Complete - 101 sonnets by Margaret I. Gibson Bates
This book is a collection of sonnets which I wrote to reconcile thoughts and beliefs, to grow through grief to a deeper understanding of my roots and branches. Many of them start as a vent of emotion and end with a philosophical couplet. There is a thread of Christian faith which grows through study of other religions to perceive a less personal but more compassionate God. Over several years, the pain and bitterness changed to resignation and then acceptance. The book takes its title from the last line of the last sonnet, "I am complete." No one is created finished; there is a process whereby we become what we are, which has a clear beginning and no end. Yet, in another sense, we are always complete, as seed, shoot, plant, bud and flower; we may gaze on our fallen petals without awareness of the fruit to come or the promise of new flowers. Roses and rosebushes appear many times as metaphors for myself, and images of flowers often relate to people as well.
At the time I wrote them, I was ashamed of some my feelings and regressions, they were not the best of me, that is, the most kind, thoughtful, and forgiving. The strongest expressions of pain were projections which I did not identify as myself at all. This was most of the healing process, recognizing my own feelings which had been repressed as invalid, antisocial or just bad. In the "spiritual journey" into our own hearts, we must see and not flinch from the shadow which we have preferred to hate in others, and we must not accept the rules of people who have used our feelings to manipulate us. The test is to remember slights and injuries and give them their due sorrow and acceptance, instead of forgetting them again. Hiding unpleasant truth does not give us rest; we are troubled by things we won't remember. I took two years to descend to my metaphorical basement and sweep out all the chambers; I felt that I could not ascend until there was nothing left unknown. I was always conscious that even though someone had said God would reject me, God does not refuse anyone who seeks him.
Why sonnets in the 21st century? I reach back to childhood for the reasons, hearing my father recite Robert Service from memory, nonsense poems, songs, and hymns, all of which have strong rhyme and meter. The steady pace of iambic pentameter has its own beauty set in blank verse, but added to regular rhymes, I felt the effect of creating something timeless. The sonnet form has a history in English literature stretching back almost five centuries, when Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, experimented in English with the Italian form of Petrarch. There are several versions called after their inventors, Petrarch, Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton. The classical sonnet has fourteen lines, and the rhyme schemes are dictated by form. The form is strictly applied by some modern poets, others allow variations of rhymes, meter, and number of lines. Initially I followed form exactly, then relaxed some of the rules as needed. The limitations of meter, rhyme and length, plus the added requirements of volta (reversal) or concluding couplet forced me to organise thought and emotion. In addition, the structure of sonnet form allowed me to practise and develop the poetic tools of metaphor, imagery and sound.
I wish to recognize the help and encouragement given to me as a budding sonneteer on the website AllPoetry. I offer my sincere gratitude to Bobbie Bell, Del Warren Livingston, Ron Wiseman, Gennelle St. George, Terry Tenhunen, Hugh Wyles and Keith Stewart Tait. They were faithful readers, good friends and exacting critics. When something was not “up to standard” they would point out where it could be improved. They prodded gently at the perfectionist in me, and often a rewrite was many times better than the original. I am also grateful to my friends in poetry who have stood by me all these years, Karen Harris, Sea Stephenson and Joan Benecke, and my recent treasure, Myra Lochner. My book would not be complete without my gratitude to my husband and sons, Peter, Fred and Geoffrey, who were with me through its creation.
What more would you like to see as an introduction to a collection of sonnets?
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Comments
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I am so excited !
and so happy for you, dear margaret ...
I had been hoping to see your first book published
for a very long time ...
now is the time !
yay !!!
thank you myra, my sweet fairy, for publishing our margaret's poetry !
you are an angel in disguise ...
hugs and love to both of you !!!
maa
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as per request
Greetings M,
Anything I say is opinion only, because it was not wrong.
"the pain and bitterness developed to resignation and then acceptance."
developed, yes--but why not changed, became, even grew--
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"I hope that you will be able to see a change in character over the whole series. "
(Is this needed? Or: ) The change in character may be obvious...
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"...to practise and develop ..." Standard English is correct here. American usage spells the verb and noun as "practice." For an exclusively American audience, their version might be preferred.
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"the tools of all poets, metaphor, imagery and sound."
Because poets are not metaphor as the comma suggests, differentiate with 'poetic tools, metaphor, imagery and sound'
Well done!
