Goretti Publications Gopherspace - Poetry | |
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Goretti Publications Poetry | |
In an effort to publish more frequently, Goretti | |
Publications is offering poetry on a more regular basis | |
here. Published primarily in HTML (though we may eventually | |
publish a pdf and print version, when there's enough | |
material), we hope this will provide a source of good poetry | |
in a world which does not have enough. | |
Published intermittently. | |
Finite Infinity | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Merry Christmas! For this year, we are contemplating (in a | |
dozzet) the deep paradox between the infinity of the soul | |
and the finite nature of the body, and how the finite body | |
nevertheless contains an eternal soul. We then compare this | |
to the even more incredible paradox of the infinite and | |
eternal God, constrained by the flesh at Bethelehem. | |
Finite Infinity | |
Version 1.0, 23 Dec 1207 | |
The Two Trees | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
In this poem, perhaps a bit out of season, we juxtapose the | |
tree of the Cross with the tree from Judas hanged himself in | |
his despair, and present them as the two possible routes for | |
a man's life. That is, one tree which stands for freedom, | |
yet despair; and one which stands for suffering, yet life | |
and hope. | |
The Two Trees | |
Version 1.0, 15 Dec 1207 | |
Blackness of the Sun | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A contemplation on the Gospel for the Last Sunday after | |
Pentecost, in which the Lord instructs us on when the last | |
day is coming and how we should know, as well as what we | |
should do. Notably, Our Lord uses the *growth of spring*, | |
rather than the death of autumn, as His example; this poem | |
juxtaposes the life and growth of spring against the terror | |
of the last day in the same way. | |
Blackness of the Sun | |
Version 1.0, 23 Nov 1207 | |
O Zion! | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
That this poem describes current events, and draws great | |
inspiration from Psalm 136, would surprise no one even if | |
the first line of said psalm was not posted at its head. A | |
contemplation on the indefectibility of the Church, the new | |
and true Zion, and the many struggles that modern Catholics | |
have been having these recent decades with her leadership; | |
yet also that, by following the Gospels, the Church (and the | |
faithful) can never truly fail. | |
O Zion! | |
Version 1.0, 13 Oct 1207 | |
Trapped | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A meditation on the feeling of being trapped. The feeling of | |
worry, difficulty, and fear that accompanies being confined, | |
and how the confinement itself is worse than anything that | |
might happen during it. | |
Trapped | |
Version 1.0, 25 Sep 1207 | |
The Woods, My Home | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Another contemplation of the sublime beauty and homey wonder | |
of the wildwood. Some enjambment, ample alliteration, and | |
rich imagery combine to make an emotional appeal. The whole | |
is intended to evoke a sense of wonder in the forest, a | |
place that we all too often take for granted, or even ignore | |
entirely. | |
The Woods, My Home | |
Version 1.0, 1X Sep 1207 | |
I Hide Deep in the Woods | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Some strong imagery accompanied by line-by-line alliteration | |
decorate this ode to the woods, of which the author has many | |
great memories, and where he feels truly at home. | |
I Hide Deep in the Woods | |
Version 1.0, 12 Sep 1207 | |
O Rex Magne | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A Latin poem or hymn composed in the same meter as the | |
legendary Dies Irae, this piece contemplates the reign of | |
Christ the King, His main titles for rule, and expresses our | |
profound love and praise for Him. | |
O Rex Magne | |
Version 1.0, 06 Jun 1207 | |
Deeper Joy | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A love poem the author composed for his wife for St. | |
Valentine's day, this work meditates on the struggles and | |
trials of a long marriage, and how with the help of the good | |
God those struggles yield a stronger marriage and a deeper | |
joy. | |
Deeper Joy | |
Version 1.0, 17 Apr 1207 | |
The Long Defeat | |
Donald P. Goodman | |
J.R.R. Tolkien once said “I am a Christian, and indeed a | |
Roman Catholic, so that I do not expect ‘history’ to | |
be anything but a ‘long defeat’—though it contains | |
(and in a legend may contain may clearly and movingly) | |
some samples of glimpses of final victory.” This poem | |
meditates a bit on the “long defeat”: why we must | |
suffer it, and our only option for getting through it. | |
The Long Defeat | |
Version 1.0, 17 Mar 1207 | |
Winter's Rain | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Reflecting on how, in spring, a rainstorm is a pleasant and | |
joyful thing; but that a rainstorm in winter is a miserable, | |
cold, even painful event. It contemplates the violence in | |
even the most serene scenes in nature, and how beauty lies | |
even in these painful things. | |
Winter's Rain | |
Version 1.0, 09 Dec 1206 | |
Let All Men Wear the Purple | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
This dozzet, notable for its breathless enjambment making | |
the first eight lines essentially one, meditates on the | |
“long night” of Advent, and the benefits of “embracing the | |
purple”: that is, doing penance, as one of the few really | |
good things we can do in this world as we await the next. | |
Let All Men Wear the Purple | |
Version 1.0, 01 Dec 1206 | |
The Annunciation | |
Justin G. Smith | |
We are thrilled to publish our first poem by author Justin | |
G. Smith, a sonnet meditating on the mystery of the | |
Annuncation. | |
The Annunciation | |
Version 1.0, 19 Nov 1206 | |
