Bedtime Story Poem by John Beaton
Bedtime Story
The sun has smouldered low. Its flaxen light
drizzles through the birches to the snow
where sheep stand still as hay-bales, beige on white.
A shepherd with a shoulderful of straw,
brindled by the shadows, softly walks.
The sheep flock round; he swings his load to strew
the strands on pillowed drifts like yellow locks,
then hastens homeward bearing sustenance
against the ghostly dark. He holds small hands
and spins his children tales of happenstance
and golden fleeces in enchanted lands.
Their minds woolgather. Snuggled down in bed,
they drift on snowy pillows; yellow strands
of hair glow like the hay their father spread.
The poem is written in iambic pentameter (five beats per line with a da-DA rhythm) .
The rhyme scheme is ababcbcdedefef, where the b's are slant" or partial rhymes.It has two symmetrical halves.
The poem is a non-standard sonnet, in that it has fourteen lines and a "break" in the middle where the shepherd moves from the woods where the sheep are to his kids' bedroom. The triple b and e rhymes dovetail each half of the poem into an integral unit and the continuous sentence in the middle joins them. Many of the words are chosen for alliteration.
This poem has been published on the Hypertexts website, in an ebook, and in "Eyes on BC" magazine.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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5/30/2024 7:47:06 AM # 1.0.0.1119
Stunning! ! ! ! You have posted a piece of literature here for our edification! ! ! 10 and onto my fav list. Now I shall go see if you have more poetry for me to revel in! ! !
Thanks, Susan. Your enthusiasm is a delight!