"Macbeth Instructing the Murderers Employed to Kill Banquo" by George Cattermole‘Those Days and These’ and Other Poetry by Jane Blanchard The Society February 9, 2018 Culture, Humor, Poetry 6 Comments Those Days and These “‘. . . Macbeth does murther sleep.’” —William Shakespeare If only such a villain were __Alone in this regard, The course of human history __Would prove to be less hard. Mythology and scripture are __Replete with deadly deeds Conducted by those seeking to __Meet wants as well as needs. No time nor place nor culture has __Been spared the ugly strife In which some individual __Cuts short another’s life. The crime, however plotted, tends __To take a double toll: It kills the victim’s body and __The perpetrator’s soul. Drill The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. —common pangram (using every letter in the alphabet) What if the lazy dog jumped up and chased the quick brown fox out of the yard? Type that for extra credit if you dare! Hands placed and fingers poised? Go! . . . Hmm, not quite down pat. Good effort, but you might do better if you practiced more. I know, I know, today thumbs are the means to text a verbal riff; voice recognition software is the way to turn ideas into documents. The keyboard, though, is not yet obsolete; technology, like teaching, re-invents itself, and your coursework is incomplete. Regardless of what happens out of class, you must type well enough in here to pass. Jane Blanchard lives and writes in Georgia. One of her sonnets recently won the inaugural Letheon Poetry Prize. She has two collections—Unloosed and Tides & Currents—both with Kelsay Books. NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets. The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary. 6 Responses Joe Tessitore February 9, 2018 Loved them both – well done Jane! Reply James Sale February 10, 2018 Wonderful – simple but effective and telling: love your Macbeth commentary. Reply James A. Tweedie February 10, 2018 Those Days and These is masterfully done; succinct and pointed as a dagger. There is profound truth in your words and, unfortunately, the truth is sometimes both hard to hear and hard to bear. Thank you. Reply Cause Bewilder February 13, 2018 Ms. Blanchard, in both poems, shows a sure poetic touch: some interesting turns of phrase in the balladic “Those Days and These,” and excellent diction in “Drill,” with the break into the sestet at line nine of the English sonnet. The second-person point-of-view reminds me of a poem I did on the “famed” pangrammic sentence; but your poem expands into the New Millennium with a finer, thematic sweep. It is the poise that I admire; it takes a lot of work to achieve that. Reply Dave Whippman February 14, 2018 I really liked “Drill.” Clever stuff. Reply David Hollywood February 18, 2018 Wonderful poems. Thank you. Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
James Sale February 10, 2018 Wonderful – simple but effective and telling: love your Macbeth commentary. Reply
James A. Tweedie February 10, 2018 Those Days and These is masterfully done; succinct and pointed as a dagger. There is profound truth in your words and, unfortunately, the truth is sometimes both hard to hear and hard to bear. Thank you. Reply
Cause Bewilder February 13, 2018 Ms. Blanchard, in both poems, shows a sure poetic touch: some interesting turns of phrase in the balladic “Those Days and These,” and excellent diction in “Drill,” with the break into the sestet at line nine of the English sonnet. The second-person point-of-view reminds me of a poem I did on the “famed” pangrammic sentence; but your poem expands into the New Millennium with a finer, thematic sweep. It is the poise that I admire; it takes a lot of work to achieve that. Reply
