Not for her, Man's silly watches, keeping
Manufactured time, turning eternal
Tracts of forever into infernal
Seconds and minutes bounded by beeping.
No, not for her, the minute hand creeping,
Alarm clocks ticking order external,
Making the rules for lives once diurnal Setting strict hours for waking and sleeping . . .
Her time is reckoned by the Great Bear's pace
Circling the lynch pin of the starry skies . . .
Hot summer's fecund growth . . . late swarming bees . . .
Slow fall of crisping leaves . . . bright ice's trace.
Her clocks are dandelions and brief May-flies
And cuckoos calling from the spring-green trees.
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34 comments:
Wonderful! And so very true.
Did enjoy this timely (!) piece...
Love the "Lane-ian" verse; most inspiring! The reference to the constellation of the Great Bear, and Nature as "she" is amazing. I get the feeling of the fleetingness of it all. The composition is mezmerizing as my eyes go "back and forth, back and forth" like a pendulum. Very timely and expertly crafted! Excellent. Bravo and bravura!
What a wonderful juxtaposition of man made and natural rhythms. So many delightful phrases like lynch pin of the starry skies....
This is so beautifully written I can almost smell and feel your words.
Thanks, folks -- I was pleased with the closing sestet but will continue to fiddle with the opening octet which isn't where I want it yet.
smiles. what a simple life to tell time by the flowers and trees and stars...i imagine it a lot more peaceful place...nice magpie!
Yes, time - country style! Nice, Vicki.
Beautiful and true..a mayfly a day..better than a watch!!
Vicki,
Humans always trying to improve her and usually end up stepping in a wad of trouble.
rel
Vicki, this has a Keatsian ring to it, I really, really like it and think you are turning into a poet. Like Daphne turning all green and leafy! Marvelous sound and imagery.
I keep hearing Ode to Autumn....those murmurings and drippings from the cider press. I can hardly wait for your September poem.
Thanks, Brian and Catalyst! Just now, with Spring and all, Man's time seems kind of petty to me. I'm lucky to lead a life that doesn't require a watch -- except once a week when I teach a class and have to make sure everyone gets their fair share of critique time!
Thanks, Lyn and Rel -- Douglas Adams had a good bit to say about evolving Man and digital watches and the fact that the whole thing may have gone badly wrong when first we crawled out of the sea.
I'm still something of a Victorian, I guess, Kay, in my approach to poetry -- I almost left off the first part of the poem because it was doing right but dag nab it, I wanted to write an Italian sonnet. Thanks for the kind words! Yes, I'm feeling a tad green and leafy these days...
Was NOT doing right, I meant to say.
creative,
I admire your patience in making the tale so vivid, live, and enjoyable!
I enjoyed this. It is beautifully written. I like those words "turning eternal Tracts of forever..." Great!
Linking time to the Divine --- how sublime, my blog friend.
Joanny
So lovely and creative. I enjoyed it.
I love that "her clocks are dandelions."
she who tells the time and date and year by the seasons and is ruled by the moon and mother nature.. yes to all of that and no to clocks.
Reading this made me want to throw out my drawer full of watches - all ten of them.
Yes, that´s just wonderful!
Wonderful sonnet. Particularly liked the -ernal rhymes and as you say the six line ending is spot on.
To be honest, there's not much needs doing with the octet.
From someone who is also rooted in a more traditional approach to poetry, I salute you!
Not claiming to be any kind of an expert, but i felt a very earthy sense in poem. It smelled of the first rain... nature and its untamed boundaries so well portrayed by you.
:)
I love this sonnet, Vicki. My friend, Edna St. Vincent Millay would be pleased!
Thanks, Jingle!
And thanks, Diana(Diane)-- I'm kind of proud of that line!
Thanks to Joanny, Vagabonde, and Enchanted Oak.
Yes, down with clocks, Joan and RNSANE!
Thank you, Evalinn!
Thanks for the kind words, Peter. Those -ernal rhymes almost did me in ...
Thanks, Chhaya!
And thanks, Willow, for inspiring this welter of creativity in the blogosphere!
Just gorgeous Vicki - (my favourite so far this week - don't tell anyone). It really speaks to me - we could all use a little lesson from mother nature on this one.
Wonderful magpie - now I see that you write mystery novels! As a forensic nurse, I love them...so I will have to check yours out. My dream has always been to write one but, at 65,, I'm not sure it's going to happen. I'm just elated that I'm about to get my first poetry book published!
Nature keeps her own time doesn't she? I hate waking to an alarm clock. I much prefer the natural way...by the light of day and bird's songs.
Thanks, Jennifer and Steviewren!
Congratulations on the poetry book, RNSANE!
I enjoyed this a lot - I may have to try my hand at a sonnet one of these Magpies...
I have one particular alarm that tends to beep at all hours (I can't seem to convince it that I've COMPLETED THE TASK ALREADY, so BE QUIET). This poem makes me wish I wasn't so bound by the strictures of time.
As a follow-on from my earlier comment, the beeping line jars a bit? (I know that sounds harsh as the rest of the poem is nigh on perfect)
Thank you, Bug! I put in my time as a teacher who had to pay attention to the clock -- it's such a delight now to wake up on my own time -- generally sunrise.
And Peter -- I appreciate that you gave my sonnet a second look! As I said, I'm not totally happy with the octet -- it's hard keeping to that ABBA ABBA rhyme scheme -- I may attempt to rework it eventually.
I was going for a bit of a jerky clockwork feel in the octet as opposed to a more flowing timeless impression in the sestet. So all the -eeping sounds seemed to fit with that purpose.
beautiful. I loved the rhythm and the energy you created --powerful.
ahh I got that we were in the constellation right at the end. Nice
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