Midnight Echoes
Viewing comments for Chapter 1 "Midnight Echoes"A Wreath of Sicilian Sonnets
61 total reviews
Comment from Mastery
Hi, Tony. Looks like I caught this one a day too early. It certinly deserves six golden stars,my friend. It is definitely a story captured in sonnets and well done.
The rhyming is exquisite as is the story itself.
I wish you good luck in the contest. Lines like this should make you the winner without doubt.
"Gestalt in thought, revived from tales once told.
How strong our wish to keep them from decay,
The fading memories we choose to hold;"
Blessings, Bob
reply by the author on 22-May-2018
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Hi, Tony. Looks like I caught this one a day too early. It certinly deserves six golden stars,my friend. It is definitely a story captured in sonnets and well done.
The rhyming is exquisite as is the story itself.
I wish you good luck in the contest. Lines like this should make you the winner without doubt.
"Gestalt in thought, revived from tales once told.
How strong our wish to keep them from decay,
The fading memories we choose to hold;"
Blessings, Bob
Comment Written 19-May-2018
reply by the author on 22-May-2018
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Very many thanks for your very kind words, Bob, and for the virtual six. Much appreciated! Best wishes, Tony
Comment from estory
I think you did a great job crafting this, this obviously took a lot of time and effort. The language is beautifully arranged, musically, and the images sparkle. It reminded me of Keats' St. Agnes Eve. Some of the archaisms are a bit dated, the language reads kind of dated, in this day and age. It doesn't have a very contemporary feel, and it is very long. But I enjoyed this tribute to the poets of former times, and their craft; God only knows they had more talent than many today. But in those days, poets were rock stars. It has a stately, refined flavor, like an aged single malt whiskey. estory
reply by the author on 23-May-2018
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I think you did a great job crafting this, this obviously took a lot of time and effort. The language is beautifully arranged, musically, and the images sparkle. It reminded me of Keats' St. Agnes Eve. Some of the archaisms are a bit dated, the language reads kind of dated, in this day and age. It doesn't have a very contemporary feel, and it is very long. But I enjoyed this tribute to the poets of former times, and their craft; God only knows they had more talent than many today. But in those days, poets were rock stars. It has a stately, refined flavor, like an aged single malt whiskey. estory
Comment Written 19-May-2018
reply by the author on 23-May-2018
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Thanks for your kind words, estory. It was an intricate undertaking and by the halfway stage I was beginning to falter. I have made a few minor changes in hindsight, after considering some of the advice of other reviewers. Your comparison with an aged single malt is most generous. I'm hoping to be in Scotland in a couple of months time and will drink a dram or two to your good health. Best wishes, Tony
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What would Burns say? Shall auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Shall auld acquaintance be forgot, and the days of auld lange syne? estory
Comment from Pantygynt
This is undoubtedly another major work on your part and must have taken an incredible amount of detailed planning in order to produce something tha was compliant with your own detailed account of the form not only of the sonnet but of its amalgamation into a wreath. If this does not win there is no justice left in the world.
I wish I had left off reading this until tomorrow when I could have done some justice to it as far as stars are concerned, but alas, sixes do not abound on a Saturday morning.
reply by the author on 23-May-2018
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This is undoubtedly another major work on your part and must have taken an incredible amount of detailed planning in order to produce something tha was compliant with your own detailed account of the form not only of the sonnet but of its amalgamation into a wreath. If this does not win there is no justice left in the world.
I wish I had left off reading this until tomorrow when I could have done some justice to it as far as stars are concerned, but alas, sixes do not abound on a Saturday morning.
Comment Written 19-May-2018
reply by the author on 23-May-2018
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Thanks for your kind words, Jim.
It was an intricate undertaking and by the halfway stage I was beginning to falter. The contents of the wastepaper basket were accumulating fast!
I have made a few minor changes in hindsight, after considering some of the advice from other reviewers.Best wishes, Tony
Comment from Sandra du Plessis
A very well-written rhyming poem in the form of a Wreath of Sonnets that all comes together in the last stanza as an acrostic with the first lines of the first fourteen stanzas.
reply by the author on 21-May-2018
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A very well-written rhyming poem in the form of a Wreath of Sonnets that all comes together in the last stanza as an acrostic with the first lines of the first fourteen stanzas.
Comment Written 19-May-2018
reply by the author on 21-May-2018
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Very many thanks, Sandra, for taking the time to read this lengthy sequence. I appreciate your kind response. All the best, Tony
Comment from duchessofdrumborg
"Midnight Echoes", is an extremely well-written and delightfully descriptive piece. This talented poet's work was a pleasure to both read and review. To me, this is a six, but I only have fives left. I look forward to reading your next post.
reply by the author on 19-May-2018
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"Midnight Echoes", is an extremely well-written and delightfully descriptive piece. This talented poet's work was a pleasure to both read and review. To me, this is a six, but I only have fives left. I look forward to reading your next post.