The Angel and the Ass | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Begun (though not finished) on the feast of St. Francis, | |
this poem is a contemplation on the great saint's view of | |
life and the world. It describes his extreme and beautiful | |
poverty, and eventually draws in his constant comparison of | |
his own body to his “brother the ass”, and noting that by | |
treating his brother the ass like an ass and his own soul | |
like an angel, he became far greater than both. | |
The Angel and the Ass | |
Version 1.0, 18 Oct 1206 | |
Virtue Won, Then Lost | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Another sonnet written in the strict Petrarchan form, we | |
contemplate how difficult is to get virtue; but also how | |
difficult it might be to keep it. And, once it is lost, how | |
difficult it is to regain. | |
Virtue Won, Then Lost | |
Version 1.0, 05 Oct 1206 | |
The Land of Our Bones | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Our first in a while, this poem with its interesting rhyme | |
and metrical scheme looks at the concept of ancestral land, | |
and how deeply connected we can be to it. It does so through | |
the land of my own ancesters, still in my family, where my | |
grandfather was buried. | |
The Land of Our Bones | |
Version 1.0, 13 June 1206 | |
The Mother Flame | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A sonnet, the first in a long time, along the strict | |
Petrarchan rhyme scheme (ABBAABBACDCDCD). This familiar | |
sonnet form with somewhat unusual rhyme scheme is | |
refreshing, and resists attempts to close the poem on a | |
cheap, short point. This poem borrows imagery concerning the | |
spread of *ideas* like that of flames, that we can pass our | |
ideas to others and yet lose nothing of them ourselves. | |
The Mother Flame | |
Version 1.0, 1X Apr 1206 | |
To Walk | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
We talk about two of the great migrations in nature, and how | |
impressive and truly marvelous it is that, by such small | |
things as single steps, we can do such great things. | |
To Walk | |
Version 1.0, 09 Apr 1206 | |
On His Brother | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
If you knew my brother, you may want to skip this one. It | |
very frankly and honestly deals with my worries, my | |
feelings, and my thoughts about my brother and his death, | |
and is extremely explicit. He died many months ago, and only | |
now have I been able to put something of this into verse. I | |
can never put it well; but perhaps this puts it adequately. | |
On His Brother | |
Version 1.0, 02 Feb 1206 | |
Arise! and face the demons | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Many of us face demons, literal and figurative, which | |
torment us. This poem reminds us of the power of those | |
demons, but also of their lack of power, due to the One Who | |
can help us. | |
Arise! and face the demons | |
Version 1.0, 22 Jan 1206 | |
Become the Ash | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A contemplation for Ash Wednesday. While we all know the | |
symbolism of the ashes and the destruction of flesh, this | |
poem ties it into the symbolism of the refiner's fire, and | |
how we must purify our souls by burning out that which is | |
corrupt. | |
Become the Ash | |
Version 1.0, 15 Feb 1205 | |
Sheltering Limbs | |
Donald P. Goodman | |
A brief rumination on the worlds that can shelter beneath a | |
grand old tree, and the inadequacy of the sapling to match | |
it. | |
Sheltering Limbs | |
Version 1.0, 13 Jul 1204 | |
Adamantine Vessels | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Our souls cannot be filled with material things; but they | |
can be filled by immaterial ones. Comparing them to glass, | |
which cannot be filled with stuff but can be filled by | |
light, this poem explores that theme. | |
Adamantine Vessels | |
Version 1.0, 20 Jun 1204 | |
I Tie the Cord | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
An exploration of the symbolism of the saints' cords and | |
what they might mean. | |
I Tie the Cord | |
Version 1.0, 10 Feb 1204 | |
The Emptiness That Fills | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Comparing and contrasting the ever-full flow of the river to | |
the lake to the sea, with the emptiness which fills; that | |
is, the fact that we can really only fill ourselves by | |
emptying ourselves out first. | |
The Emptiness That Fills | |
Version 1.0, 13 Jan 1204 | |
Christmas, 1203 | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Another poem of paradoxes, this one offers some reflections | |
on the most massive and difficult paradox: the Creator | |
become a creature. | |
Christmas, 1203 | |
Version 1.0, 21 Dec 1203 | |
The Thirst Which Drowns | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A poem of paradoxes, comparing thirst and hunger to filling, | |
and the need to empty ourselves before we can be filled. | |
The Thirst Which Drowns | |
Version 1.0, 16 Dec 1203 | |
Elixir of Life | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
In anapestic heptameter for the first time in a long time, | |
this poem explores the wonderful properties of the world's | |
most common substance, and remarks on how powerful and yet | |
how perfectly taken for granted it truly is. | |
Elixir of Life | |
Version 1.0, 0E Dec 1203 | |
Advent 1203 | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
An alliterative look at Advent and the physical signs of the | |
season. | |
Advent 1203 | |
Version 1.0, 04 Dec 1203 | |
The Two Cities | |
Donald P. Goodman | |
A long alliterative poem, published in parts, and heavily | |
symbolic and allegorical. It explores two great cities and | |
their relationship to one another, and how one can (or | |
cannot) pass between them. | |
The Two Cities | |
Version 8.0, 18 Nov 1203 | |
The Dandelion, Revisited Again | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Yet another study of the dandelion from a poetical | |
