Be inspired by -- Ted Hughes and The Seven Sorrows.
write a poem inspired by one or the other:
1. by the entire poem
2. by one of the stanzas apart from the poem as a whole
The Seven Sorrows
The first sorrow of autumn
Is the slow goodbye
Of the garden who stands so long in the evening-
A brown poppy head,
The stalk of a lily,
And still cannot go.
The second sorrow
Is the empty feet
Of a pheasant who hangs from a hook with his brothers.
The woodland of gold
Is folded in feathers
With its head in a bag.
And the third sorrow
Is the slow goodbye
Of the sun who has gathered the birds and who gathers
The minutes of evening,
The golden and holy
Ground of the picture.
The fourth sorrow
Is the pond gone black
Ruined and sunken the city of water-
The beetle's palace,
The catacombs
Of the dragonfly.
And the fifth sorrow
Is the slow goodbye
Of the woodland that quietly breaks up its camp.
One day it's gone.
It has only left litter-
Firewood, tentpoles.
And the sixth sorrow
Is the fox's sorrow
The joy of the huntsman, the joy of the hounds,
The hooves that pound
Till earth closes her ear
To the fox's prayer.
And the seventh sorrow
Is the slow goodbye
Of the face with its wrinkles
that looks through the window
As the year packs up
Like a tatty fairground
That came for the children.
Ted Hughes
the must haves -
free verse please
left align
no erotica
spell check
NoNE oF ThIS
55 lines or less please
write a poem inspired by one or the other:
1. by the entire poem
2. by one of the stanzas apart from the poem as a whole
The Seven Sorrows
The first sorrow of autumn
Is the slow goodbye
Of the garden who stands so long in the evening-
A brown poppy head,
The stalk of a lily,
And still cannot go.
The second sorrow
Is the empty feet
Of a pheasant who hangs from a hook with his brothers.
The woodland of gold
Is folded in feathers
With its head in a bag.
And the third sorrow
Is the slow goodbye
Of the sun who has gathered the birds and who gathers
The minutes of evening,
The golden and holy
Ground of the picture.
The fourth sorrow
Is the pond gone black
Ruined and sunken the city of water-
The beetle's palace,
The catacombs
Of the dragonfly.
And the fifth sorrow
Is the slow goodbye
Of the woodland that quietly breaks up its camp.
One day it's gone.
It has only left litter-
Firewood, tentpoles.
And the sixth sorrow
Is the fox's sorrow
The joy of the huntsman, the joy of the hounds,
The hooves that pound
Till earth closes her ear
To the fox's prayer.
And the seventh sorrow
Is the slow goodbye
Of the face with its wrinkles
that looks through the window
As the year packs up
Like a tatty fairground
That came for the children.
Ted Hughes
the must haves -
free verse please
left align
no erotica
spell check
NoNE oF ThIS
55 lines or less please
Contest is Over
- Contest was judged on July 5, 2007
- Rewards: Gold: 300, Silver: 200, Bronze: 100, Honorable mention: 1 people
- Final notes: I think I could be sitting here reading the top entries of this contest, even days from now, and still find the same thing - this has been incredibly hard with only the slightest marginal differences in the strengths of the poems I put at the top.
The last stanza / verse is always most important to me. Then the first. Then everything in between as consistent and solid, and full of poetic device(s).
I actually read most of the poems at least four or five times over the course of the contest and this past week. Again, I can't thank the entrants enough for participating and bringing some of their best work to the table.
Still, there are poems we have to identify with more than the others -- those are the finalists. Though, I might identify even moreso with the poem that does not place Gold - still, the poem I gave gold to kept bringing me back to its many layers and artistically won me over.
Were this easy to judge - it would have been done much sooner. I apologize for the delay - but I found the top 4 poems to be incredibly difficult to select one over the other.
On that long-winded note... thanks to all again.
Kim
Contest Winners
- Error: Unable to find finalist item 3084916, it seems to have been deleted :( [remove]
- Error: Unable to find finalist item 3074480, it seems to have been deleted :( [remove]
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• Commented on by judge. [remove]
- Error: Unable to find finalist item 3116214, it seems to have been deleted :( [remove]
Bronze trophy winner
Entries [4]
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by amaranthine lover 15 lines, 3 comments, on Jun 15 11:16 PM 2007. In Fantasy, Dark, Contemporary, Angst, Weird, My own style, Abstract, noguest• Commented on by judge.
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And the only sorrow / Is the unwelcome end / To sweaty faces smeared fatigue / That finds the cool splash / Of still pool water / Like cold ignorance of / Those days both hazy and unendingby brentsrich 6 lines, 7 comments, on Jun 17 11:24 PM 2007• Commented on by judge.
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Comments
1 - 9 of 9
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excellent concept-
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I agree with Mary... as always, an excellent concept and a very inspiring and beautiful poem, Kim!
~ Nicolette
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I might have something for this contest...it just needs some tweaking still.
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If there is anyone that is working on something, but might fall short by a day or so - I'll keep it open long enough to honor those poems as well. I should have noted it in the contest explanation -- call it a "place setting" of sorts.
Glad to hear you may have a poem coming for this - it's something to look forward to, indeed. 'Seems as though Hughes brings out the muse a bit -- great stuff!
--- Kim
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wonderful contest , will try to make the delay ,,,
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dam i had a poem for this ..im upset now ....grrr
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Thank you for the trophy, Kim and congratulations to PK and Kathleen on their wins, as well as to Mary. I know how hard judging is! Well done to you all.
~ Nicolette
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thank you so much kimmie...
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Thank you for hosting a great contest, Kim. Congratulations, one & all. 
Wanda
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