Sherlock Holmes: 60 for 60

Welcome once again to my poetry page!

I hope each week you will read Dr. Watson’s delightful narrative (though not quite so delightful this week) 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.



An Ancient Gesture

by Edna St. Vincent Millay


Note from Rachel: This poem expresses, for me, some of Mrs. Hudson’s experience (and by extension, Dr. Watson’s), in learning that the hero’s suffering was feigned while their own was all too real.




A Fixed Idea

by Amy Lowell


Note from Rachel: Mr. Holmes seems determined to catch his villains at any cost, and almost eager to cut the tie of friendship that holds him back from total immersion into combat with these devils. Of late he has been melancholy, too -- missing the days when he shared these rooms with the good doctor, I do believe. His friend's brief visits and occasional shared cases only make the solitude worse to return to once they are over. He speaks more and more of a name, one particular enemy; he calls him the Napoleon of Crime. Mrs. Hudson and I worry for him, terribly. One cannot help but wonder what strange thoughts are in his heart.



Thank you so much to Rachel. (Yes, these are anxious times at Baker Street...) And here is my suggested form to revisit this week: the epulaeryu. (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, free verse, ghazal, haiku, In Memoriam stanza, Italian sonnet, jueju, kennings poem, lanturne, limerick, lyric poetry, mathnawī, micropoetry, mini-monoverse, musette, 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 Dying Detective in the comments on this post. I look forward to seeing them!


Warm regards,

Mrs. Hudson

Canon Story: The Dying Detective
Title: A Long-Suffering Woman
Author: scfrankles
Rating: G
Author's Notes: It was with a sinking heart that I reëntered Holmes’s bedroom... A litter of pipes, tobacco-pouches, syringes, penknives, revolver-cartridges, and other debris was scattered over it. More than one kind of litter, of course…


KEEP OUT: LITTER INSIDE! read the sign.

Mrs. Hudson sighed and entered.

“Oh!”

Holmes smiled weakly. “The puppies are going to new homes shortly.”

“Good!” Mrs. Hudson paused. “Though… is that one still available?”



“How’s he settling in?” asked Mrs. Turner.

“Investigating everything! Destroying my furnishings.” Mrs. Hudson rubbed the puppy’s ears. “Oh, Sherlock. You’re a bad boy, aren’t you?”

This week we’re having a look at The Dying Detective. I’ve typed up a few thoughts and questions to get the discussion going—please leave your own ideas in the comments!

( Discussion continues... )

This Sunday, 13th December, we'll be posting our 60 word ficlets for The Dying Detective.

Mrs. Hudson visits Watson with dreadful news. Holmes has been seriously ill for three days and now lies close to death. Can a cure possibly be found in time..?

If you haven't tried 60 for 60 before, full information - including our schedule - can be found on our profile. But in essence: you read ACD's story and then you write a 60 word story inspired by it! You don't have to post a story every week - just join in whenever you feel like it.

Each Sunday we will also have our weekly discussion post, and Mrs. Hudson's Poetry Page. Any poems inspired by this week’s story can be left as a comment on her post.

You can choose one activity, or have a go at everything. Or just come along and read the 60s! (And have a chat in the comments ^^) All options are absolutely fine.

Hope to see you on Sunday ^^