Sherlock Holmes: 60 for 60

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.



Hatred and Vengeance, My Eternal Portion

by William Cowper


Note from Rachel: Mr. Blessington lived in fear that the men he had betrayed would track him down. This poem is about the suffering that a guilty man feels awaiting punishment. It makes a reference to "Abiram," which I had to look up to understand: Biblically, he was a conspirator against Moses. In the end, "He and all the conspirators, with their families and possessions, were swallowed up by the ground."


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



Warm regards,

Mrs. Hudson

This Sunday, 10th July, we'll be posting our 60 word ficlets for The Resident Patient.

Dr. Percy Trevelyan comes to consult Holmes and Watson - his sponsor and resident patient is 'half out of his mind with fear' over something apparently trivial. But is Mr. Blessington right to be so afraid of uninvited guests entering his room..?

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, where we discuss a topic inspired by the canon story. And there’s Mrs. Hudson's Poetry Page too - any poems written about this week’s story can be left as a comment on her post. Mrs. Hudson informs me that the poetry form being revisited this week is the bref double. And newly back from her secondment to Holmes and Watson, Mrs. Hudson's housemaid Rachel will be suggesting a poem for us to read, to give us added inspiration.

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. But don’t worry if you can’t join us then - we stay open for posting and commenting all week!

Canon Story: The Resident Patient
Title: Sea Monsters
Author: scfrankles
Rating: G
Author's Notes: ...that other later one connected with the loss of the ‘Gloria Scott’, may serve as examples of this Scylla and Charybdis… ...they were among the passengers of the ill-fated steamer ‘Norah Creina’, which was lost some years ago with all hands…



“Great news!” called Charybdis. “The Fates have cast us in another Holmes case!”

“Oh,” said Scylla.

Charybdis frowned. “Thought you’d be pleased.”

“Well...” said Scylla. “Isn’t it getting a bit samey? The villains get away by ship... We exact retribution... Don’t you feel typecast?”

“Yeah. But think of all those ‘resting’ supernatural entities,” said Charybdis. “Let’s not… rock the boat.”

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

( Discussion continues... )

This Sunday, 28th June, we'll be posting our 60 word ficlets for The Resident Patient.

The brilliant but impoverished Dr. Percy Trevelyan has been taken up by a rich sponsor - a man who has also become Trevelyan's resident patient.

But recently Mr. Blessington has seemed terrified, and visitors to the house have been acting strangely. Can Holmes find out what is going on?

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 ^^


NB Regarding glitches: sherlock60 has open membership, and all prospective members should be accepted automatically. However, if anyone ever tries to join and you're not accepted immediately, please contact us by leaving a comment on this post. Then we can send you an invitation to the comm.