Tag Archives: Literature

Sonnet VIII: His Hand

Posted by David Emeron on

Look ye upon this hand and then suppose
Ye know its master’s strength; as must it be
perceived, its width and length are plain to see,
conceived for war or mercy as he chose.

From grace to passion, powerful it flows’
To keep ye captive; both extremes agree;
Enrapt, gave ye desire with strength to free
Such still and racing hearts as passion knows.’

To bate thy breath, its mastery displayed,
To touch thee known, or thee beyond compare,
And bind thy strength, or thee thy beauty there;
Command in both, this hand shall be obeyed:
Such frailty and such power thus are swayed;
Perfection to ensnare,  succumb, prepare!

This sonnet is part of a short sequence; click here to read it all:

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Reverse Petrarchan/Reverse Italian Sonnets:

Posted by David Emeron on

In the sequence Regarding the Male form, You will see an atypical rhymescheme in Sonnet #3, this is what may be termed a “Reverse Italian,” or “Reverse Petrarchan,” if you prefer the more formal name.

Also in this sequence, the piece directly preceding this one is a more direct companion.  Sonnet #2  in the sequence is a conventional Italian or Petrarchan.

I enjoy reversing forms in order that I might see how they work, sound, feel, etc.  A Petrarchan is difficult to reverse, because in the first section you have

ABBA, ABBA,

which when reversed gives one BAAB, BAAB, which is identical in sound.  So I can see the best possibility here might be to reverse one quatrain which gives:

ABBA, BAAB, which does have a unique sound.

Also the second section of a Petrarchan–the final six lines–are never set to one form so they may be

CDECDE, or CDCDCD, or CDECED, or even occasionally, CDCDEE,

which is something of a rarely; but even Petrarch did it that way once.  You will see any number of possibilities in the final six lines.  Except you will never (that I know of) see something like:

CCDEDE, which a reverse of CDCDEE,

So that seems a logical target for a Reverse Petrarchan.

All this together gives

ABBA BAAB CCDEDE,

One could perhaps try CCDEED, or possibly a third use of C, but the couplet really must, I think, be in lines 9 and 10.

Sonnet VI: Exalted

Posted by David Emeron on

In aire, dost–poise thou in His image–fly
Perfection! bronzed against Hyperion’s blaze;
Exalted! at thy nadir by His rays;
With mastery! dost thou hold thy piece of sky.

In aire, for thee, hath stopt all time; on high,
At perfect flexion, as His Son displayed:
Retract, and tense, ’til once thou deign obeyed
His gravity, that deign thou not defy.

Down! by His unseen force, to Earth art thrown;
Descend thou! as I gasp–thy devotee.
Thou! slicing air! perfection still outshone!
And twist! and roll! and turn! to all degree!
As fly thou through devoted hands alone
With thee, who hast so Godly kist the sea.

This sonnet is part of a short sequence; click here to read it all:

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Sonnet V: Colours

Posted by David Emeron on

Here, these colours in secret dost thou touch;
Here, in reddest violet I thou pursue;
Yet only black as night, and yet as blue
That thou, my bright, my shadow, painted much.

And here, the spectroscopic span is such;
And here, chromatics some might misconstrue;
Unknown, such hues have painted far too few;
As whitest white is not so grey a crutch

To magnify protection’s light of worth.
And worthy light, prismatic as the sun,
Shall stream as bright toward golden compass points;
And venerable shades shall then unearth,
When newer hues are finally outdone,
Our touch as art–as colours–us, anoints.

This sonnet is part of a short sequence; click here to read it all:

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Sonnet IV: Lies

Posted by David Emeron on

Say not thou knew the nature of a man,
Whilst knowing not the nature of thy thought.
Dost not thou know such thought is of a plan
Which not thine own, should one day be untaught?

Though thou art vaccinated well against
The recognition of such ill intent,
Thine own cognition likewise is dispensed
Away from that such thoughts misrepresent.

But who then are thy lords, that shan’t thou see
Such twisting evil as through thee hath spun?
What are such words, as should so guarantee
That never shall such evil be undone:

Such lies, as evil men have told to thee;
Such damage, as their serpent’s words decree.

This sonnet is part of a short sequence; click here to read it all:

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Sonnet III | Lyrical Love

Posted by David Emeron on

The scrolls of words rolled like pathways of green,
Pattered little steps into a deep grove…
Through hawthorns, nettles, poison ivy, wove…
They weaved a song bladed in tangerine,
Slicing open with knives of sweet citrine…
Whispered on winds far, of some secret trove,
Ever coldly buried in the deep iced Nov’.
Does it exist, if ’twere not truly seen?

Thinking some treasure must surely exist,
On the traveler sailed through storms and gales.
Faced bravely the disorienting mist…
Repaired the broken mast and tattered sails.

When all the seas and forests searched, none missed,
Was it a pointless search of empty trails?

Sonnet III: Secret

Posted by David Emeron on

For this thou speak, though doubtful would suppose,
Nor hesitate obliquely to confess.
Regarding friendship still, thou might obsess
Beyond all compass; thrill-swept, as the throes

Wherewith to cloy thyself so rapt, express
Thine own determined joy.  But not oppose
Desire desire‘s object might impose.
Conspired and familiar, this excess:

Unnamed delight, and wicked to implore,
This: framed–as though for art, or to explore,
Or greater havoc know–it would appear
Unleashed, a glow one nary could ignore
In life’s brief curtain: coy, intent, sincere
Thou wouldst covert revere; but not adore.

This sonnet is part of a short sequence; click here to read it all:

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