No Sonnets for the Highwayman by wbiro at All poetry

The furnace of the sun on mesa sand
burns down upon the outlaw’s broken brim;
with midday breeze and cacti to command
he slips a posse formed to capture him.

One-hundred horses rode, one-hundred miles
one-hundred guns 'been fired at deputies
one-hundred souls he’s dropped, one-hundred wiles
have kept the highwayman from hanging-trees.

But fate is not so kind to lawless ones
who freely ride where wayward-fancy flies-
for in pursuit are townsmen with their guns
and leading them are sheriffs old and wise.

The days are numbered for this savage man,
the townsmen stout, the sheriff has a plan…

“I’ve been an outlaw for so many years,
I’ve held-up men and women for their gold;
I’ve lived in badlands, shedding no wet tears;
my mistress for so long has been the cold.”

“I’ve lived the Grande life, preyed on foolish souls
who carelessly traversed across my path;
when they'd resist, I’d “fill ‘em full of holes!”
then ride in town and take my monthly bath.”

“But now I’ve reached my just, if tragic, end
as you read your verdict passed on me;
you’ve used my rope- so long it’s been my friend;
and still it is- though hanging from a tree.”

The furnace sun is blist'ring, townsfolk pray;
no sonnets for the highwayman today.

Author notes

These are a pair of Shakespearean Sonnets of the form abab cdcd efef gg."

"Customarily:
The first quatrain introduces the subject
The second quatrain develops the subject
The third quatrain presents the subject in a different guise (see: volta)
The couplet summarizes or concludes the whole."

These are in the required iambic pentameter: 'da-dum da-dum da-dum da-dum da-dum'
I found that the best break ups are
'da-dum da-dum da-dum da, dum-da-dum'
or
'da-dum da-dum da-dum, da-dum da-dum'

be proud, Shakespeare... and Winklin's!

the sonnet that didn’t make it: allpoetry.com/poem/2163832

Written August 6th, 2006

In a list

A contest entry

Shakespearean Sonnets. (this contest is for Winklins and friends and the group Sonneteers) by masterblaster. 450 points, ended August 14, 2006, 5 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest

What did you think

Comments

1 - 5 of 5

By me, right now

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masterblaster
August 13, 2006
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Hi, good storyline, this is a good effort , but it slips off the Iambic pentameter a bit,
wbiro
August 7, 2006
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Yes, that is an issue, but I just finished a piece based on 'The Highwayman' by Alfred Noyes, so I thought I'd change settings, don't want to beat a dead horse! so... same scene, different flavor... it could have been space science fiction, come to think of it...!
hoodoolover
August 7, 2006
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Really well done, although in my mind the highwayman were the ones from the 17th, and 18th centuries, in Britain. This works well anyway, I personally love the wild west scene, gorgeous penning!
wbiro
August 6, 2006
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thanks, crisstiena, it took some courage to try a sonnet again- my first attempts tripped over all kinds of poetic feet...!
crisstiena
August 6, 2006
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wonderful
And then I saw his face above the stars.
'Neath trough and trow I gaped, inferior.
My hand stopped work (unknown) still sown with scars.
They trembled slightly as the face grew near.
It filled my vision and my shrunken mind.
An apparition, coming with a flood.
I braced my fear - to stand made muscles grind.
He stole resolve; I fell face-first in mud...

And then there it was, suddenly entire; she held it in her hands, beautiful and reasonable, clear and complete, the essence sucked out of life and held rounded here— the sonnet.
~ Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse

I love your sonnet! I've always loved sonnets to begin with [even though I am hopeless at writing them] and especially sonnets that stretch the rules of the form, where the syntax bursts out of the seams, as it does in this poem.

Beautifully written and presented. A real pleasure to read.
best, always
~ crisstiena