perspective. For our previous studies, see The Dandelion | |
and The Dandelion, Revisited. It is spring, after all; and | |
the Easter imagery naturally arises from the ruminations, as | |
well. | |
The Dandelion, Revisited Again | |
Version 1.0, 01 May 1203 | |
Good Friday, 1203 | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
The title says it, really; a few brief thoughts on Good | |
Friday, linking it to the day of the Fall. Worth lining up | |
alongside The Worst of Days. | |
Good Friday, 1203 | |
Version 1.0, 15 Apr 1203 | |
The Savage Beast | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A new take on the familiar (familiar, at least, to classical | |
philosophy students) analogy of the wild horse, with an | |
added notion of Brother Ass and how he should be treated. | |
The Savage Beast | |
Version 1.0, 0X Apr 1203 | |
The Sign of Life | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A very short but evocative look at the color red and its | |
role in the springtime. | |
The Sign of Life | |
Version 1.0, 03 Apr 1203 | |
The Bird Sings for Me | |
Donald P. Goodman | |
An unusual meter for me, this poem explores the idea that | |
Providence has designed any given moment specifically for | |
each one of us. | |
The Bird Sings for Me | |
Version 1.0, 23 Mar 1203 | |
Uncaring Sky | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A long poem which contemplates both the ancient pagan and | |
modern pagan notions of the universe, and how unsatisfying | |
they must be; and finally, propose the Christian vision as | |
the answer. | |
Uncaring Sky | |
Version 5.0, 18 Mar 1203 | |
Against the Flow | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Noting that many things are very easy, but that there is no | |
praise in them; and that the true glory of being a free | |
creature is the ability to do what is good even though it is | |
hard. | |
Against the Flow | |
Version 1.0, 11 Feb 1203 | |
More Beauty Sought | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A short poem, really more of a versification, with a brief | |
message about the greatest of our temptations. | |
More Beauty Sought | |
Version 1.0, 06 Feb 1203 | |
The Snow | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
We so often hear of a “blanket of snow.” This poem explores | |
the concept a bit, particularly its contradictions. | |
The Snow | |
Version 1.0, 26 Jan 1203 | |
The Stone and the Raindrop | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
We see how certain things in nature, though tiny and visibly | |
insignificant, have huge effects well beyond their immediate | |
impact, and contemplate what that means for our own deeds. | |
The Stone and the Raindrop | |
Version 1.0, 1E Jan 1203 | |
Rejoice, For Thou Shalt Die | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
An attempt to juxtapose some ideas which are generally | |
considered antithetical—joy and death—and unite them in | |
a single rumination. | |
Rejoice, For Thou Shalt Die | |
Version 1.1, 14 Jan 1203 | |
A Fickle Feeling | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A dozzet on what is solid and what is changeable, and the | |
relative values of each. | |
A Fickle Feeling | |
Version 1.0, 09 Jan 1203 | |
The Tower Above the Cloud | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
An interesting format (two lines of two anapests followed by | |
one of four), this poem for Christmas of 1202 contemplates | |
the salvific light brought by the Savior, piercing through | |
every cloud and mist. | |
The Tower Above the Cloud | |
Version 1.0, 21 Dec 1202 | |
The Creeping Cold of Night | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Another Advent-themed poem, exploring the retreat of nature | |
beneath the soil in the wintertime, the encroaching cold, | |
and the salvation from death offered by the sun. | |
The Creeping Cold of Night | |
Version 1.0, 17 Dec 1202 | |
The Mother and the Child | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A contemplation of the love of the mother for her child; the | |
love of the child for the mother; and the incredible depth | |
of the connection when the two are combined. | |
The Mother and the Child | |
Version 1.0, 10 Dec 1202 | |
Advent 1202 | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
An offering in the idiosyncratic anapestic heptameter, | |
contemplating the earth-shattering nature of the coming of | |
Christ. | |
Advent 1202 | |
Version 1.0, 05 Dec 1202 | |
The Vast Forever | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Yet another attempt to contemplate the incredible scope of | |
the universe in time and space, and how small we are in | |
comparison to it. | |
The Vast Forever | |
Version 1.0, 24 Nov 1202 | |
We are Goldfish | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A double dozzet, describing the hugeness of time and space, | |
and how tiny we all are in comparison. | |
We are Goldfish | |
Version 1.0, 19 Nov 1202 | |
Enthusiasm | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A very short comparison of enthusiasm and real love. | |
Enthusiasm | |
Version 1.0, 12 Nov 1202 | |
The Vast Expanse | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A poem exploring how huge the universe is, and how hopeless | |
the task of comprehending it for finite creatures. | |
The Vast Expanse | |
Version 1.0, 07 Nov 1202 | |
Seek Not for Youth | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Starting out with some strong imagery, this piece ponders | |
the modern pursuit of youth and how fruitless and | |
nonsensical it is. | |
Seek Not for Youth | |
Version 1.0, 27 Oct 1202 | |
Castles Made of Sand | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Thoughts on the fleeting nature of even our strongest | |
enthusiasms. | |
Castles Made of Sand | |
Version 1.1, 20 Oct 1202 | |
The Paradox of Life | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A series of paradoxes that apply to life in general, and | |
