I feel a little guilty going so quickly from the sacred to the spicy, but hey, a challenge is a challenge and Wes Mathis threw down the gauntlet of a rondeau (see comments to The Stalker's Sonnet for a description). He says it is an old French poetic form. The only thing I recall about French literature from school is that it always seemed to focus either on sex, death or existentialism. So here is my first shot at a rondeau, incorporating a little of all three elements.
Leave Off Them Clothes
To ride the waves upon the sea
Then scramble ‘cross the burning sand
And tend to Eden. Hand in hand
We’ll rule and set the natives free.
The dream returns emphatically
When pool-blue eyes seem to agree
With nature’s call, nay, its command:
Leave off them clothes.
The dream may fade eventually
As death draws close with its decreeTo part two hearts, one left to stand
Bereft in weeds of mourning grand.
So when they come to bury me,
Leave off them clothes.
You continue to amaze me! And you seasoned your recipe of sex, death, and existentialism with a little pinch of humor. Very nice incorporation of rhyme and rhythm--just the way Shakespeare did it. He could rhyme anytime without losing the conversational tone of his characters' dialogue. A Shakespearean tidbit: The more important his characters were to the plot, the more their lines rhymed. When someone "throws the gauntlet down," you certainly don't waste any time picking it up! Very nice rondeau.
ReplyDeletewhy aren't you famous?!?!
ReplyDeleteWoot woot! We know what you're up to at BARE lake!!! Love it!
ReplyDeleteI Think I pulled one off, but you and Wes will have to tell me if I paced it right. It's kind of a tough scheme to make sound half decent and mean anything.
ReplyDeleteI had no clue I had two uncles who could write poetry so well. Back in the day, I wrote a couple poems. I still have yet to expand my vocabulary. A teacher friend of mine has been helping me finish a "Where I'm From" style poem...it's taking me forever, but I think it's coming together. Cant wait to see you guys this summer
ReplyDelete