your syntax to fit the structure. It's okay to be a bit looser with form, like this villanelle: http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchi...emId=10338
It’s autumn, leaves are falling down to Earth. This refrain doesn't do much for me. It's not bad, but it's not very striking or unique, either. It's just a bit "meh".
Ephemeral, scenes will briefly blush a Dearth Why is "dearth" capitalised? I really like "blush" in this line, as well as its adjective "briefly". The alliteration and sense of shame "blush" evokes, coupled with "dying" in the next line, is deeply effective.
Of dying color. Naked limbs are bent
To catch the sun that dries the fluids of birth. My second reading of this refrain increases my appreciation of it. It makes me think of a tender midwife cleaning up after a birthing.
The wooden steps that sit before the church
Have leafy blankets from the descent. Great couple of lines. "Wooden steps" and "church" evoke Middle Age religion, while "leafy blankets" has a vaguely pagan feel.
It’s autumn, leaves are falling down to Earth.
The leaves that crunch beneath go through rebirth
and turn to dust again in their descent. Another great couple of lines. The reincarnation theme is elegantly handled.
To catch the sun that dries the fluids of birth.
As drying leaves that fell from trees the curse
Of fate will brittle bones when time is spent. Is there a word missing before "brittle" in this line, or is "brittle" being used as a verb?
It’s autumn, leaves are falling down to Earth
To catch the sun that dries the fluids of birth.