Big hug
Terry
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Thank you Terry!
I had "practice" first, and then remembered my old, old spelling rules, "c" for a noun, "s" for a verb. I will take your advice on most of these, thank you again.
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That's why you're one of my favorite flowers, Margaret. Congratulations and I wish you the best with this project.
joy -
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Thank you Joy! When the book is ready I will make sure everyone knows how to get one!
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WOW!
Thank you Margaret. I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!!!
Like Jo Jo aka angelica Joan... I feel so honored to be mentioned and remain honored to call you friend.
I often place you in the hands of God via prayer hoping you will be GREATLY blessed with many "great days of greatness". You are a blessing in word and deed and so much more to all we who know you and who will get to know you in person and in your words as a sonneteer. Hugs and prayers always for you and yours, Margaret. A treasured friend who's writings are a treasure to behold. Sincerely, SEA
YOU GO GIRL!!!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
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Thank YOU Sea! You encouraged me to join AP in the first place, and supported me in the early years when I needed it more. You certainly deserve this recognition.
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What wonderful news to be published, Margaret! I am looking forward to the chance to find and purchase copies for several friends and of course, for myself! Having read your sonnets over the years, we can all proudly say, "We knew you when...."
Terry -
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Terry, can I ask a favour of you? Please check this introduction for grammar and usage - I'm pretty sure that it is correct, but this is my own work, and I could easily miss something. There are two new paragraphs to make it interesting for you.
Thanks!
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Thank you Terry! you have been a long-time reader and supporter, and I will be happy to send you a copy gratis. I'll have copies for members of the family, and then I hope the rest will pay...
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I am thrilled for you to have your sonnets published! I especially love the fact that Del is included in your forward; his honesty and guidance was a light to many poets.
Your sonnets are jewels and I have found inspiration and wisdom in them over the years.
Congratulations, Margaret! No one deserves it more. -
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Thank you Mary! While my sonnets are imperfect in many ways, they served a purpose for me, and many people resonated with their message. Thank you for your companionship in the early steps. We shared a lot of writing.
Del was a treasure; his death took away my desire to publish for years. As long as we remember him, he is present.
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Dear Sweetpea, I am so pleased to read that you'll have your Sonnets in a book form, how thrilling that must feel. You and Hugh are two of the most wonderful people I know on AP to write in the Sonnet form, I am still learning and Hugh is very strict on my doing it right. I am so proud of you Margaret, it's like watching one of my own children accomplish something wonderful.
Keep on penning my friend as I know there will be many more books to be written by you and I thank you for mentioning my name in the foreword, I feel deeply honored.
With love and hugs
Joan
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Dear Joan, I'm getting very excited - it will be finished soon. Thank you for sharing my happiness, after sharing so many other feelings over the years.
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Wow!
I rate a mention? And I am not a sonneteer. Golly, gosh!
Dear Margaret, 101 sonnets are an exploration of life for you.
I SHALL purchase at least one copy.
Bestest wishes.
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Dear Ron, I shall send you a copy. Myra and I are still choosing the content, but the rest is falling into place easily.
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Dear Margaret,
As one of my two 'Sonnet Queens" who has honoured my Wyleian Sonnet collection with so many of your very best creations in this form, I congratulate you in anticipation of the forthcoming publication of this century plus one. As a selection of your own choosing from the several hundred you have penned over the years, future readers can be assured of a treasure chest of finely crafted sonnet-gems, sparkling with individual thought and cut with immaculate precision.
I am honoured to be mentioned in your foreword as whatever help I have given you over the years has always been amply and gracefully reciprocated.
With much love and hugs, dear friend, XXX Hugh. -
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Dear Hugh,
without your patience and wisdom, this would not have come at all. Thank you for your friendship and encouragement, loyalty and humour (even when I was not best pleased by it). You have helped me not only poetically but personally.
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It is with growing excitement ...
and admiration that I witness the cardinal aspects of endopathy, sprouting from poetic excellence and deep spiritual awareness, from pruning and refinement and last but not least, from the willingness to perceive the importance of sorrow and pain in this process of progressing towards inner healing and understanding.
May God's blessings be on you and your work, Margaret, and thank you for the trust and love we share in making this grand effort visible: a small patch of the big picture, being accomplished by humble patchwork people.
Much Love and Blessings, my friend.
Myra
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Thank you Myra
for bringing this to fruition.
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