sherlock60 | Mrs. Hudson's Poetry Page: The Musgrave Ritual

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.

All that is gold does not glitter

by J.R.R. Tolkien

Note from Rachel: This one is for the treasure hunt itself, of course. Although unfortunately I think the metaphorical blade that is reforged there at the end is Rachel Howell’s hatred.

Helas

by Oscar Wilde

Note from Rachel: My thinking on this poem is that it has something to say about Brunton, a man of tremendous intelligence whose potential was never allowed to fully develop, in part because of his unjust and underprivileged social position, but also in part because his fickle approach to his lover proved disastrous. The poet compares himself to a scroll which contains a secret but which has been so carelessly and confusingly overwritten that its original meaning and worth is lost – an analogy which ties Brunton and the Musgrave Ritual together.

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

Warm regards,

Mrs. Hudson