note the ultimate meaninglessness of death when life itself | |
is properly understood. A few tougher rhymes in this one. | |
The Paradox of Life | |
Version 1.0, 03 Oct 1202 | |
Autumn | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A rumination on autumn, life, and death. | |
Autumn | |
Version 1.0, 22 Sep 1202 | |
Pouring | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A brief rumination on the symbolic importance of fasting, | |
here in an Ember week. | |
Pouring | |
Version 1.0, 17 Sep 1202 | |
A Plague Infects the Roses | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Another poem ruminating on the | |
current ecclesiastical crisis. This one again starts | |
very dark, and the use of enjambment in the first dozzet | |
serves to make the reader feel harried and breathless; | |
but it does turn up in the second and third dozzet. | |
A Plague Infects the Roses | |
Version 1.0, 10 Sep 1202 | |
A Nightmare Neverending | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A nightmare. That is, literally a nightmare, the feelings | |
that many of us are having during these dark times. Of | |
course, God is there to resolve them; but for this poem, we | |
focus on our own inability to do so. | |
A Nightmare Neverending | |
Version 1.0, 05 Sep 1202 | |
Uncertainty | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A rumination on the fact that, though many things are | |
predictable, very few are certain; the birds and the flowers | |
prepare for winter, but they're really just guessing, and | |
sometimes they're early or late. We really know very little | |
about the world around us. | |
Uncertainty | |
Version 1.0, 25 Aug 1202 | |
The Death of Christendom | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
An alliterative poem, which at length explores the rise and | |
fall of what we knew as Christendom, and concludes with hope | |
for its resurrection. | |
The Death of Christendom | |
Version 1.0, 13 Aug 1202 | |
The Vast Ripostes | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A contemplation on the way our coasts are formed over | |
countless years, and the way that such a peaceful | |
environment is formed by such huge conflict. | |
The Vast Ripostes | |
Version 1.0, 08 Aug 1202 | |
The Lay of Lady Poverty | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Another alliterative piece, this one laments the incredible, | |
indeed indescribable, agony thatis hunger; yet then goes on | |
to ponder why and how one might embrace it. Obvious | |
allusions to St. Francis's Lady Poverty. | |
The Lay of Lady Poverty | |
Version 1.0, 01 Aug 1202 | |
Comes Now the Rain | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A paean to the life-giving refreshment of the rain, which | |
brings water to quench the thirst and cool the heat. | |
Comes Now the Rain | |
Version 1.0, 21 Jul 1202 | |
Defeat Oneself | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Along the lines of Defeat Thyself, a slightly different | |
rumination on the importance of conquering onself before | |
attempting to conquer one's enemies. | |
Defeat Oneself | |
Version 1.0, 0E Jul 1202 | |
To a Father | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A dozzet concerning the influence of a father on a man's | |
life, even if the man himself doesn't realize it. | |
To a Father | |
Version 1.0, 04 Jul 1202 | |
The Phoenix | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A new take on an old metaphor. The phoenix does, as usual, | |
represent the cycle of birth and death, here it is turned to | |
a singular purpose. | |
The Phoenix | |
Version 1.1, 23 Jun 1202 | |
A Poet on his Father | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Our first alliterative poem, this details the emotions and | |
thoughts of the poet on the death of his father, and | |
beseeches the prayers of the reader for him. | |
A Poet on his Father | |
Version 1.0, 18 Jun 1202 | |
The Goldfish | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
We consider the goldfish, famous for his short attention | |
span and tiny perspective, and imagine him as having man's | |
assurance of the completeness of his knowledge. We note | |
that this assurance is foolish, and consider how foolish | |
man's must be, as well, given the shortness of our time on | |
earth and how little of the universe we can know. | |
The Goldfish | |
Version 1.0, 11 Jun 1202 | |
Come, See the Smoke | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A loving examination of the beautiful symbolism of incense | |
and the thurible at Mass, trying to encompass the sight, | |
sound, and smell of it. | |
Come, See the Smoke | |
Version 1.0, 06 June 1202 | |
The Silver Light | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Presenting the figure of a lady in the night, and then the | |
moon in the sky, we compare and eventually identify these | |
two, and note how the cool, silvery light of the moon is | |
ultimately just the warm, golden light of the sun reflected | |
onto earth. The comparison to the Blessed Virgin Mary is | |
immediately evident; and we note that moonlight can be just | |
as good as sunlight for those who are blind, if that's what | |
they're able to see. | |
The Silver Light | |
Version 1.0, 26 May 1202 | |
The Dove of Fire | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Amidst the rejoicing of Pentecost, this poem was written. | |
It's not subtle, but it does aptly express the joy of the | |
Christian at the coming of the Holy Spirit. Combining the | |
two primary symbols of the Holy Spirit (the dove and the | |
flame), we contemplate how the Holy Ghost comes in after the | |
Ascension. It echoes some of the symbolism from our earlier | |
oem for Easter, Alleluia! | |
that's fair theologically and historically, given that the | |
works of the Three Persons are the works of each and every, | |
