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The Seeker

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Shakespearean sonnet, leaning hard on iambic pentameter.

Act 2, Scene 4. The Salisbury plain. Within a henge, a watchfire burns. The Seer approaches The Seeker. Take heed, my friend, our part in cosmic cheat Plays on; below the stage the truth lies quite. Hold off the blazing sun's firstfound deceit, Trust only in the filtered lunar light. Maids long for wifely pleasure while wives cry For their lost maidenhood, each of a date They'd cast away; while Fate presides on high, With ever laughing countenance it waits. Mere mortal men lie dreaming all bewitched; They ken not of the ruse nor hollow fake Which gods employ on them, their eyes bestitched, Awash in hope shown false if they would wake. Unknowing we are born, Illusion's tide A ceaseless pull, until the great divide.

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White Wolf

Date: 4/11/2017 7:23:00 PM

Just going through my favourite poems and came across this again! I myself have not written a sonnet that I am proud of yet, but you should be proud of this mate!

Doug Vinson
Date: 4/12/2017 6:59:00 AM

Thanks, Budgie. : ) Still a few things I don't really like - need to fix.... : p

Deborah Burch

Date: 12/15/2016 11:33:00 AM

Bravo!!! Doug!! Well done...Deb

Doug Vinson
Date: 12/15/2016 10:15:00 PM

Thanks, Deb. Hope the holiday reason rocks for you.

Paloma P

Date: 12/15/2016 6:57:00 AM

Cleverly writ sonnet, an intriguingly stunning depiction, for some reason I kept thinking, from different planets. :)

Doug Vinson
Date: 12/15/2016 10:13:00 PM

I'm not from a different planet, but I work with a few people that are.

Robert Lindley

Date: 12/14/2016 11:21:00 AM

Yes, the key is to give the first message in an understood and solid way but leave that little key to another door for the reader to enter other realms in his or her own personal understanding/life. Tis a very hard task to pull off methinks but every truly great sonnet does it. Doing that easily out trumps all other considerations be they about strict form, grammar, etc..

Robert Lindley

Date: 12/13/2016 7:45:00 PM

Magnificent sonnet....To me sonnets require compacting into 140 syllables ideas/thoughts, tales/ imagery, subjects, emotions, messages , etc = things that would normally require far, far more words/syllables. Add in rhyme, /other requirements and I think its the hardest form to compose in. This one is a gem..

Robert Lindley
Date: 12/14/2016 11:20:00 AM

Doug Vinson
Date: 12/14/2016 4:43:00 AM

Thanks, Robert. I think you are right - it should be compact, rather tight. During composition, that tightness often means that any changes have far-reaching consequences.

Freddie Robinson Jr.

Date: 12/13/2016 10:23:00 AM

A brilliant piece of poetry, Doug. Absolutely brilliant. The theme, the verse/stanza construct, the dialog ... on every level it is pure genius. A truly remarkable work of art by a skilled poet. Love and many blessings to you.

Doug Vinson
Date: 12/13/2016 1:06:00 PM

Thank you, RW. : ) I worked on this one. TheSeeker (Tom) challenged me to do one - all iambic pentameter.

Chris Green

Date: 12/13/2016 9:05:00 AM

Very well written, the poem, the story, the scene portrayed. You did an amazing job with the rhymes, virtually invisible because of the smooth flow and the thought entrancing storyline. Very cool.

Doug Vinson
Date: 12/13/2016 1:05:00 PM

Cheers, Chris. I know very little about Shakespeare, but was trying to emulate his tone and image-producing language - which he does very well in Richard II, in my opinion. And maybe all his plays are like that....

White Wolf

Date: 12/13/2016 2:24:00 AM

Wowza! Doug! This is a phenomenal sonnet! Mate! This is going to my fav's mate! Gotta keep my eye on you mate!

Doug Vinson
Date: 12/13/2016 2:46:00 AM

I started on this, wrote a few lines that I thought were really good, and then saw that they were 12 syllables. : P Got to the point where I had 10 syllables per line... Oh crap - forgot that stuff had to rhyme! Pity, since without rhyme's constraint, one can really pack in more cool words, as Shakespeare often did in other writing. Composed as I bounced around as a passenger in a truck for 8 hours today.

White Wolf
Date: 12/13/2016 2:43:00 AM

This is one of the best I've read on this site mate!

Doug Vinson
Date: 12/13/2016 2:38:00 AM

Whew - thank you, Rick. My opinion - the quatrains rhyming every other line is a thing that takes some getting used to. Not an issue when a poem has very short lines, but with twenty syllables between rhyming words, one's mind has to hold on to the first one for a relatively long time. Perhaps it just takes practice reading sonnets or the like. Perhaps it's more an "adult" thing, versus simpler stuff that would appeal to kids.