(Sonnet as Keynote to WS)
The stout man puffs on his Havana cigar
And picks canary chords on his blue guitar,
Fashions flawed words and spindrift sounds
Into day-glow verbs and glass-blown nouns.
How much the notion of a supreme fiction
Derives from bric-a-brac and spiffy diction
None knows. Say his thickest absolutes
Derive from blue rotundities of fruits:
His crispest jugglery performs the feat
Of hardening stealthy points into concrete
Trombones, sausage-makers, cattle skulls,
And pettifogging buds. His monocle's
Univocal, a prop that lets him see
Glories in pewter, and mere poetry.
(Published in The Wallace Stevens Journal, Fall 2005. Vol.29. No.2 p.304)
Brilliant tribute to the great bard of CT. Not a word out of place, not a rhythm gone awry. Captures the dexterity which characterizes Stevens. I am humbled and in awe.
This is a very beautiful poem with a very tender rhythm. I am loving the vivid description of the narration. Thank you for sharing. ~Besa
This sonnet works well and to good point save line-10 which breaks rhythm and should not end with into concrete having begun with Of hardening but instead with some other -eat rhyme.
Rhyming diction is unique with the flavor of picturising the reality. The form may be conventional, but the content keeps foot to the contemporary dailiness. Classic its general appearance but existing reality is its heart. So its create an interest to read it again.
I happen to be a reader unfamiliar with the work of Wallace Stevens, but I like William F. Dougherty's poem nonetheless. The first four lines are tight and descriptive. - glassblown nouns - terrific! ! My primary takeaway from this sonnet is Mr. Dougherty's admiration for Wallace Stevens; it genuinely comes across.
Like this, note you use the Shakespearian form and end on a couplet, not a Petrachian sonnet rhyme scheme. Good write
.....a wonderful write for member poem of the day....excellent rhyming...and a pleasure to read...
1) concrete refers to standard term for imagery as specific, not to hardness. 2) Line # scansion depends on pronunciation of hardening-commonly sounded as two syllables and keeping the line in iambic pentameter. 3) If scanned as three syllables you have iamb/anapest/iamb/iamb/iamb, a permissible and commonly used substituion, which see. Appreciate your close attention and metrical know-how.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Recognize this sonnet's use of allusions as tribute to Stevens anthologized poems-especially trombones, sausage makers, cattle skulls and pettifogging buds. Footnotes might clarify the allusions for readers not familiar with Stevens elegant stye.