and that Christ Himself was incarnate of the Holy Spirit. | |
The Dove of Fire | |
Version 1.0, 1E May 1202 | |
The Lady Cardinal | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
In continued keeping with our recent nature theme, we turn | |
now to the female cardinal. Less showy (some would say less | |
gaudy) than her mate, the female cardinal has a unique | |
beauty all her own. We contemplate that beauty and how it | |
speaks to us. | |
The Lady Cardinal | |
Version 1.0, 14 May 1202 | |
The Cardinal | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
In keeping with our nature theme for the last two weeks, we | |
present another poem concerning the lovely sights of spring. | |
The cardinal remains in the area for the winter, of course, | |
but one caught my eye on a walk recently, and in the lovely | |
spring day this poem came out of it. | |
The Cardinal | |
Version 1.0, 9 May 1202 | |
The Dandelion, Revisited | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
We have already addressed this beautiful little flower once | |
before; here, in honor of their blooming once again in this | |
beautiful spring, we honor them again. | |
The Dandelion, Revisited | |
Version 1.0, 2 May 1202 | |
All Hail the Spring! | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Inspired by my daily walks this spring, this poem poured | |
forth. Less “deep” than most of the recent work I've | |
posted, this is pure revelry in the beauties of spring, with | |
only brief reflection on how brief those beauties are, and | |
how they will return again. Also written entirely in | |
couplets, which is an unusual form for me. | |
All Hail the Spring! | |
Version 1.0, 21 April 1202 | |
My Brother | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
St. Francis famously referred to his body as his “brother | |
the ass,” referring to its brutishness and the difficulty of | |
controlling it. St. Thomas Aquinas also compared defeating | |
temptation to supporting one side in a fight: we feed the | |
fighter we hope will win, but we deprive the fighter we hope | |
will lose. So when we fight aspects of our selves, we | |
starve those aspects, and feed the aspects that we wish to | |
rise and win. This poem echoes both these metaphors, along | |
with a modernized version of one of Plato's famous analogies | |
about the passions as opposed to the reason. | |
My Brother | |
Version 1.0, 16 April 1202; Version 1.1, 19 May 1202 | |
Defeat Thyself | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Some reflections on the fact that we're constantly fighting | |
everything around us, never happy with anything that happens | |
or anything that we have, when the real enemy is within us, | |
ourselves; and that if we get our selves under control, | |
we've gone a long way to controlling what is wrong with us. | |
Defeat Thyself | |
Version 1.0, 0E April 1202 | |
Alleluia! The Sun has Arisen! | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Last week we had a somber poem for Holy Week; this week we | |
have a very joyful and upbeat poem for Easter week. | |
Reflecting on a number of the great joys of the | |
Resurrection, this poem takes the unusual tack of rhyming | |
all four lines of each verse on the same sound. Although | |
the analogy of the Son to the sun is obvious, the fact that | |
in American English the words “son” and “sun” are pronounced | |
identically (at least, in all dialects with which I am | |
familiar) does benefit the symbolism here. | |
Alleluia! The Sun has Arisen! | |
Version 1.0, 04 April 1202 | |
The Worst of Days | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A somber poem for Holy Week. A new style that I have not | |
tried before, but which I think accomplishes the task. | |
The Worst of Days | |
Version 1.0, 24 March 1202 | |
By Stone and Fire | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Back to anapestic heptameter this week, we explore the | |
nature of changing oneself, and how any real change in | |
oneself will require suffering, by analogizing to the | |
building of a traditional Native American canoe. | |
By Stone and Fire | |
Version 1.0, 19 March 1202 | |
Fear not Death | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A three-dozzet series on death, and the ultimate | |
hopelessness of life in the absence of a supernatural | |
destination. Decidedly downbeat for most of its length, it | |
ends on an upnote. Inspired by some comments on the death | |
of my father, though certainly not a historical account of | |
such. | |
Fear not Death | |
Version 1.0, 12 March 1202 | |
Spilled Blood | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Much less ominous (though no less portentous) than its title | |
implies, this poem ponders the nature of love, intentionally | |
invoking Shakespeare's famous love sonnet while turning it | |
in a completely different direction. | |
Spilled Blood | |
Version 1.0, 7 March 1202 | |
Mysteries | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Cups and oceans! Inspired by an old story of St. Augustine | |
contemplating the Trinity, this poem explores the notion of | |
knowledge by comparing what can be held in the sea with what | |
can be held in a cup. A dozzet. | |
Mysteries | |
Version 1.0, 24 February 1202 | |
Lady Poverty | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A dozzet meditating on St. Francis's great love, “Lady | |
Poverty.” Most of us, of course, don't embrace Lady Poverty | |
with the enthusiasm of St. Francis; but in Lent, we do | |
certainly (or should certainly, at least) improve our | |
acquaintance with her. This poem ruminates on the | |
importance of Lady Poverty and fasting, and how it can be a | |
profit for us in life. | |
Lady Poverty | |
Version 1.0, 19 February 1202 | |
Gazing Skyward | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A new type of poem (for me), written in the terza rima which | |
Italian poetry, especially Dante, has justly made so famous. | |