Comment Written 19-May-2018
reply by the author on 19-May-2018
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Thanks for the review, Duchess. Appreciated. Best wishes, Tony
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Tony, you certainly deserved the review.
Take care and bless you,
the Duchess
Comment from lyenochka
Whew! What a feat to write something like this. Writing just one sonnet would be hard enough but to write 15 and end with an acrostic sonnet is amazing. Great job interweaving so many literary allusions as well.
reply by the author on 19-May-2018
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Whew! What a feat to write something like this. Writing just one sonnet would be hard enough but to write 15 and end with an acrostic sonnet is amazing. Great job interweaving so many literary allusions as well.
Comment Written 19-May-2018
reply by the author on 19-May-2018
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Thanks, Helen. It took a while. The main difficulty was in finding sufficient rhyming words that were apt. Best wishes, Tony
Comment from kiwijenny
Mirages tempt the heated mind to stray
In dreamfault shimmerings, on paths of gold,
I'm back and I LOVE your poetry. I still have the hare somewhere. Dreamfault ...what a beautiful word. I find mine slip through brain fingers.
And I like the ballet ...butterflies led astray
Well penned
God bless
reply by the author on 19-May-2018
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Mirages tempt the heated mind to stray
In dreamfault shimmerings, on paths of gold,
I'm back and I LOVE your poetry. I still have the hare somewhere. Dreamfault ...what a beautiful word. I find mine slip through brain fingers.
And I like the ballet ...butterflies led astray
Well penned
God bless
Comment Written 18-May-2018
reply by the author on 19-May-2018
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Hi, Jenny. Good to see you back. Thanks very much for your review of this rather long and complex piece. Appreciated! Tony
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You are welcome Tony. I've missed it.
Jenny
Comment from karenina
An amazing feat to write this! Is this different from the Crown of Sonnetts which is currently a contest? I freely admit I do not have the poetic chops to pull oneof these off-- especially when there is the quadruple "landing" of anacrostic woven in. Trust me, if I better budgeted my six stars you?d be getting that....wow.
Karenina
reply by the author on 19-May-2018
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An amazing feat to write this! Is this different from the Crown of Sonnetts which is currently a contest? I freely admit I do not have the poetic chops to pull oneof these off-- especially when there is the quadruple "landing" of anacrostic woven in. Trust me, if I better budgeted my six stars you?d be getting that....wow.
Karenina
Comment Written 18-May-2018
reply by the author on 19-May-2018
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Very many thanks for your kind comments, Karena. The Crown of Heroic sonnets advertised on the site is rather different, in that each sonnet has 18 lines and there are just seven of them. This is the rarer form of 15 linked sonnets, which is also sometimes described as a crown. The wreath is one step further, with an acrostic ending. Best wishes, Tony
Comment from krys123
Cheers, Tony;
-I'm reading it for the second time in trying to get your feelings and your touch of your conceptual thing through your eyes in my second round.
-I found a few questionable issues that for me not understanding.
!.)-V-2), "Declaiming former thoughts, a dried bouquet"
Declaiming- to speak aloud in an oratorical manner
Disclaiming - disavow; disown:
-"Disavowal former thoughts" Maybe instead of "Shouting out former thoughts"
I just wanted know which one you were trying to express in which one work tubes of piece's benefit
2.) V-4, "Her fate was sealed and she could only KEEN (cutting, bitter, caustic) or (sharp) This when I don't get for use of a word contingent to the theme of this line?
Maybe, Tony, would this work, "Her fate was sealed and she felt in between"....?
-I like your personal opinion on the subject of life and the generalization of living in sonnet eight and sonnet nine.
8.
"The fading memories we choose to hold
are lost, unless we pause to make them known."
&
How you explain one of your philosophies:
"So cultivate and nurture tales of old,
and then our seed will thrive, become well grown."
-Totally amazing Tony but I found myself getting lost in the enchantment or story if there was one. I first thought it was going as And/or about a dreamer or maybe even a homeless person living free for also a seaman that sailed the seas and even give reference to the sea and the waves. In the beauty of the open sea.
-Then you give your philosophies going into 8 & 9 and somewhat 10 &11 And I don't know what happened to the first metaphorical story in the first five sonnets through the sixth.
-I love all the reasonings going on in your writing but I was looking for conceptual theme that could tie in all of them. I just need to go back and reread it more often as there's so much going on and just reading it twice is not enough song out of bookmarking again.
