What did I gain; what medal did I earn
That showed I gave–and nothing but my best–
When what would die in battle was a dream,
Such dreams as fade away when once confessed?
What did I profit; what was left to learn
When fighting for a dream had left me vexed
And reeling from this death in the extreme
Rapidity of my defence? What next
Would fade; when hence, what of my heart’s concern
Forbade continuance; what prayer could
I speak, or beg, or wrest of my esteem?
And who would answer me when next I stood?
Yet I return to war–still feinting, deft–
This battle to redeem, with nothing left.
This sonnet is part of a short sequence; click here to read it all:
David Emeron: Sonnets 
Pingback: the “Sonnet 1″ | literaryperception
satisfaction of giving our best shot is quite substantial
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Very true, Thanks so much for your insightful comments over these last years.
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“Aftermath” is a memorable sonnet, written as one writes longhand, in rolling, continuous waves of thought.
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It may read this way; however I must confess it was not written in such a way. The Etudes sequence focus on sound and balance; and as such they are written using formulaic techniques. Without going into too much detail, I should like to mention that they are written in pairs. The rhyming words are written in advance and then reversed (within the limits of each form’s capacity for reversal) for the second of the pair. So in this case, this sonnet is a reverse form of sonnet number V in the sequence and contains the same rhyming words as its mate–also reversed (to the extent that the reversed form will allow.)
I found myself curious to know more regarding this training of yours. I was not able to glean as much from your websites as I had hoped–at least not in my cursory perusal.
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