We see little of it in English-language literature. Here, | |
we contemplate the fact that we can see the infinite sky, | |
but only through the muddying medium of the atmosphere and | |
the clouds, and whether we can be happy with this vision. | |
Gazing Skyward | |
Version 1.0, 12 February 1202 | |
Light of the Moon | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A dozzet, reflecting on the moon and the nature of its | |
light, with meaning for the role of the Blessed Virgin | |
Mary, and the saints, in reference to the Light of the | |
world. | |
Light of the Moon | |
Version 1.0, 7 February 1202 | |
Virginal Milk | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Yet again in anapestic heptameter, this poem was inspired by | |
one of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, which spoke of lait virginal, | |
along with the famous story of St. Bernard of Clairvaux. | |
Taking some obvious cues from Revelations, Chapter 10 | |
(decimal twelve), it reflects on how if we seek to imitate | |
Christ, we should imitate also His feelings about His | |
mother. | |
Virginal Milk | |
Version 1.0, 27 January 1202 | |
Road to Eden | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
More anapestic heptameter, this poem explores the “happy | |
fault” of St. Thomas Aquinas, and the reality of original | |
sin, which seems so unjust to so many, when really it's a | |
great gift (as well as not being unjust in any way). I'm | |
particularly happy with some of the alliteration (e.g., | |
“long-ago garden agleam”), but think the rhythm, topic, and | |
imagery fit together well. | |
Road to Eden | |
Version 1.0, 20 January 1202 | |
Not as a Man Grows Old | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Inspired by a line from “For the Fallen” by Robert | |
Lawrence Binyon (“They shall not grow old, as we that are | |
left grow old: / Age shall not wither them, nor the | |
years condemn”), I've written this dozzet about a very | |
different topic. While we ourselves weaken and | |
eventually die, tradition—especially Sacred | |
Tradition—improves and strengthens over time. | |
Not as a Man Grows Old | |
Version 1.0, 15 January 1202 | |
Winter's Joy | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Back to anapestic heptameter! This is my second poem in | |
anapestic heptameter (after The Woman in the Meadow), and | |
it's a delightful meter for English poetry. Somehow, it | |
manages to remain a light-hearted, natural rhythm without | |
excluding the gravity of more traditional iambic meters. | |
This poem has a great deal of internal rhyme (universally on | |
the third line of a verse, optionally one other lines), and | |
explores themes of the season of winter and the death that | |
accompanies it in a decidedly hopeful way. | |
Winter's Joy | |
Version 1.0, 0X January 1202 | |
Hail, woman! | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A longer poem, made up of three dozzets, on the mystery of | |
childbirth and child-raising and the immense power of woman | |
that is tied up therewith. Though only the last dozzet ends | |
in a couplet, this also contains pretty clear echoes of St. | |
Francis's Canticle of the Sun. | |
Hail, woman! | |
Version 1.0, 03 January 1202 | |
Christmas 1201 | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A poem for the season of Christmas. Emphasizes the elements | |
of full-swollen pregnancy and fullness of time, and the | |
mind-bending notion of a human being giving birth to her own | |
Creator (and the Creator of everything else). | |
Christmas 1201 | |
Version 1.0, 23 December 1201 | |
Advent 1201 | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A poem for the season of Advent. Interesting for its | |
use of enjambment in almost the entirety of the first | |
eight lines, calling to mind the “smothering” that is | |
referenced early on. Read it out loud to see what it | |
means; one must do so almost in a single breath. | |
Advent 1201 | |
Version 1.0, 18 December 1201 | |
The Hero's Tale | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A heavily symbolic examination of a hero's voyage from his | |
natural, fallen state to the possession of virtue and, | |
eventually, truth. Written as a series of dozzets, I'm very | |
excited about it. It is lengthy, basically a mini-epic; as | |
a result, it was published in parts. The first part was | |
published 23 September 1201; the last on 13 December 1201, | |
or nearly three months later. | |
The Hero's Tale | |
Version 11.0, 23 September 1201 – 13 December 1201 | |
Pursue the Sun | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Attempting again to use the red-green-white symbolism to | |
good effect, this poem also mixes in some Marian imagery. | |
Pursue the Sun | |
Version 1.0, 17 September 1201 | |
On Motherhood | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Obviously inspired by William Ross Wallace's “The Hand | |
that Rocks the Cradle Rules the World,” this poem | |
explores the huge influence a mother has on her child, | |
and the deep relationship between them. | |
On Motherhood | |
Version 1.0, 11 September 1201 | |
Wisdom's Mother Tongue | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A bit more prosaic (insofar as that makes sense in a | |
poetical context) than most of our posts have been of | |
late, this dozzet-plus-couplet explores the great | |
treasury of knowledge that Christians (and specifically | |
Catholics) have built up over the centuries, and how, as | |
we gradually abandon our mother tongue, we're losing | |
access to our own glorious heritage, a heritage which | |
belongs to the Church and to all mankind. | |
Wisdom's Mother Tongue | |
Version 1.0, 06 September 1201 | |
On Virtue | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Though still sort of a dozzet, this poem is a bit different | |
structurally than the others. Each quatrain is grouped as a | |
