sherlock60 | Mrs. Hudson's Poetry Page: The Copper Beeches

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Mrs. Hudson's Poetry Page: The Copper Beeches

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, is this week’s suggested poem to read—a suggestion inspired by the themes and subjects in this week's story. Hopefully you will enjoy the poem, and perhaps it 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.

Escape

by Fombona Rufino Blanco

[Translated from the original Spanish]

Note from Rachel: The long-suffering Miss Alice must often have dreamed of escape.

Thank you so much to Rachel. And here is my suggested form to revisit this week: doggerel. (The link takes 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, florette, found poetry, ghazal, haiku, In Memoriam stanza, 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 Copper Beeches in the comments on this post. I look forward to seeing them!

Warm regards,

Mrs. Hudson

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Mr. Joseph Rucastle
In another time would be called a***hole
He bullied his daughter for cash; she resisted
But the dress and short hair didn’t work; beau persisted

Unusual rhyming, but entirely apt for the subject:-)

So many of the stories hinge on women's financial precariousness.

Yeah, not a nice guy. And I guess the rhyme is apt.

I did have to spare Mrs. Hudson's blushes, but for some people certain blunt words are extremely apt.

Good last line too!

Miss Alice picked her young man well.

It always takes me aback that this isn't her stepfather - it's her actual father behaving in this way. A pretty awful man.

Ugh, yeah. Exactly how many of the ACD stories feature some terrible man trying to take advantage of Victorian women's financial precariousness?

Miss Hunter cuts her hair
The deed is wrought
She hopes for plenty
By going short

Neatly done:-)

Thank you ^^

Very clever pun!

Thank you very much ^^

Had she known what deeds would follow
She might have given it a second thought

True ^_^

What a fine pup! That last line! And I love your using wrought, too.

Thank you so much ^__^

Nice use of the pun there.

Thank you ^^

A snow-white muzzled terrier
Whose aide with pills did bury her.
An Airedale true who met his end
By falling into lion’s den.
An evil test of infant’s fate
el pobre Carlo’s stiffened gait.
A long-haired, lop-eared mongrel queer
Whose nose detective’s course did steer.
The swift Pompey who also led
the way in wake of brougham’s tread.
Twas scents that drove poor Roy half-wild,
of man and ape, unreconciled.
A Shoscombe breed was cast away
when mistress’s role was man’s to play.
A stable-guard when mute abet
a scoundrel’s scheme to pay his debt.
The massive mastiff starved, unleashed
his rage upon two-legged beast.
Of all, the canine most renowned
is Dartmoor’s phantom glowing hound.

The morals of these yarns may be
to man’s best friend collectively:
beware of outstretched hands that feed,
of trails where scents and gents may lead;
to bark or not, your choice to make,
though always clue, ‘tis ne’er mistake;
And whene’er Watson draws his gun,
there’s nothing left to do but run!

So often the dog has an unwilling part to play. And definitely safest to run!

Yes. Test subject or clue or villain's accomplice or scent-tracker.

Oh, your poem is so clever and elegant - and that last couplet makes me smile so much ^__^

Thank you very much! I found a list of the dogs on the internet so that helped.

Nicely done:-)

Thank you! I do hope your block passes and you come back and show us how it's done.

Kind of you:-)
I am sure things will settle and you do seem to be managing perfectly well without me till things do:-p
You write an elegant line:-)

You are still missed though.

Oh, I shall lurk and lurk, then suddenly come up with some utterly unexpected and stunning rhyme for the word " hound" and all will be well:-p

I'm glad to hear it :)

This is indeed excellent! Every line deserves quoting.

Oh wow! Thank you!

Holmes and Watson would have been up on half a dozen animal-cruelty charges for what happens to dogs in Canon.

Very nice. I like the image of the wings unfolding broken and the line about the magnolia and vervain.

Yes, the poem does fit Alice's longings well.

I think that suggestion of an unbroken spirit fits very well too.

The lady of the Copper Beeches,
A Mrs Rucastle, beseeches
The governess to wear a blue dress
And so Miss Violet Hunter
Who doesn’t wish to affront her
Finds herself in rather a mess

Quite the mess!

Not what she'd hoped for!

Some rather nice rhymes in there, madam ^__^

Thank you very much!

Lots of money! Just one little, tiny catch...

Such a minor thing ...

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Mrs. Hudson's Poetry Page: The Copper Beeches

Clerihew

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A piece of doggerel

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doggerall

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Rachel's poem

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Doggerel

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