Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Sonnet 65

ORIGINAL:
Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea,
But sad mortality o'er-sways their power,
How with this rage shall beauty hold a plea,
Whose action is no stronger than a flower?
O, how shall summer's honey breath hold out
Against the wreckful siege of battering days,
When rocks impregnable are not so stout,
Nor gates of steel so strong, but Time decays?
O fearful meditation! where, alack,
Shall Time's best jewel from Time's chest lie hid?
Or what strong hand can hold his swift foot back?
Or who his spoil of beauty can forbid?
O, none, unless this miracle have might,
That in black ink my love may still shine bright.

IMAGIST TAKE:

Gates of iron slowly rust

but do not fall apart

under the sun

and watch seasons of flowers

come and go.


COMMENTS ON OTHERS' POSTS:

Rheanna: I agree, the book did get really repetitive after a while. I felt there were some real jewels in there, like "Binoculars" but much of it just repeated itself over and over again.

Lauren Rossi: I like your theme of Time in this, its very reminiscent of Sonnet 56 and much of Shakespeare's other sonnets.

Alfonso: Yeah getting the format just right on the internet is especially hard, for some reason it hasn't learned how to hold margins yet.

2 comments:

  1. Your take on this sonnet was very well done. I never imagined a sonnet re-written as an imagist poem, but it turned out very well. Great job!

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  2. I really like your re-imagagining, especially how you are able to parse down such a heavy poem into such light words. It's a impressive feat.

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