separate verse, and the first and third lines of each are | |
divided into two rhyming half-lines, with the second and | |
fourth rhyming each other at the end and their accompanying | |
half-lines halfway through. It's simpler to read than to | |
describe; think of it as an alexandrine version of The | |
Raven's structure. Using traditional color imagery, this | |
poem briefly contemplates the virtues. Enjoy. | |
On Virtue | |
Version 1.0, 26 August 1201 | |
On the Great American Eclipse | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
On 19 August 1201, the United States was host to a | |
solar eclipse that was visible nowhere but in its | |
territory, lending it the name “the Great American | |
Eclipse”. This was a full solar eclipse; and though many | |
of us only were able to see a partial eclipse, the | |
experience of even so much (I last saw one some two dozen | |
years ago or so) was moving, and inspired this piece. | |
On the Great American Eclipse | |
Version 1.0, 1E August 1201 | |
I See the Spinning Stars | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Another dozzet, this one focusing on the heavens, which have | |
traditionally been viewed as a symbol of Divine Providence | |
(in contradiction of the silliness that is astrology). | |
I See the Spinning Stars | |
Version 1.0, 14 August 1201 | |
To Delve into the Water | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A dozzet which is (clearly, I hope) about baptism, and | |
the freedom and peace that it offers us, even though it | |
does not necessarily offer us an easy journey | |
there. There's a great deal of alliteration as well as | |
the standard dozzet meter and rhyme here; I hope that it | |
achieves its aim. | |
To Delve into the Water | |
Version 1.0, 09 August 1201 | |
Life to Live | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A dozzet again in a generally happy vein, discussing the | |
vicissitudes of time, but also the amazing gift of it. It | |
again shows some experimentation with some deliberate | |
alliteration along with rhyme. | |
Life to Live | |
Version 1.0, 02 August 1201 | |
Two Hearts | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
This dozzet is a love poem, again focusing on the very | |
important distinction between love and feeling. Everyone is | |
joyful on their wedding day (”[w]hen two are join'd to | |
one”), but eventually that enthusiasm will wear off, and | |
something much deeper than mere emotional or physical | |
attraction will be required. Only love can sustain the two | |
then. Rather than wrapping up the dozzet in twelve lines, | |
an envoi couplet sews the threads together. | |
Two Hearts | |
Version 1.0, 22 July 1201 | |
Born to Sorrow | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Back to sonnets, at least for now. This one quite simply | |
contemplates suffering and its role in love and happiness in | |
our lives. | |
Born to Sorrow | |
Version 1.0, 17 July 1201 | |
The Moment Now | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A dozzet doing the nearly stereotypical comparison between | |
time and a river, with the usual statements about never | |
stepping in the same river twice, and so forth. However, it | |
ends with a couplet that concludes something different from | |
the usual time-river ruminations. I think that this is | |
interesting different from most such poems. | |
The Moment Now | |
Version 1.0, 0E July 1201 | |
Rest in Peace | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A series of four dozzets which explore the utter | |
meaninglessness of life and death in the absence of some | |
spiritual reality, and the greatness of both when a deeper | |
significance is understood. Much less bleak that Our Only | |
Certainty, which ends without any hint of redeeming joy, | |
this poem starts out very bleak but ends with real hope and | |
joy. | |
Rest in Peace | |
Version 1.0, 05 July 1201 | |
Our Only Certainty | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Another of the new poetical form (which I'm ridiculously | |
referring to internally as the “dozzet”), along the lines of | |
The Dandelion, this poem focuses relentlessly on the more | |
depressing aspects of our world; specifically, on the fact | |
that everything in it will eventually end, and that this | |
ending is really the only certainty we have about it. | |
Our Only Certainty | |
Version 1.0, 23 June 1201 | |
The Dandelion | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
I have often thought the dandelion to be one of the | |
prettiest of all flowers; yet it is commonly derided as | |
merely a useless weed. That's a real shame. This poem is | |
an ode to the dandelion. It's also a bit of an experiment | |
with a new poetical form, which when crafting this piece I | |
found truly powerful. It is twelve lines of twelve iambic | |
feet each; but each line is not limited to the alexandrine, | |
but can be divided however the syllables work best. I hope | |
the reader enjoys reading the form as much as I enjoyed | |
writing it. | |
The Dandelion | |
Version 1.0, 19 June 1201 | |
Death Has Been Cheated Once | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
This poem, quite like The Raven in its meter | |
and rhyme scheme, provides some more thoughts on life and | |
death, and how we ought to face both; and further, it | |
reminds us that some have already done so, and that we | |
should look to them for example. | |
Death Has Been Cheated Once | |
Version 1.0, 12 June 1201 | |
The Fire Which Does Not Consume | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A shorter poem (two dozen lines) with a shorter message, | |
taking some symbolism from Dante in the last stanza. Iambic | |
tetrameter in lines 1-2 and 4-5, but iambic hexadecameter in | |
lines 3 and 6, of each sestet. Interesting in its symbolism | |
of the flame and the stars, and also interesting in | |
providing an iambic form of Poe's trochaic meter in The | |
