Comments : Christmas Reflections (Sonnet)

  • 8 years ago

    by PETER EDWARDS

    Nice work Michael, and with a very noble sentiment in the words.
    I pray that greed and selfishness will be banished from the human race one day soon.
    That can't come soon enough..

  • 8 years ago

    by Meena Krish

    Ev'ry single person in the world desires,
    a gift from Santa Claus's bulging sack;
    but how to satisfy a world of liars,
    when greed is written down in white and black.

    This is a nice opening for you make the reader agree with your statement and then you lay out the facts of life. The last two lines I like very much. Its simply written yet at the same time truthful.

    There is another way to do Christmas,
    to celebrate this day with all mankind:
    Just walk up to the nearest looking glass,
    and see your inner self is not that kind.

    ^^This says things in a nice manner without pointing finger or making any reader or anyone feel bad. The mirror reflects what the others can't see!

    This is a lovely Christmas Sonnet, perfectly written with perfect rhymes and the flow was smooth. Sonnets are a challenge at times ie to have all the right words, sensible rhymes and at the same time send a message across to the readers. This one did just that, well penned.

  • 8 years ago

    by Ben Pickard

    Michael,

    The syllable count is all wrong, the rhyme scheme is atrocious......

    No. I joke. I know you would never post a sonnet with anything but perfect accuracy, which (as far as I know) this one comes under!
    I loved reading this as - if not for you I wouldn't have written the few I have recently. I know how much hard work and knowledge goes into writing one - just to get the form right (despite the content) is praise-worthy, but when you get both, they're truly wonderful.
    This gets both spot on. The message is wonderful, as is the technical side of it.
    I will nominate this later, and it should win next week, simply because of the seeming ease at which you have written such a difficult form.
    All the very best,
    Ben

  • 8 years ago

    by Everlasting

    The only problem I think the sonnet has, it's with the meter in the first and second line.

    suggestion:

    each individual in the world desires

    or

    each single person in the world desires

    as far as the second one line, I don't know what to suggest.

    I enjoyed the read.

    • 8 years ago

      by Mr. Darcy

      Thank you for your suggestions. Writing these strict forms are always challenging. I dare say, I could continue tweaking it until the cows come home and still be unhappy with it! The joys of creative writing eh?Lol

  • 8 years ago

    by Ben Pickard

    I see the first line with the word "ev'ry" as the stress is on the first syllable there whereas it should be the other way, I think.
    As far as the second line goes, the metre (to me ) reads perfectly.

  • 8 years ago

    by Everlasting

    Lol, Michael? Can I call you Michael or Mr. Darcy?

    Yeah, you may tweak it or not. The sonnet it is fine as it is. Not every line has to have 10 syllables per se. It's better if they have the 10 syllables but it can get away with out some lines having them. The same with the meter. However, when it comes to meter, there are more people specially those who know how it works that are too picky about it.

    However, in this site, you won't stumble upon them. ( may be just me who might point it out in view of learning more about it). But the sonnet is fine as it is. I always forget to say that.XD

    Anyhow,

    Ben,

    Hmm Yeah, in "ev'ry" the stress goes on the first syllable. Question:

    When there is an " ' apostrophe?" Are we meant to omit that syllable? (someone told me a while back that the ' in a word it was used to omit a syllable, I remain with that thought) so if we not meant to omit the syllable, then

    on the word "single", the stress goes on the first syllable, then on "person", the stress goes on the first syllable, so the first line reads as trochee, the opposite of iambic. On the second line, the meter is right but then on the word "claus's bulging sack" > there's a tiny hiccup on "bulging" ( as bulging the stress goes on the first syllable). However, i think you are right. I am probably still thinking about omitting syllables when I see the aprostrophe. It's this how you would read it "A gift from Santa Claus'(es) bulging sack"?

    Edit: (The above I typed it on my phone and I was under the idea that "every" has three syllables, but this is how I read the first line. The stress I put on words, I typed it with capital letters. )

    EVEry SINgle PERson IN the WORLD deSIRES
    a GIFT from SANta CLAUS's BULGing SACK

    On the second line, I'm probably mispronouncing it. So I think Ben is right. The second line reads as iambic.

  • 8 years ago

    by Ben Pickard

    This gets complicated! lol I think when words end in s we normally put the possessive apostrophe after, ie, Santa Claus' bulging sack. But it can still read as two syllables.
    For example: James' shoes. You would read that as two syllables normally. you wouldn't read it as "James".
    Normally, an apostrophe after the 's' means for plural possession - eg, the dogs' dinner would mean more than one. The dog's dinner would mean one dog. But if a word specifically ends in s, we tag the apostrophe after it.
    And the apostrophe in ev'ry is used to omit the middle syllable, yes.

    ps. Michael - I think I read 11 syllables on line 1, even without the middle syllable in "every"