ext_1620665: knight on horseback (Default)
[identity profile] scfrankles.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] sherlock60
Welcome to Round 5, and welcome once again to my poetry page!

I hope each week you will read Dr. Watson’s delightful narrative and then be inspired to write a poem related to it in some way. All forms of poetry are permitted, and further down the page there is a selection you might like to consider using over the coming weeks.

Some exciting news for this round—I have a new contributor to assist me with the poetry page. She is [livejournal.com profile] rachelindeed: a young lady originally from America, I believe and now in my employ at Baker Street as a housemaid. She will be suggesting appropriate poems each week for us to read together.

Rachel charmingly describes herself as someone who assists me with “managing the kitchen, who restocks the restorative liquors, and is most often found squirreled away by the window with a book.” (‘Restorative liquors’? I wonder what she means...) She is a hard worker and thankfully completely unimpressed whenever Mr. Holmes attempts to throw his weight around. I am reconciled to the fact she will not be with me forever—there is a bright future ahead for her.

Anyway, here are the suggested poems from Rachel—suggestions inspired by the themes and subjects in this week's story. Hopefully you will enjoy reading the poems, and perhaps they may inspire a poem of your own or allow you to look at Dr. Watson's story in a new way.


That Day

by Rudyard Kipling

Note from Rachel: Kipling wrote this poem about Maiwand. I think it expresses an ugly sentiment, characterizing the survivors as cowards who have only their own bad character to blame for their defeat. I assume his characterization was influenced by an inability to believe that Afghani fighters could legitimately best British soldiers. In any case, it might prompt discussion about the way Dr. Watson might have experienced the war, or the way that he might have been regarded by those at home as one of the few survivors of a terrible defeat.


Malalai’s landai, in translation

Note from Rachel: Malalai became a heroine in Afghanistan’s history when she acted as a flag-bearer during the battle of Maiwand and urged the local soldiers on by reciting Pashto poetry. She has a stature in Afghani culture similar to Joan of Arc, and her image adorns medals for bravery in today’s military. Above is a link to a brief biography of Malalai that includes English translations of poems she is said to have recited on the battlefield.


Insensibility

by Wilfred Owen

Note from Rachel: This is a moving poem about living through heavy losses and casualties in war, how that affects the soldiers who survive it, and how easy it is for those at home to remain indifferent.



And to finish, my suggested form to revisit this week is the cinquain. (The link will take you back to a previous poetry page.)



But you do not have to use that form. Any form of poetry is welcome this week—and every week! Here are a few suggestions for you:

221B verselet, abecedarian poetry, acrostic poetry, alexandrine, ballad, beeswing, blackout poetry, blues stanza, bref double, Burns stanza, call and response, chastushka, cinquain, circular poetry, clerihew, colour poems, concrete poetry, Cornish verse, curtal sonnet, diamante, doggerel, double dactyl, ekphrasis, elegiac couplet, elegiac stanza, elfje, englyn, epigram, epitaph, epulaeryu, Etheree, fable, Fib, found poetry, ghazal, haiku, Italian sonnet, jueju, kennings poem, lanturne, limerick, lyric poetry, mathnawī, micropoetry, mini-monoverse, palindrome poetry, pantoum, Parallelismus Membrorum, poem cycle, quintilla, renga, riddle, rime couée, Schüttelreim, sedoka, septet, sestina, sonnet, tanka, tercet, terza rima, tongue twister poetry, triangular triplet, triolet, Tyburn, villanelle


Please leave all your poems inspired by A Study in Scarlet in the comments on this post. I look forward to seeing them!



Warm regards,

Mrs. Hudson
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Limerick

Date: 2016-04-03 08:23 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gardnerhill.livejournal.com
Wounded and sick, full of misery,
Poor Watson says, “Who’ll share his digs with me?”
“…You’re the second today!”
And with those words to say,
Young Stamford makes matchmaking history.

Re: Limerick

Date: 2016-04-03 08:59 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com
And the world became a better place!

Cinquain

Date: 2016-04-03 09:01 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com





Escape

Is his first thought

Then battle his way out

But four is too many to fight

Taken

Re: Limerick

Date: 2016-04-03 10:41 am (UTC)
ext_1789368: okapi (Default)
From: [identity profile] okapi1895.livejournal.com
Yea, Stamford!

Re: Cinquain

Date: 2016-04-03 10:43 am (UTC)
ext_1789368: okapi (Default)
From: [identity profile] okapi1895.livejournal.com
Very nice. The first and last lines are strong.

Three cinquain

Date: 2016-04-03 10:44 am (UTC)
ext_1789368: okapi (Default)
From: [identity profile] okapi1895.livejournal.com
Loyal
Obedient
Comes when called. Stays when bid.
Watson and his bull pup. Both man’s
Best friend.


Follow
Like a sleuth-hound
Spring up like a stag-hound.
‘Tra-la-lah’ in a cab like a
Lark-hound!


Untie
the scarlet thread
Loop it ‘round a finger
A reminder to say ‘Thank you,
Stamford.’

Re: A cinquain

Date: 2016-04-03 11:14 am (UTC)
ext_1789368: okapi (Default)
From: [identity profile] okapi1895.livejournal.com
Very subtle and touching. I think the stones are the gravestones of the mates he lost, no? I agree with your head canon that Watson probably wouldn't go in for a lot of grand-standing or showiness.

Re: Cinquain

Date: 2016-04-03 11:15 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com
Thank you. I find the form good to work with.

Re: Cinquain

Date: 2016-04-03 11:18 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com
Thank you - I think it's a form which encourages those ideas. As ever, finding suitable words with the right number of syllables is challenging, so I'm delighted you liked the way they worked.

Re: Three cinquain

Date: 2016-04-03 11:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com
Great descriptions!

Re: A cinquain

Date: 2016-04-03 11:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com
Watson doesn't need a visual reminder of what was lost - he carries it with him, both physically and mentally.

Re: Three cinquain

Date: 2016-04-03 11:31 am (UTC)
ext_1789368: okapi (Okapi)
From: [identity profile] okapi1895.livejournal.com
Thank you!

RE: Re: Three cinquain

Date: 2016-04-03 11:32 am (UTC)
ext_1789368: okapi (Okapi)
From: [identity profile] okapi1895.livejournal.com
Thank you! This is a fun form.

RE: Limerick

Date: 2016-04-03 12:32 pm (UTC)
debriswoman: (cat and mouse)
From: [personal profile] debriswoman
Wonderful:-)

RE: Cinquain

Date: 2016-04-03 12:33 pm (UTC)
debriswoman: (cat and mouse)
From: [personal profile] debriswoman
Suits the form really well, strong message.

RE: Three cinquain

Date: 2016-04-03 12:35 pm (UTC)
debriswoman: (cat and mouse)
From: [personal profile] debriswoman
Really liked these...a neat comparison in the first, a lovely lilt to the second, and great use of the title in the third:-)

RE: A cinquain

Date: 2016-04-03 12:36 pm (UTC)
debriswoman: (cat and mouse)
From: [personal profile] debriswoman
Very nice, not forgotten, no reminder needed.

Re: Cinquain

Date: 2016-04-03 12:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com
Thank you - the form lent itself to the message.

Re: A cinquain: well spent

Date: 2016-04-03 01:00 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com
Indeed we do! Very well put :D
Page 1 of 3 << [1] [2] [3] >>

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Sherlock Holmes: 60 for 60

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