Sir Edmund Clerihew Bentley
passed away, so he sent me.
He wrote of gumshoe detectives,
and eschewed dumb invectives.
Skillary Spillary
Sir Edmund Hillary
Climber, Philanthropist
First up Mount Everest
Liked to keep bees
New Zealand juvenile
High-altitudinal
Knighted in fifty three
Maintained humility
Loved Nepalese
Lake Superior, Gitche Gumee
November winds, fear starts boiling.
The ship creaks, groans, twists, water spumy;
Thoughts of loved ones waiting on shore pushed aside.
Evil eye of the storm is coiling
And springs to release twenty-nine souls into the debris.
The church bell twenty-nine times is tolling.
As a tribute to Sir Edmund Clerihew Bentley
I now write this unique form- consequently
Two rhyming couplets, with line lengths unequal
I'll tribute myself...in my clerihew sequel
Clerihew Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Regina McIntosh
12/18/20
In his youth he became an Anglican deacon,
but the doubts about Protestantism beset him
and after further study,
he returned to Catholicism.
Young Jesuit priest,
arrested by priest hunters
in Anglican England
for teaching about the Christ.
He was convicted of high treason
and executed in England,
which had been Catholic for a 1000 of years,
later religious difficulties arose.
Priest Campion said before his martyrdom:
"In condemning us, the Catholic priests,
you condemn all your own ancestors,
all our ancient bishops and kings…”
The only thing necessary
for the triumph of evil
is for good men
to do nothing.
Edmund Burke 1795.
Elizabeth alexander 15/3/2016
this deserves to be resurrected.
O' lovely maid, in solitaire
so fair of cheek and silken hair
A wistful look upon her face
It matters not that she is late
This Sunday morning at the gate
she halts as if to hesitate
and looks around with hopeful chance
as if to take a second glance
for someone whom we cannot see
who stands in shadows out of view
to join her in the morning dew.
Perchance her love will join her there
and stroll with her in autumn air
She waits a moment at the gate
with silver threads laced over blue
a shawl of pink and flowered hat
in pastel shades of vast array
Blended scents of wild bouquet
where grasses grow beyond the road
in golden waves of amber hue
Flowers sprouting here and there
A steeple sits upon the hill
A stroller on his way to church
admires with secret glance
I wonder if she'll stroll the path
or if she'll turn the other way
to walk until she finds a place
to sit and pray, or fall from grace...
Or worship God in her own way
embraced by Sunday's autumn day
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inspired By Isaiah Zerbst's Contest: Edmund Blair Leighton Paintings
Edmund Clerihew-Bently,
In science class, listened intently,
Wrote biographies in four short lines,
Invented his own poetic designs.
Edmund becomes the code
Traversing he's a node
He spies the bug
A recursive slug
Triumphant to his abode
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.