Your weekly slice of Poetry

Hello friends! This week I offer another selection of poems that I have found interesting and enjoyable. I've been trying to select poems from authors that I have less experience with. If you crack open any poetry anthology you will be surprised at how many poets have the honor of being found within. Of course, I have my favorite poets (and I'm sure many of you could name some of them) but I also believe it's important to branch out and see what others have done.

All this has led me to think about my plans for this blog in the next year. I may set up a more established schedule for my posting, specifically Poetry Pie. I have thought about using Poetry Pie to feature specific poets each week, rather than each edition being a semi-random selection by my own interest. Maybe I'll turn it into a series where we'll work through the poets throughout the different periods of English poetry.

If you have any suggestions or ideas here, let me know! Leave a comment here or contact me through the site, either through the form or directly through my blog's email (which is available to Patrons). I want to write for your benefit (and my own growth), so any feedback is much appreciated.

Anyway, on to this week's selection of poems.

That Holy Thing

George MacDonald (1824–1905)

I found this short poem in my Oxford Book of English Verse when looking up poems for Rossetti (featured a little later). The poem has a very immediate quality to it. There is no preamble or conclusion; you are drawn immediately into its logic. It is something like a prayer to God, that he would be near to answer his prayers despite seeming absent from the world.

The poem is rhymed in ABAB and metered in iambic tetrameter, all except for the last line which is shortened to trimeter. It feels quick and tangible, adding to its memorability.

The Darkling Thrush

Thomas Hardy (1840—1928)

The earth is getting colder as we begin the slow decline into Winter. This descent matches the setting of this poem as it is skillfully established by Hardy. You can't help but feel the cold and see the grayness of the world. Many Hardy poems have this characteristic gloominess, but this one has a spring of life that makes for an interesting contrast: a thrush pouring its music into the air. How wonderful is this description!

An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
      In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
      Upon the growing gloom.

This poem is written in a type of Ballad Verse with alternating lines of tetrameter (4) and trimeter (3). Each stanza is 8 lines (made up of 2 ballad stanzas), rhymed in ABABCDCD fashion.

The Honeysuckle

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882)

This poem depicts the author finding honeysuckle flowers in two different locations: a thorny hedge and a healthy field. There is a subtle comparison made between the two types of flowers, one grown in isolation and thorns, and others grown in community.

The poem is 14 lines and can be split into two halves, each of which is rhymed ABBABBA. Each line is metered in iambic tetrameter.

The Pale Rose

Abram Newcomer

Reading "The Honeysuckle" above reminded me of this recent sonnet that I wrote for my wife. This also contains a comparison between a flower grown in sickly isolation with flowers that are more fortunate in a field.

I hope you enjoyed these selections. I encourage you to find your own nearby anthology and flip it open to a poet you've never heard of. You'll likely find something that is memorable.