Hearting the Love Sonnet

 

Haiku has been my go-to form of poetry for so long, I’ve seldom given thought to the lasting value and versatility of the sonnet. Then recently, a poet-friend said she planned to focus on studying and writing sonnets, which turned my attention to the subject too. (Thank you, April.)

Shakespeare immediately comes to mind, of course, and also John Milton, John Donne, George Herbert, and numerous other poets who wrote in a variety of poetic forms but with a romantic aside to sonnets. To provide you with some study-worthy examples of this timeless form, most often written in iambic pentameter, I’ve selected sonnets where love poems between two people have elevated into love poems to the Lord.

 

Leave Me, O Love, Which Reachest but to Dust

Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586)

 

Leave me, O Love, which reachest but to dust,

And thou my mind aspire to higher things:

Grow rich in that which never taketh rust:

Whatever fades, but fading pleasure brings.

 

Draw in thy beams, and humble all thy might,

To that sweet yoke, where lasting freedoms be:

Which breaks the clouds and opens forth the light,

That doth both shine and give us sight to see.

 

O take fast hold, let that light be thy guide,

In this small course which birth draws out to death,

And think how evil becometh him to slide,

Who seeketh heaven, and comes of heavenly breath.

Then farewell world, thy uttermost I see,

Eternal Love, maintain thy life in me.

…

 

Easter

by Edmund Spencer (1552-1599)

 

Most glorious Lord of Life, that on this day 

Didst make Thy triumph over death and sin;

And having harrowed hell didst bring away

Captivity thence captive us to win:

This joyous day dear Lord with joy begin;

And grant that we for whom thou didst die 

Being with Thy dear blood clean washed from sin 

May live forever in felicity!

 

And that Thy love we weighing worthily 

May likewise love Thee for the same again;

And for Thy sake that all like deare didst buy 

With love may one another entertain.

So let us love, dear Love, like as we ought. 

Love is the lesson which the Lord us taught.

…

 

Earth has not anything to show more fair

William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

 

Earth has not anything to show more fair:

Dull would he be of soul who could pass by

A sight so touching in its majesty:

This City now doth like a garment wear

The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,

Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie

Open unto the fields, and to the sky;

All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.

Never did sun more beautifully steep

In his first splendour valley, rock, or hill;

Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!

The river glideth at his own sweet will:

Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;

And all that mighty heart is lying still!

..

 

God's Grandeur

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1841-1889)

 

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.

    It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;

    It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil

Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?

Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;

    And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;

    And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil

Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

 

And for all this, nature is never spent;

    There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;

And though the last lights off the black West went

    Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —

Because the Holy Ghost over the bent

    World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

…

 

As you can see, each sonnet includes the standard 14 lines with a volta or turning point, usually on the eighth line or the twelfth.  

For additional discussions on the form, visit this previous post. Also, you’ll find below a contemporary (as in, written last week) example of a sonnet in tetrameter with four beats per line instead of five and four rhyming sounds (a personal challenge since I’m a rhyming-minimalist.)

 

Sonnet Awakened at 3 a.m.

Mary Harwell Sayler  

 

If independence boasts its reward,

when will we dare depend on the Lord?

And if God’s Word calls for accord,

why do we wield it like a sword?

 

Let us, as One, world’s ways despise,

but see each person as God’s prize

and look for Love through Spirit eyes.

Such love will heal us and surprise.

 

Begone, you selfish, sightless core!

If need be, grope for Jesus’ door.

Unlatch your tethered thoughts. Explore

the words of Christ Whom you adore.

 

God’s Own Spirit bids us, “Come!

Live Christ’s Love. Be Whole. Be One.

…

Want to get your poems published?

Some poets might ask, why bother? After all, it's easy to post our own poems on our own blogs or websites, so why risk rejection? Well....

There's something thrilling about having our poems appreciated and accepted by the editors of poetry journals, anthologies, or e-zines.

Seeing which poems others respond to can help us improve our level of poetry-writing. 

Having our poems come back as  "no thanks" or "not right for us" can alert us to what needs clarifying or revising in some way.

Placing poems with a publication other than our own helps us to build our publishing credits. When we have enough of those for a book or chapbook, we can self-publish if we want, knowing we have plenty of poetry titles and publishers to include on an Acknowledgements page.

 

When people ask about our work, we become more confident in saying, "I'm a poet." We might even begin to believe that ourselves!

 

To see how to go about sending your work to publishers of poetry, visit these "Tips on sending your poems to a poetry journal or e-zine. 

 

Mary Sayler, poet-writer

Writing with Rhymes

Since we’ve talked about rhymes before, you can find previous posts on the subject by typing “rhyme” or other key word in the Search box. Today, though, I’m thinking about the ongoing popularity of rhyming poems and what might be helpful in writing poems that rhyme. 

