I recently came across this quote and it spoke so strongly to me. It is a principle I have tried to live by--sometimes successfully, sometimes not--but I have never heard it articulated so purely:
Strong FEELINGS do not necessarily make a strong CHARACTER. The strength of a man is to be measured by the power of the feelings he SUBDUES not by the power of those which subdue HIM.
--------William Carleton
If we're honest with ourselves, we all have certain tendencies or personality traits that we're not always proud of.
Poetry can be a means to help subdue those parts of our character that should be reigned in for the good of ourselves and the good of others.
USE THIS QUOTE TO INSPIRE YOU to write a piece that will help you to master yourself. It should be something that you can read to yourself in the future when you are wrestling with your particular issues. Hopefully, it will also be something that might help others with their struggles.
Dig deep, find emotion. I want to feel it.
Include metaphor, imagery, marvelous description. Manipulate the language to affect me, to affect others!!
GOLD 500 KEEP IT PG-13 OR BETTER, PLEASE
SILVER 200 REGULAR TYPE PLEASE
BRONZE 100 I PREFER NO PICTURES, PAINT WITH WORDS INSTEAD
HM's MAY BE ADDED. 15-30 LINES
Obviously, your piece should be LOADED with emotion and vivid description!!!!
Contest is Over
- Contest was judged on August 5, 2007
- Rewards: Gold: 500, Silver: 200, Bronze: 100
- Final notes:
Strong FEELINGS do not necessarily make a strong CHARACTER. The strength of a man is to be measured by the power of the feelings he SUBDUES not by the power of those which subdue HIM.
--------William Carleton
Thanks so much to everyone for sharing your amazing and varied thoughts with me. The top three poems really stood out, all for various reasons.
Gold- governance- To me this poem was simple yet skilled in its metaphor and spoke directly to the quote above about restraint of character being not chains as some would suppose, but being the doorway to liberty and true self-expression. I felt that anyone could read this and learn something from it. Congrats!
Silver- Versing Character- This one really emphasized the role poetry can play in helping us to reign in many of our character flaws. It had wonderful, unified metaphor and was tremendously thought out.
Bronze- The Green Light--This one took a more abstract approach to the contest, used some powerful imagery and Biblical allusion to make it's point, and really lingers on the mind even after its reading.
Thank you to everyone who participated. I truly enjoyed your work.
Ten
Contest Winners
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unpruned, untrained, unrestrained / weed-children wander / from sultry summer morns / past mothy street-light nights; / tangles of straggli• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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there was jealousy hiding on lashes• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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Through the green light, imagination / followed the crooked / to the grave / The Garden of Eden / testament to godless realms / between the dream minds / where corpses dance, / fors• Commented on by judge. [remove]
Gold trophy winner
Silver trophy winner
Bronze trophy winner
Entries [5]
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If it is to be, It is up to me• Commented on by judge.
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Creeping on me secretly Every day / Is a secret that I want to hide If I can / To find a way to push it back I'll searchby BloodtippedWings 18 lines, 4 comments, on Jul 31 2:47 PM 2007• Commented on by judge.
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Comments
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Bookmarked.
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i agree with ryan this is bookmarked
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I'll try. I have to write for Ryan's contest first.
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I like the idea behind this contest. I am not sure I am up to the task but I will bookmark it.
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yeah ill try and give this a go
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I hope I did well ^_^;
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