-Further on I developed a really keen sense for errors and I haven't found any after questioning the word claim or in your fourth verse.
-Thanks for sharing this, Tony, take care and have a good one.
-Curious how long it took you to develop your theme and write your piece? Chuckle! You started it when? Ah, you said 2017! Chuckle! Just kidding.
Alex
reply by the author on 19-May-2018
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Cheers, Tony;
-I'm reading it for the second time in trying to get your feelings and your touch of your conceptual thing through your eyes in my second round.
-I found a few questionable issues that for me not understanding.
!.)-V-2), "Declaiming former thoughts, a dried bouquet"
Declaiming- to speak aloud in an oratorical manner
Disclaiming - disavow; disown:
-"Disavowal former thoughts" Maybe instead of "Shouting out former thoughts"
I just wanted know which one you were trying to express in which one work tubes of piece's benefit
2.) V-4, "Her fate was sealed and she could only KEEN (cutting, bitter, caustic) or (sharp) This when I don't get for use of a word contingent to the theme of this line?
Maybe, Tony, would this work, "Her fate was sealed and she felt in between"....?
-I like your personal opinion on the subject of life and the generalization of living in sonnet eight and sonnet nine.
8.
"The fading memories we choose to hold
are lost, unless we pause to make them known."
&
How you explain one of your philosophies:
"So cultivate and nurture tales of old,
and then our seed will thrive, become well grown."
-Totally amazing Tony but I found myself getting lost in the enchantment or story if there was one. I first thought it was going as And/or about a dreamer or maybe even a homeless person living free for also a seaman that sailed the seas and even give reference to the sea and the waves. In the beauty of the open sea.
-Then you give your philosophies going into 8 & 9 and somewhat 10 &11 And I don't know what happened to the first metaphorical story in the first five sonnets through the sixth.
-I love all the reasonings going on in your writing but I was looking for conceptual theme that could tie in all of them. I just need to go back and reread it more often as there's so much going on and just reading it twice is not enough song out of bookmarking again.
-Further on I developed a really keen sense for errors and I haven't found any after questioning the word claim or in your fourth verse.
-Thanks for sharing this, Tony, take care and have a good one.
-Curious how long it took you to develop your theme and write your piece? Chuckle! You started it when? Ah, you said 2017! Chuckle! Just kidding.
Alex
Comment Written 18-May-2018
reply by the author on 19-May-2018
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I really appreciate your close reading of this, Alex. I did in fact mean 'declaim' in the sense of speaking aloud, though I agree that it is perhaps not quite the best word in the circumstances. However, it was convenient in that it maintained the iambic rhythm! I justified it to myself on the basis that old men quite often pontificate about their former glories!
'Keening' has a different meaning, which comes from the Celtic language. It means to make an eerie wailing sound of grief. It is similar to the ululation found in some Arabic and African countries, describing the expression of women's grief at funerals.
There isn't really a story-line as such. The sequence is really an attempt to look at the value of myths, legends, religion and imagination in contrast to the cold, analytical logic of the scientist and the realist. However, I may have got a little lost in the convolutions! It skips backwards and forwards between Celtic myths, Christianity and Greek mythology.
Freedom of thought and action is described in terms of freedom of movement in swimming and flight. I also touch on the misuse of freedom to imprison and persecute others.
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Yes, I understood the references to Christianity and paganism I did catch the myths but not until I'm reading it for the about the third time, you have so much going on in your writing, and of course that's obvious because the length. I was very impressed with you tackling such an ordeal especially making your last 15th verse.
I haven't had any sixes since last Wednesday
for you deserve one. I'll catch you on the backslide. Slang for meaning "I'll make it up to you." Take care and have a good one my friend.
Alex
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Yes, I understood the references to Christianity and paganism I did catch the myths but not until I'm reading it for the about the third time, you have so much going on in your writing, and of course that's obvious because the length. I was very impressed with you tackling such an ordeal especially making your last 15th verse.
I haven't had any sixes since last Wednesday
for you deserve one. I'll catch you on the backslide. Slang for meaning "I'll make it up to you." Take care and have a good one my friend.
Alex
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:)))
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( ;~} )
Comment from Lainee...
Wow! This is a wonderfully written rolling rhyming interesting poem. Read with ease and relaying a great story. Very well done! I will be reading more. â?¼
reply by the author on 18-May-2018
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Wow! This is a wonderfully written rolling rhyming interesting poem. Read with ease and relaying a great story. Very well done! I will be reading more. â?¼
Comment Written 18-May-2018
reply by the author on 18-May-2018
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Thanks for dropping by to review, Laine. I appreciate your affirmation and the six stars. Best wishes, Tony.