sherlock60 | Mrs. Hudson's Poetry Page: His Last Bow (Reply)

Welcome once again to my poetry page!

So here we are reading the last of Dr. Watson’s stories (if indeed he did pen this one—he remains somewhat enigmatic on the subject). I hope as always you will read the story 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.

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 the story in a new way.

A Man

By Louis Untermeyer

Note from Rachel: The one fixed point in a changing age.

Last Post

By Carol Ann Duffy

Note from Rachel: The East Wind came.

Thank you so much to Rachel. For these poems and for all your suggestions over the months. Your hard work and artistic sensibilities have been so greatly appreciated by us all. And I know Mr. Holmes has appreciated your occasional assistance with his cases. Your ironing has come on a treat as well, I must say.

Here is also a new poetry form to try: the puente.

Shadow Poetry gives this definition:

The Puente, a poem created by James Rasmusson, and is somewhat similar to the Diamante. Like the Diamante, you start with one aspect of a topic or issue and then, line by line, work toward another aspect. In the center is a line that bridges the two aspects together...

The form has three stanzas with the first and third having an equal number of lines and the middle stanza having only one line which acts as a bridge (puente) between the first and third stanza. The first and third stanzas convey a related but different element or feeling, as though they were two adjacent territories. The number of lines in the first and third stanza is the writer’s choice as is the choice of whether to write it in free verse or rhyme.

The center line is delineated by a tilde (~) and has ‘double duty’. It functions as the ending for the last line of the first stanza AND as the beginning for the first line of the third stanza. It shares ownership with these two lines and consequently bridges the first and third stanzas.

Here is my example, dedicated to Mr. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson:

Standing on the terrace
The east wind is coming
For two friends this might be

~Their last quiet talk~

Before they wait in the dark
For the criminal to arrive
A new case after the war

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

221B verselet, abecedarian poetry, acrostic poetry, alexandrine, ballad, barzelletta, beeswing, blackout poetry, blitz poem, blues stanza, bref double, Burns stanza, call and response, chastushka, cherita, cinquain, circular poetry, clerihew, clogyrnach, colour poems, compound word verse, concrete poetry, Cornish verse, curtal sonnet, débat, décima, descort, diamante, doggerel, double dactyl, echo verse, ekphrasis, elegiac couplet, elegiac stanza, elfje, englyn, enuig, epigram, epistle, epitaph, epulaeryu, Etheree, fable, Fib, florette, found poetry, free verse, ghazal, haiku, hay(na)ku, In Memoriam stanza, Italian sonnet, jueju, kennings poem, lanturne, lies, limerick, line messaging, list poem, lyric poetry, mathnawī, micropoetry, mini-monoverse, musette, nonsense verse, palindrome poetry, pantoum, Parallelismus Membrorum, poem cycle, puente, quatern, quintilla, renga, rhyming alliterisen, riddle, rimas dissolutas, rime couée, rispetto, Schüttelreim, sedoka, septet, sestina, shadorma, sonnet, stream of consciousness, tanka, tercet, terza rima, tongue twister poetry, triangular triplet, tricube, trine, triolet, Tyburn, villanelle, xenolith

Please leave all your poems inspired by His Last Bow in the comments on this post. I look forward to seeing them!

And I will see you all here again next week for a special festive edition, and after that I will be moving over to