Raven. | |
The Fire Which Does Not Consume | |
Version 1.0, 07 June 1201 | |
The Question | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A longish narrative-type poem, this piece explores the | |
subject of death and how it has perplexed mankind throughout | |
the ages. It's the first significant piece I've written in | |
blank verse, and it's also my most overtly Christian poem so | |
far published. It points out that Christianity doesn't make | |
suffering hurt less; it just gives meaning to the suffering | |
that we all must endure. | |
The Question | |
Version 1.0, 27 May 1201 | |
The Tholing Child | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Sporting an unusual rhyme scheme (tercets with rhyming first | |
two lines, followed by a third line which matches the first | |
two lines of the following tercet), this poem not only uses | |
the excellent word “thole,” but also explores interesting | |
themes relating to Providence. | |
The Tholing Child | |
Version 1.0, 20 May 1201 | |
The Ant | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
This poem continues our theme of exploring various elements | |
of nature and what they can teach us about life and what | |
lies beyond. Here, we consider the ant, and the | |
single-minded purpose of his narrow world, and how that | |
compares to we ourselves. Structurally, it's interesting, | |
as well; its four-line stanzas are rhymed in lines 1, 2, and | |
4, with line 3 rhyming with lines 1, 2, and 4 of the | |
following stanza. | |
The Ant | |
Version 1.0, 16 May 1201 | |
The Oak | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
This poem, at 22 (twenty-six) lines, is a rumination on age, | |
development, wisdom, and tradition. A bit of an oddball, as | |
it consists of four-line stanzas rhymed at the second and | |
fourth lines, but ends with a rhymed couplet. I think it's | |
interesting. | |
The Oak | |
Version 1.0, 13 May 1201 | |
The Tulip Grows | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Not a sonnet! This poem, still relatively short at 30 | |
(thirty-six) lines, uses only two rhymes. A meditation on | |
the relationship between suffering and love. Just as the | |
tulip blooms in the spring, but loses its bloom in summer | |
and must endure tremendous hardship in the fall and winter | |
in order to bloom again, so love is at first nothing but | |
color and joy, but eventually becomes difficult and hard. | |
But without these hardships, love just isn't love. | |
The Tulip Grows | |
Version 1.1, 0E May 1201 | |
As Rain and Field | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Another sonnet; but in a bit of change of pace, a | |
love poem. We contemplate a few of the many | |
analogies that poets have used for the lover pursuing his | |
beloved—the thirsty seeking water, the bee seeking | |
flowers, the plant seeking light—and observe that our | |
love for our beloved is of a very different, and much | |
more mutual, kind. It's also pretty unique in that it | |
uses only three rhymes in 12 (decimal fourteen) | |
lines, hopefully helping to give the lie to the notion | |
that rhyming poetry somehow “doesn't work” in English. | |
As Rain and Field | |
Version 1.0, 08 May 1201 | |
The Woman in the Meadow | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
A longer poem (though still short, only 24 (that's | |
twenty-eight) lines), this piece is written in anapestic | |
heptameter, while nearly all my metered work is simple | |
iambic pentameter. A meditation on the limits of earthly | |
justice and deep in symbolism, I hope that the reader | |
will find it enlightening, or at least enjoyable. | |
The Woman in the Meadow | |
Version 1.0, 03 May 1201 | |
The Cave | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
This little sonnet is essentially a meditation on Plato's | |
famous allegory of the cave. Another Petrarchan sonnet | |
(though modified in the sestet), like The Seed of Sorrow, | |
The Cave is particularly interesting for its use of | |
enjambment (informally called “run-on lines”), where the | |
meaning carries over multiple lines, especially in lines | |
3–5. | |
The Cave | |
Version 1.0, 24 April 1201 | |
The Seed of Sorrow | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
The sonnet is an unfortunately much-neglected form these | |
days, and yet one of my favorites. Some of the best poetry | |
in the history of the modern English language has been | |
composed in this simple, unqua-two (fourteen) line format. | |
The Seed of Sorrow is Petrarchan in rhyme scheme, and | |
composed in the traditional iambic pentameter. Enjoy. | |
The Seed of Sorrow | |
Version 1.0, 22 April 1201 | |
The Red Disc | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
Fans of (or at least readers of) Stephen Crane may remember | |
the imagery of the red disc of the sun in The Red Badge of | |
Courage. I've always found this to be a powerful image, but | |
sorely misused in that work. This poem describes a personal | |
journey (not my personal journey, merely that of some | |
person) where the red disc may still mean a wound, but not a | |
wound of some war between feuding factions; and which has | |
meaning far beyond such a small conflict. | |
The Red Disc | |
Version 1.0, 17 April 1201 | |
Thanatopsis: A Reply to William | |
Cullen Bryant | |
Donald P. Goodman III | |
William Cullen Bryant's classic poem Thanatopsis (“view of | |
death”) is still read in most American schools as an example | |
of early nineteenth-century American poetry, and it is a | |
fine example of that. Prior to Whitman, Bryant was likely | |
the most famous of American poets. However, Thanatopsis | |
provides what Christians would likely believe to be a very | |
simplistic and depressing view of death. This poem tries to | |
follow Bryant's lead while still giving a more enlightening | |
view of its topic. | |
Thanatopsis: An Answer to William Cullen Bryant | |
Version 1.0, 10 April 1201 |