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.


Snake

by Emily Dickinson


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



Warm regards,

Mrs. Hudson

This Sunday, 8th May, we'll be posting our 60 word ficlets for The Speckled Band.

Yes, this is the one in which everyone gets knocked up. And now that I have your attention...

A young woman in a state of acute distress comes to consult Holmes. Did Miss Stoner's sister indeed die from fear? And is Miss Stoner about to share the same awful state? Holmes and Watson travel to Stoke Moran to investigate.

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 double dactyl. And as always, her 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 Speckled Band
Title: The Game is Afoot (Fun for Ages 8 - 80)
Author: scfrankles
Rating: G
Author's Notes: SPEC was not Holmes’ first case involving a serpent…


The die is cast: the villain goes up a ladder.

Holmes follows but finds a snake at the top and slides back to where he started from.

It’s Watson’s turn. He advances, ascends the second ladder and catches up with the murderous zookeeper.

“Holmes afraid of snakes, is he?” sneers the fugitive.

Watson throws a punch to win the game!

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

( Discussion continues... )