by phillipw | Mar 24, 2024 | SH
Shakespeare of the Dogberries Spite’s Shakespeare almost always forced to dinge The lower levels of society. When Cleopatra, though, is on the fringe Of death, she gets plain words, sobriety, From Iras saying simply that “bright day Is done and we are...
by phillipw | Feb 5, 2024 | GE, OL, SH, WI
He Looks as Old as Hatred Now Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “Alas, poor Yorick” “instruments of darkness tell us truths” ~ Shakespeare, Macbeth He looks as old as hatred now. This scene...
by phillipw | Jan 23, 2024 | EN, SA, SH, VI
Despite the Yearlong Darkness Under the Hedge Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem I pass the place of violets along The little lane that leads me from the square I live in, in my red brick house. No song Is...
by phillipw | Dec 14, 2021 | DE, SH, SI, TR
Simple ’Tis the gift to be simple ~ Shaker song The sea seems simple in our sight today. The waves, if varied, do not vary much. They come and go. They come and go. The way The sun comes up is ordinary, such As many days before. Of course it finds The mountain...
by phillipw | Sep 7, 2021 | DR, ME, SE, SH
What Your Shirt Says about You Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Your shirt says that you stink inside its pits. The cut may be as classy as a new Prince undisturbed by later teenage zits, Or whoring round...
by phillipw | Aug 9, 2021 | BU, CH, JU, RE, SH
Judas as a Cannibal Interpreting Holiness Korea sends a priestly man, a monk, To worshiping Japan. He preaches that The animism of their bones is drunk, More like a drunken mouse or bat, And will remain so till they realize That silent Shintō gods are reflections Of...
by phillipw | Jun 18, 2021 | RO, SA, SH, TI
The Weight of Time is Felt Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Some times are felt as weight. The Sabbath of The Jews or Christians settles on the soul Sabbath Day Lake Like Florida’s humidity...
by phillipw | Apr 7, 2021 | CH, GE, SH, WI
Shakespeare the Non-dramatist The people in his tragedies I know Are far too rich with metaphors piled on On top of one another, or the flow Of freshet torrents from all winter gone And raging over one rock cliff. Too rich The language for an ordinary man Or woman—or...
by phillipw | Apr 6, 2021 | SE, SH
Far Below in Salt Sea Depths Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Why shells that sound of seas are pink inside So often is a mystery. Why not A Caribbean blue? And why not dyed With whitest foam,...
by phillipw | Mar 6, 2021 | AE, AR, BA, GR, MO, SH, WA
Simplicity and Complexity The modern Scandinavians and chairs By Shakers have their meaning just because Of life’s complexity. The Cubist squares And glossed rectangularity give pause Like Philip Johnson’s house of cleanest glass. The house by Gropius in Lincoln...
by phillipw | Dec 6, 2020 | AC, DA, GO, Ho, MO, SH, TE, TH, VO
Curly Top and Dimples Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem You might want to watch this before reading this sonnet: Shirley Temple – On The Good Ship Lollipop.avi – YouTube I never ...
by phillipw | May 26, 2020 | CH, HU, MA, MU, PA, SC, SH, WI
With a Pretty Ding, Dong, Bell “This has a very pretty madrigalian ‘Ding, dong, bell’ ending.” ~ Emily Daymond, 77 At 15 Hubert tried his hand at straight Poetic madrigal, a Shakespeare song, In “Tell Me, Where is Fancy Bred?” The gate Of fancy is our eyes and where...
by phillipw | May 26, 2020 | CH, HU, PA, SH
“When Stars are in the Quiet Sky” ‘The desire of the moth for the star’ ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley On thirteen August, 1865, This song came out of Hubert Parry, whole. It seems he did not really need to strive. Perhaps his writing then was like a stroll Along a path in...
by phillipw | May 26, 2020 | CH, HU, LO, RO, SE, SH, ST, TW, WI
Parts Song “Take, oh Take Those Lips Away” “(sung at the Eton College Concert)” ~ Emily Daymond Take, oh take those lips away, That so sweetly were forsworn, And those eyes: the breake of day, Lights that do mislead the Morn; But my kisses bring...
by phillipw | May 22, 2020 | BL, EN, GR, PE, PO, SC, SH, TE, WI
Poets Are the Legislators of the Scientific World In 2011 I was reading a biography of John Keats. In the introduction Lord Byron is quoted as saying that Keats "belonged to that second-hand school of poetry" because he got his inspiration from...
by phillipw | May 22, 2020 | AM, BI, DA, GA, SH, TH
Sonnets Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem ……. A friend of Constable said Virgil’s sense He gained from culture drove him to presume That prime boys were “the...
by phillipw | May 20, 2020 | BE, DE, FO, SH
Death Be Now Proud: A Highly Articulated Shrimp as Gem Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem The lighting strikes, extreme in angle, from Above and glints from it a glory, gold And glowing. It’s as if it is...
by phillipw | May 15, 2020 | AC, KI, SC, SH, WI
Too Good to be Academically True “For several decades, some theorists have suggested that William Shakespeare placed his mark on the translated text of Psalm 46 that appears in the King James Bible, although many scholars view this as unlikely, stating that the...
by phillipw | Dec 17, 2019 | SH
White Trees on Oxford Street White trees in front of Debenhams’ brute gray Are shot through with March sunlight. Their green leaves, Though small, are visible among the splay Of petals that we don’t deserve. Taste grieves As buyers want Swarovski din. They’re...
by phillipw | Dec 10, 2019 | SH
Enduring English Royalty The clouds, most transient of all, float there Above the little lake, more like a pond Of molten lead with silver from the air— Reflecting cumulus concerns beyond The scene below. A nestled glowing town Is tucked up in the trees. Maybe...
by phillipw | Oct 30, 2019 | SH
Miscegenation Forgotten on the bottom of the sea Or buried under conquered, conquered stones, Lost cargo holds and funeral urns are free From passion. They are there because the bones Of empire need some place to rest and be A vintage slightly redolent of...
by phillipw | Oct 3, 2019 | SH
Prophecy from Solar Surfaces A shadow is a message from the realm Of light. Wherever suns are banished, dark Imposes silence for the eyes. An elm With blackbirds’ wings within it in a park Is useless to convey the patterns leaves And feathers might spread out along...
by phillipw | Aug 12, 2019 | SH
Sonnets A friend of Constable said Virgil’s sense He gained from culture drove him to presume That prime boys were “the height of excellence.” This point was made in tones of sneering fume, As if bad smoke made in a third-rate pipe Had found its way...