• Pick rhymes with ample word choices that echo the sound. For example, "care" has many options such as "bare," "dare," "fare," "hair," "lair," "mare," "pair," "rare," "share," "spare," "stare," "there," "ware," and"where."
•  
• Make sure the rhymes have the same rhythm, stressing the same syllable in both words. i.e. "AsPARaGUS" has the same syllabic emphasis as "don't DARE to FUSS," which might work in a humorous poem.
•  
• Whenever possible, use rhyming nouns you can picture or verbs that move those pictures along. 
•  
• Use strong rhymes at the end of lines to add emphasis to the overall poem. 
•  
• Avoid rhyming words that show no picture or movement. For instance, don’t end lines with identifiers such as “an” or “the.” Also avoid prepositions such as “of” for end-line rhymes. 
•  
• Like other words in a poem, rhymes must contribute something. For example, they can add drama, humor, or imagery, along with their interesting sounds. 
•  
• Read your work aloud and listen for its musicality. You can amplify the sound by looking for words within each line that have synonyms with similar consonants as the rhymes. 
•  
• Repeating vowels sounds can be effective, too, and is usually more subtle. 
•  
• Consider using a rhyming dictionary to get you over hard spots. Or test every letter of the alphabet with the main rhyming sound. Say, for instance, you end a line with the word “able.” Going through the alphabet gives you “cable,” “fable,” “label,” “Mabel” (maybe for a humorous poem or limerick), “stable,” and “table.” 
  
  

If you have questions about rhyming or other aspects of poetry, feel free to ask in the Comment section below, and, Lord willing, I'll respond in an upcoming post. Also, be sure to Subscribe so you don’t miss responses and other info you might want to know to improve the quality of your poems. 

Until next time…. 

 

 Mary Harwell Sayler

Honest poems have power, even at funerals!

 

Many of the earliest written poems commemorate a life or death that impacted the poet. Numerous examples can be found online, ranging from elegant eulogies to sentimental rhymes. For instance:

I’m There Inside Your Heart
Author: Unknown

Right now I’m in a different place
And though we seem apart
I’m closer than I ever was,
I’m there inside your heart.
I’m with you when you greet each day
And while the sun shines bright
I’m there to share the sunsets, too
I’m with you every night.
I’m with you when the times are good
To share a laugh or two,
And if a tear should start to fall
I’ll still be there for you.
And when that day arrives
That we no longer are apart,
I’ll smile and hold you close to me,
Forever in my heart.

 

That poem may be just the kind of poem you’d like to write, and many do, which is fine, but it doesn’t seem truthful to me. Like, do we really feel closer to someone who’s deceased? Is their presence felt as frequently as the poem suggests?  Or would you prefer for a poem to get “real” and be honest? I would. For example, consider this poem, also in the public domain:

Let Me Go
Author: Christina Rossetti (1830—1894)

When I come to the end of the road
And the sun has set for me
I want no rites in a gloom filled room
Why cry for a soul set free?
Miss me a little, but not for long
And not with your head bowed low
Remember the love that once we shared
Miss me, but let me go.

For this is a journey we all must take
And each must go alone.
It’s all part of the master plan
A step on the road to home.
When you are lonely and sick at heart
Go to the friends we know.
Laugh at all the things we used to do
Miss me, but let me go.

 

That example reminds us to ask:

 

• What do I want my poem to bring to others who also mourn?
• What characteristics or accomplishments can the poem commemorate?
• What factor caused the death? long or sudden illness? accident? age?
• What genuine comfort can my poem offer?
• What words might help build a bridge for estranged family or friends?
• What do I wish I had said or not said to the deceased?
• Will other people be likely to feel what I feel?

 

Years ago, I wrote the following “felt” poem, which was later read at my sister’s funeral. Then, last week, I read it at the graveside service for my daughter and her son.

 

Expiration Date

 

I can't seem to get over your dying like that.

Things I thought I knew about you

did not include this option –

not so soon.

 

No longer am I satisfied

with nebulous concepts

or indefinite infinities.

I want to know, precisely,

how much bone you have retained

and whether anything was gained

from being good.

 

Should I still hope you'll wait for me?

If so, where will I be inclined to find you –

behind which cloud or nebula?

 

Tell me, how does it feel

for each cell to unloosen

into dust?  And, for what

indeterminate time

does rust remain?

Will my foot still ache

from that day I walked,

barefoot and careless,

over a high threshold?

When I dare again to speak,

will everyone hear, exactly,

what I most meant to say?

 

Mary Harwell Sayler

[The first two poems are in the public domain, which means you're free to use them if you acknowledge the source. However, if you want to include my poem in a service or any printed matter, please ask first for my permission. Thanks and blessings.]