Were I one half as great as Cymbeline,
Or had the Rubicon with Caesar crossed,
Then thou wouldst take my hand, and as my Queen
Wouldst find, in love, no gentle labour lost;
Had I, upon this warm, midsummer’s night,
The craft to summon tempests in the dark,
In dreams wouldst ride, and nothing thee afright,
Upon the Nile, in Cleopatra’s barque.
I am not great – a rude mechanical
At best – thy learning is all Greek to me;
I cannot sweetly sing a madrigal,
Nor summon up the art of minstrelsy.
My father’s name – mine own! – I cannot spell;
But shouldst thou love me, then Will all end well!
In a list
- Sonnets, sonnets, and more bloody sonnets • next in list
- Homages to other poets and authors... • next in list
- Not Bad • next in list
A contest entry
- Poetic Form Options Contest by Aerden.
600 points, ended April 8, 7 entries
Silver trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - MUSIC-RELATED POEMS URGENTLY REQUIRED FOR LIVE SHOW... by Vera Rich.
1275 points, ended July 30, 41 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
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A neatly turned sonnet... But no obvious allusion here to music that I can see... The echo in the title is not really sufficient for a programme of poems on music...Sorry!
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Lines 12 and 13 make reference, Vera, but no matter - I only entered this to make up the numbers.
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Point taken - (though I think you mean lines 11 and 12)... But even so -, the focus of the poem is NOT on music, so for this particular competition (and the related "live show" it does seem rather too peripheral. However, it is something we might well like to use in a different context.
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Vera, notwithstanding the contest is closed, would you like me to have a quick look through my collection to see if there is another one you might use?
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Silver Winner
Mairi--I enjoyed this so much. I adored all of the wonderful Shakespearean references and the way you made the poem resemble his style of including his own name. Thank you for submitting this! -
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And thank you for the silver.
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Responsum
S hrew tamed, All's Well, though here is Much Ado !
A ntony and Cleopatra met
N o Rape, no Tragedy, since each stayed true,
G rave born, like Romeo and Juliet.
T hus Richard, John and Harry had preferred
O ne History where each could heed thy call !
M easure for Measure Tempest's threat, unheard
A ll envy's Comic Error is withall !
I, Phoenix, have to Turtle dove supplied
R esponse as Pilgrim Passionate here's signed,
I nscribed Adonis with Venus allied,
B lunt Lover's Complaint in neatest verse aligned, -
HE re read Plays' Sonnets' subtle sequent frame
AG eless thoughts shown, - who's grown, who's stayed the same ?
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I AM TOTALLY GOBSMACKED!
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Clever, witty and delightful--and a pretty good sonnet as well, Lol. Love the play on Shakespearean references. This definitely deserves a trophy, but more importantly, it should be read by anyone wanting to know how sophisticated poetry is written.
Great stuff,
Bill
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........you were not serious when you
said you couldn't write, were you???
I would give anything to write like
this, my sweetest friend. love, lane
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Deadly serious, Lane.
And if all you could do was write "like this" when a contest turned up, how would it feel?
{sigh} Just feeling down, I guess. You are very kind for your lovely comment
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This is pure perfection in poetic challenge. I love to write in the old language and I am always chastised for it. I admire your courage and especially your talent for presenting this piece.
Cymbeline: the play based on an early Celtic King.
Crossing the Rubicon: alea iacta est; Julius Cesar
Line 4: Play: Love's Labours Lost
Line 5: Play: Midsummer Night's Dream
Line 6: Play; The Tempest
Line 6: Sonnet 116 line 6
Line 11: The Merry Wives of Windsor
Couplet: his own name.
I got seven am I close?
Love,
Amera♥
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Well line 11 might have been a red herring, because I can't place such a line in TMMoW, but otherwise you aren't doing too badly.
There is no reference that I know of in Shakespeare to Ceasar's crossing the Rubicon, but his name alone is sufficient reference.
I see you want to claim a double reference for "tempest", and you're a clever girl!
There is certainly one more play, and two more quotations to find.
M
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NO! Magnificent effort
I just love the way you explore poetry and how your fine talent suits the need of the poetic moment. This is a very fine effort of classical poetry, which is no small matter... DW
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Och I'm a hack without a single original thought. I have no voice of my own, no creativity. All I can seem to do is react to contest prompts. Somebody needs to push a button to get me writing.
But thank you very much for your kind comment.
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I am the same way--I need sourdough starter. AllPoetry has done more for my productivity than anything else ever has. I have written more poetry in the past two weeks (since I joined AP) than I have in the past two years. So don't feel bad.
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Well it's certainly a place where one can flex one's muscles a wee bit.
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Great effort!
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Absolutely delightful! I loved all of the Shakespeare references, and I counted at least nine. I'm sure I missed a few. Thank you so much!
And you reminded me that I meant to include another poem form in the contest--the type of poems that Amergin or Taliesin wrote (I am the stag of seven tines). That type can also make utter nonsense sound deeply profound.
Thanks for your sonnet, and best of luck in the contest!
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I can't remember what they are called, but I know the one you quote is supposed to refer to the Celtic deity Cernunnos.
Thank you for the comment.
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I'm going for about a dozen, but the trouble with the Bard is he wrote nearly every thing that isn't from the AV
Beautiful sonnet. Stupid review that as if a Mairi sonnet wouldn't be!!!
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OK, name and substantiate them!
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not from the train, when I get home, Cymbeline, Rubicon, Caesar, midsummer nght, labour lost, Tempests, Cleo, thy learning is all Greek to me, Will all end well is of course 2! Inability to spell his own name and a rude mechanical were my 12, but references have to wait.
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You are getting there, I think. I shall have to check whether Rubicon is referenced in "Julius Caesar".
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I wasn't certain.
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