Tone: I think this post was most inspired by…

rarasaur, because of the smiles I find to be left upon my face after visiting her site and reading her stories.  I would be very interested to read what any of you out there reading this might think regarding this subject:

This morning I have been thinking upon the nature of not just artistic blogging, but blogging in general.  Those sites to which I enjoy–and to which I find myself returning again and again, tend to have a constant tone.  Particularly are these the ones which, after having visited for a while, I find have left me feeling enriched in one way or another–not necessarily happy, I should remark, but certainly further along on any number of emotions which might be though of as positive. Continue reading

The Course:

This first round will be
the gradual evolution of one piece only.
I believe I shall show

the same or similar examples
But each one differing in subject matter
In the next short series.

I had originally written the above as the introduction to the first sonnet in the first series, both of which are mentioned above; however my sweetheart has written such a lovely piece–or, more accurately, I took down verbatim the naturally poetic words she quietly uttered when nearly asleep.  And for some reason, although I confess I had written it first–that is, before her lovely words I posted–here we have another moment of synchronicity wherein what is the first offering in the series is an answer of sorts.   I had originally intended to use a much more tame subject; however I tend toward perversity whether I intend it or not; and as usual, I have gone the other way.  In any case, I shall leave my sweetheart’s wonderful words where they are, as I have found that moving things about can have disastrous results for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that wordpress.com’s so called permalinks  are…  well…  not permanent.

In any case the “course material,” if such it can truly be called, is here:

Never fear, I have not…

…disappeared.  I shall be resuming after a much needed respite.  I have, as some here know, been ill; although not seriously, still lingeringly!  Still it seemed an appropriate reward for my sixth month mark having been achieved–actually taking time to recover without undue stress on my body or mind.

I plan to resume tomorrow–or later this afternoon–with a new sequence.  This is the proposed “gateway to sonnet form,” or one might term it “gateway drug to sonnet form.”  I myself have so termed it .  My plan is to start with freeverse constrained only by being limited to fourteen lines and proceed from there, toward blank verse, and then lyrical couplets and onward from there.

I have not yet decided if it will be one piece continually evolving, or a series of pieces either related in subject, or progressing in a particular direction.  We shall see….

Sonnets in Lyrical couplets–the gateway drug… Possibly?

Having recently discovered a sonnet in lyrical couplets by Kipling, [“When Fear Came,” I believe it is titled, in the 2nd “Jungle Book”] and having written one myself, albeit as a character rather than as myself, I was put in mind of the above possibility.  As such I would like to write a few more couplet sonnets.  But also….

I feel perhaps, I might write a series of sonnet like forms ranging from completely freeverse to completely structured.  I feel that in such a way one might bring someone along a bit toward realising that sonnets are not so very hard to understand.

Of course, even if they were, one may still have the experience of hearing one read aloud; for the sound itself, is quite beautiful even without full comprehension.  Still, sonnet form is relatively simple; and even if classical topical structure is maintained (e.g. a sonnet reading essentially:  “Consider this…  But wait, what about this?” this turn or ‘volta’ most often occurring at the ninth line but often delayed till the very last; and sometimes, though rarely, earlier than that) quite easy to understand.

I feel this sequence I describe in the second paragraph is a bit of “cheating” perhaps, because the first few examples would be quite easy to write; however, I have been wondering in what way I might reward myself for having passed my sixth month mark, and perhaps this might be fitting.   I cannot, for example, think of any further paid services at this time in which I would desire to engage; therefore, I am reduced to content related rewards, I fear!

Part XII: (lyrical couplets)

This, the most familiar form of rhyme
Is used in song and verse time after time

This the sixth edition came about
The gateway to familiarise throughout
Continue reading

Part 7: (14 lines by clause)

Here you will find the words themselves, presented in freeverse as simply and compactly as possible.  The order of the words is not changed; there is nothing added or removed, but punctuated in order to make it easier to follow the words–something just short of prose, perhaps.   And although the  line lengths appear problematic, it so happens that there are 14 of these lines.

I should state that the words were originally written this way, although you might have suspected that the original form was presented in part 5.  In any case, the words are easily understood now.

Just read the words.  Think about what they mean; perhaps in answer to the original prompt: