Spenserian Sonnet No. 4

[arontius]

.....Was listening to Sting's 'The Wild, Wild Sea' when the Muse came to call. :-) When She stops in for a visit, you hurry up and offer her a drink for she doesn't ever seem to stay for long. :-)

Wild stallions surged on the dark, rolling hills.
With manes that danced in wild, frenzied designs.
They raced the wind who cruelly tried wills.
Defiance is seen in all of their lines.

The king of the sea raised high his tines.
With menace he strikes with a crashing light.
The hills are riven by the name he signs.
To show in visage strong his wondrous might.

Yet they continue forward with this fight.
Their sinews strain as bodies stream with foam.
A challenge made in great cries to the height.
A salt spray fills the air as forth they roam.

This great herd gallops swiftly far away.
The waves that they rode roll on toward the day.

.....Hope everyone has a good weekend! Stay safe. And see you all at July Coronation! Starting for me in 12 days, 0 hours, 16 minutes, aaaaannnnndddd 45 seconds. :-)

.....Arontius / Aaron.

Comments

[the-thread-lady.livejournal.com]

Very nice! I love your imagery - I can see the wave, wind & horses tumbling around.

[aelianora.livejournal.com]

Reminds me very much of a poem I read once on the minstrels. It's very good, Arontius.

Poem is by Paul Dunbar:

'The Wind and the Sea'

I stood by the shore at the death of day,
As the sun sank flaming red;
And the face of the waters that spread away
Was as gray as the face of the dead.

And I heard the cry of the wanton sea
And the moan of the wailing wind;
For love's sweet pain in his heart had he,
But the gray old sea had sinned.

The wind was young and the sea was old,
But their cries went up together;
The wind was warm and the sea was cold,
For age makes wintry weather.

So they cried aloud and they wept amain,
Till the sky grew dark to hear it;
And out of its folds crept the misty rain,
In its shroud, like a troubled spirit.

It goes on, but that's the part that your poem made me think of...

:-)

[arontius]

Thank you for that. I'll have to find the rest of it so I can read the whole thing. I like it. :-)

Arontius.

Re: :-)

[aelianora.livejournal.com]

Here's the whole thing:

'The Wind and the Sea'

I stood by the shore at the death of day,
As the sun sank flaming red;
And the face of the waters that spread away
Was as gray as the face of the dead.

And I heard the cry of the wanton sea
And the moan of the wailing wind;
For love's sweet pain in his heart had he,
But the gray old sea had sinned.

The wind was young and the sea was old,
But their cries went up together;
The wind was warm and the sea was cold,
For age makes wintry weather.

So they cried aloud and they wept amain,
Till the sky grew dark to hear it;
And out of its folds crept the misty rain,
In its shroud, like a troubled spirit.

For the wind was wild with a hopeless love,
And the sea was sad at heart
At many a crime that he wot of,
Wherein he had played his part.

He thought of the gallant ships gone down
By the will of his wicked waves;
And he thought how the churchyard in the town
Held the sea-made widows' graves.

The wild wind thought of the love he had left
Afar in an Eastern land,
And he longed, as long the much bereft,
For the touch of her perfumed hand.

In his winding wail and his deep-heaved sigh
His aching grief found vent;
While the sea looked up at the bending sky
And murmured: "I repent."

But e'en as he spoke, a ship came by,
That bravely ploughed the main,
And a light came into the sea's green eye,
And his heart grew hard again.

Then he spoke to the wind: "Friend, seest thou not
Yon vessel is eastward bound?
Pray speed with it to the happy spot
Where thy loved one may be found."

And the wind rose up in a dear delight,
And after the good ship sped;
But the crafty sea by his wicked might
Kept the vessel ever ahead.

Till the wind grew fierce in his despair,
And white on the brow and lip.
He tore his garments and tore his hair,
And fell on the flying ship.

And the ship went down, for a rock was there,
And the sailless sea loomed black;
While burdened again with dole and care,
The wind came moaning back.

And still he moans from his bosom hot
Where his raging grief lies pent,
And ever when the ships come not,
The sea says: "I repent."

-- Paul Dunbar


Here's a link to the minstrels site and the poem and any discussion there..

http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/1275.html

Re: :-)

[aelianora.livejournal.com]

Hmm, just realized I never said what the minstrels are. Well it's a couple of people who love poetry and decided to send out poems now and again, with some discussion possible.

I wandered onto the site by chance, and read a few. Never really liked poetry at all, beyond the few hackneyed poems you learn in school or whatever. The discussion was cool, but what was even cooler is they used a mailing list and emailed out the poems. So now I get a poem every week or so, and through reading them, I've learned to like poetry!