05-15-2016, 06:21 AM
(05-13-2016, 11:25 AM)psychonaut Wrote: woe to the suppressor of my dreamsWell done with your edit. The poem does suffer a bit from lack of punctuation -- not every poem has to have punctuation, you say? Yes, you're right, but in order to get away without it, you have to choose words that stand alone and provide their own emphasis. It's actually pretty tricky. Punctuation lends you a bit of support and would let you get rid of most of your conjunctions (and, because), which weaken the poem -- they're filler words and they draw the power away from the words you want to stand out.
woe to the demagogue who hungers for
irrational human supposition
you condesate power -- do you mean condense?
into a sickly saccharin sludge -- you're right in thinking this is too much, but you might find it better to get rid of sickly than saccharin -- e.g. "into saccharin sludge"
and you spray it upon me -- instead of starting with and, which is fairly overdone, I'd recommend you break the stanza here and start with you
and it eats me
but woe to you oppressor
because awakened in me is the drive for freedom -- you probably don't need because
and I will turn your poison back against you -- or and
and I will laugh
and you will corrode
like a rusty hinge in -- a rusty hinge is already corroded, so the simile doesn't work. Maybe an exposed hinge, or something implying that it's cheap
a warm ocean spray -- does it have to be warm? That sounds a bit too pleasant for the tone of the poem.
When using similes, always first ask yourself if you could get rid of like/as and turn it into a metaphor instead. Metaphors are generally regarded as the stronger of the two, and ending on a simile is rarely powerful. For example, consider your last few lines punctuated and with a metaphor instead (with your existing words, sans conjunctions):
Woe to you, Oppressor!
Awakened in me is the drive for freedom --
I will turn your poison back against you,
I will laugh,
and you will corrode:
a rusty hinge
in a warm ocean spray
Just suggesting
It could be worse
