Mrs. Hudson's Poetry Page: The Yellow Face

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

Welcome once again to my poetry page!

I hope each week you will read Dr. Watson’s delightful narrative and then go on 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.

And here, courtesy of my housemaid Rachel, are this week’s suggested poems to read—suggestions inspired by the themes and subjects in this week's story. Hopefully you will enjoy the poems, and perhaps they may give you some ideas for a poem of your own or allow you to look at Dr. Watson's story in a new way.


Fragment

by Angelina Weld Grimke


Let No Charitable Hope

by Elinor Wylie


Note from Rachel: This first poem fragment was written by a woman of mixed race, the daughter of a white American abolitionist and an African American father. The poem reflects her pain and struggle. The second poem adopts similar themes, but has a quietly victorious conclusion – I’d like to imagine that the lovely young girl in Dr. Watson’s story will still be able to find happiness as she grows older despite the terrible injustices she will undoubtedly face.




Thank you so much to Rachel. And here is my suggested form to revisit this week: the sedoka. (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 The Yellow Face in the comments on this post. I look forward to seeing them!



Warm regards,

Mrs. Hudson

Comments

Limerick

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

Strange face at the window. But whose?
Her past life? He wants her to choose.
But Norbury’s lesson,
Has got Holmes confessin’
That pride is a good face to lose.

Re: Limerick

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

I really like "lesson/confessin'" ^_^ And nice play on "face" in the last line - Holmes' acknowledgement of his mistakes in the case is terribly endearing.

Re: Limerick

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

Excellent use of 'face' at the end and tying the girl to Holmes' 'failure'

Re: Limerick

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Yes, Holmes, you failed to take into account all the evidence.

RE: Limerick

[debriswoman]

Neat use of face, and portrays Holmes rueful acknowledgement well:-)

A sedoka

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

A secret hidden.
I couldn’t bear to lose you
but dark or fair, she’s my own.

A secret revealed.
As pretty as her mother—
dark and fair, my little girl.

Re: A sedoka

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

Very nice. A good look at the girl from two perspectives.

Re: A sedoka

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

I like the comparison.

RE: A sedoka

[debriswoman]

Neat comparison

Re: A sedoka

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

Good answer, Grant.

Re: Also a sedoka

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's charming ^^

And I think the moral of the story might be to take shorter walks ^_^

Re: Also a sedoka

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

Very nice take on Holmes' attitude toward exercise.

Re: Also a sedoka

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Maybe the exercise should have been brisker.

Re: Also a sedoka

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

And you KNOW Holmes will bring this one up every time Watson tries to cozen him into a stroll after supper.

sedoka (remider that I ship Watson/the bootlacer at the Turkish bath)

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

Your bootlaces, like
your pipe and watch, Watson, show
individuality.

Indeed, the fingers
that tied, untied me, Holmes, were
remarkably singular.

Re: sedoka (remider that I ship Watson/the bootlacer at the Turkish bath)

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

I do like the tied, untied - very clever.

RE: sedoka (remider that I ship Watson/the bootlacer at the Turkish bath)

[debriswoman]

Neat word choice:-)

Re: sedoka (remider that I ship Watson/the bootlacer at the Turkish bath)

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

That is such a witty connection to make ^^

Rachel's poems

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

I like them. Nice to hear women's voices.

Re: Rachel's poems

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Powerful voices, yes. So glad you liked these :)

Sedoka

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Over-confident
The detective goes awry
And sees plots which are not there

In future Watson
Will recall one single word
For Holmes to take greater care

RE: Sedoka

[debriswoman]

Neat summing up and rhming

Re: Sedoka

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

In the BBC Radio series, they do indeed have Watson quietly murmur "Norbury" to Holmes to deflate his self-praise in one of the other stories. It works.

on the 2 vs. 10 minute edit - sedoka

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

How long does it take
for love to triumph, mercy
prevail? I say two minutes.

Inconceivable.
To welcome with open arms?
Eight more minutes, if you please.

Re: on the 2 vs. 10 minute edit - sedoka

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

What an excellent choice of subject. I like your satirical take on it ^^ And as always, your phrasing is perfect.

I do so love Munro's reaction to his stepdaughter. It's a lovely, lovely moment.