Photos by the PoetA Poem on Two Dragon Statues in Vietnam, by G.M.H. Thompson The Society September 28, 2023 Beauty, Ekphrastic, Poetry 8 Comments . Two Dragon Statues Tây Hồ, Hà Nội, Việt Nam, Constructed 2012 They stand on waves just off West Lake’s west bank— two dragon statues—jade ceramic gods commemorating when the Emperor beheld a soaring dragon, Heaven’s sign that Thăng Long should be made the capital, which doomed Hoa Lư, the ancient royal seat, to be forgot, with only fields of rice & limestone peaks its mausoleums now, whereas Hà Nội’s metropolis endures & thrives, a booming heart of industry & art that more than eight million call home. At night Hà Nội’s young couples gather here— the pearls these basilisks enshrine with teeth perhaps are thought to consecrate true love. . . G.M.H. Thompson spent the last year teaching in Ha Noi, Viet Nam. He recently put out a book of illustrated sonnets entitled Quetzalcoatl, available through on Amazon. 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. Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Trending now: 8 Responses Phil L Flott September 28, 2023 Excellent Iambic Pentameter. Reply G.M.H. Thompson November 21, 2023 Oh, thank you. I’ve been reading a lot of the epics lately, so my pen’s in pretty fine form. Reply Paul Freeman September 28, 2023 A tale told so concisely, and I loved the end. Thanks for the read. Reply G.M.H. Thompson November 21, 2023 Thank you & I’m glad you liked it. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant October 1, 2023 A most intriguing piece that paints a vivid picture of the ‘Two Dragon Statues’. I particularly like the closing three lines… a touch of romance and mystique to mull upon. Reply G.M.H. Thompson October 3, 2023 Originally, that tercet read: At night, the lovers come to kiss beneath these civic saints– the pearl each gaping jaw contains perhaps suggests fertility. I think the editor thought this was too risqué or something, so he asked me to change it to what it is now. I still think how I had it at first was better, but you know, it’s whatever, I change them to be how editors like– it still gets the point across. I just wanted to go for more of Stravinsky Rite of Spring sort of feel, you know? Reply BDW October 22, 2023 It’s nice to hear your voice again. I am sorry I got to responding so slowly, but as I write a weekly column of poetry, no week goes by when I am not besieged by time. I would not have it any other way, yet I am sorry for this long delay. Although I’m fighting iambic pentameter generally, I understand why one would use blank verse in attemting to write an epic; since none have outdone Milton in their attempts. Still, all the many epics since his time, show that the genre still has not been scaled with his amazing power. I think all of us, at least from Wordsworth on, have faced it in our own ways, and that variety amazes in and of itself. In “Two Dragon Statuues” I did find the placement of the word “million” awkward, but perhaps no more than most of Milton’s “Paradise Lost”. However, I did like the diction of your “sonnet”; perhaps it will help you to achieve what you desire in your future writing. Reply G.M.H. Thompson November 21, 2023 Well, one of the problems with rhymes in English is they decay so fast. The language has changed at least twice since Chaucer, so a lot of his rhymes didn’t rhyme by Shakespeare’s day, 200 years later, and nowadays, many of Shakespeare’s rhymes don’t rhymes. The metre still holds mostly, although some words lost a syllable here & there. Another problem with rhyming in English is that some ending sounds only have one or two words that actually work. If you read the collected works of Sylvia Plath, you can notice that she actually uses slant rhyme in almost all of her poems (all, almost all of her poems are syllabics, i.e. with a set number of syllables per line), a very innovative way around this problem that additionally avoids another problem of rhyming, namely that rhymed poems often can sound sing-songy and the ending words often sound overly determined by the fact that they have to rhyme, and whether this is true or not, it undermines the effectiveness of those end words. Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
G.M.H. Thompson November 21, 2023 Oh, thank you. I’ve been reading a lot of the epics lately, so my pen’s in pretty fine form. Reply
Paul Freeman September 28, 2023 A tale told so concisely, and I loved the end. Thanks for the read. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant October 1, 2023 A most intriguing piece that paints a vivid picture of the ‘Two Dragon Statues’. I particularly like the closing three lines… a touch of romance and mystique to mull upon. Reply
G.M.H. Thompson October 3, 2023 Originally, that tercet read: At night, the lovers come to kiss beneath these civic saints– the pearl each gaping jaw contains perhaps suggests fertility. I think the editor thought this was too risqué or something, so he asked me to change it to what it is now. I still think how I had it at first was better, but you know, it’s whatever, I change them to be how editors like– it still gets the point across. I just wanted to go for more of Stravinsky Rite of Spring sort of feel, you know? Reply
BDW October 22, 2023 It’s nice to hear your voice again. I am sorry I got to responding so slowly, but as I write a weekly column of poetry, no week goes by when I am not besieged by time. I would not have it any other way, yet I am sorry for this long delay. Although I’m fighting iambic pentameter generally, I understand why one would use blank verse in attemting to write an epic; since none have outdone Milton in their attempts. Still, all the many epics since his time, show that the genre still has not been scaled with his amazing power. I think all of us, at least from Wordsworth on, have faced it in our own ways, and that variety amazes in and of itself. In “Two Dragon Statuues” I did find the placement of the word “million” awkward, but perhaps no more than most of Milton’s “Paradise Lost”. However, I did like the diction of your “sonnet”; perhaps it will help you to achieve what you desire in your future writing. Reply
G.M.H. Thompson November 21, 2023 Well, one of the problems with rhymes in English is they decay so fast. The language has changed at least twice since Chaucer, so a lot of his rhymes didn’t rhyme by Shakespeare’s day, 200 years later, and nowadays, many of Shakespeare’s rhymes don’t rhymes. The metre still holds mostly, although some words lost a syllable here & there. Another problem with rhyming in English is that some ending sounds only have one or two words that actually work. If you read the collected works of Sylvia Plath, you can notice that she actually uses slant rhyme in almost all of her poems (all, almost all of her poems are syllabics, i.e. with a set number of syllables per line), a very innovative way around this problem that additionally avoids another problem of rhyming, namely that rhymed poems often can sound sing-songy and the ending words often sound overly determined by the fact that they have to rhyme, and whether this is true or not, it undermines the effectiveness of those end words. Reply