A Serious Question.
#4
Did you use a certain form for this? Like a metrical pattern or beat? I ask because the syntax seems unusual at times, as though you were moulding your sentences around a structure which they didn't quite fit. That said, this has some wonderful moments, and is on the whole a charming poem, bright and perky and intelligent, a rare combination.

(03-08-2011, 03:57 PM)billy Wrote:  Where do daffodils go when dead. Shouldn't a question mark go here?
Do they sleep or ever dance
with the non-beating heart of William the wordsmith, Is "non-beating" needed? Anyone who understands what reference you're making here, and thus are aware of Wordsworth, should know that he's dead, so I don't really think you need to clarify. I like "William the wordsmith". I always thought his name was funny, like a postman being called "Lenny Letterbox".
and flash upon his inward eye in their thousand, If I'd written this line I would have constructed it like so: "and in their thousands flash upon his inward eye". But I'm not sure if that's a serious piece of critique or just my personal aesthetic choice. Though "thousand" does need to be plural really.
enshrining him with a jocund company of golden heads. Is "a jocund company of" needed? It sounds too contrived, as though the poem is assuring us that it's a poem, and thus can use such phrases.

Do they haste away, and with Herrick
pray at even-song to morn their own demise; Excellent line. Succinct and melancholy. Though again you need a question mark. And "morn" needs a "u" after "o".
as on the pearls of morning dew they fade This sentence reads like its structure was slightly re-arranged so it would sound more poetic. I think it'd seem more natural if you put "they fade" after "as".
away while other poets weep at noon,
and feel the hours dry like summers rains that pass too soon Is "feel" needed? Also "summers" shouldn't be plural. Oh and a full stop is required, though that's very minor of course.
A lot of my changes don't take into account that you may have been going for a classical feel or obeying certain structural rules which I don't recognise. Other than my nits I liked it. It was warm and witty and in retrospect I love the title. Thanks for the read Billy.
"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges." - Gene Wolfe
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Messages In This Thread
A Serious Question. - by billy - 03-08-2011, 03:57 PM
RE: A Serious Question. - by kath3 - 03-08-2011, 09:14 PM
RE: A Serious Question. - by billy - 03-09-2011, 06:03 AM
RE: A Serious Question. - by heslopian - 03-09-2011, 08:35 AM
RE: A Serious Question. - by billy - 03-09-2011, 09:15 AM
RE: A Serious Question. - by heslopian - 03-09-2011, 09:24 AM
RE: A Serious Question. - by billy - 03-09-2011, 09:34 AM
RE: A Serious Question. - by heslopian - 03-09-2011, 10:08 AM
RE: A Serious Question. - by billy - 03-09-2011, 10:14 AM
RE: A Serious Question. - by heslopian - 03-09-2011, 10:29 AM
RE: A Serious Question. - by billy - 03-10-2011, 05:42 AM
RE: A Serious Question. - by heslopian - 03-10-2011, 07:57 AM
RE: A Serious Question. - by Todd - 03-11-2011, 12:49 AM



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