Poetry

. A Definition of Formal (or “Classical”) Poetry by James A. Tweedie One of the frequent comment threads on SCP involves the subject of the nature of poetry, including what it is and how it exists as an identifiable and distinct literary form. Aristotle, Keats and everybody else who has...

. . Introduction Percy Bysshe Shelley was born August 4, 1792 and died in a boating accident on July 8, 1822. To mark the 200th anniversary of his death, Guntbert “Gunny” Markefka and the Powerpoets Project (© 2022) have put Shelley's poem "Line to an Indian Air" to music. Set...

. America’s Most Mysterious Monument The first of the anonymously funded Georgia Guidestone’s guidelines: “Maintain humanity under 500,000,000” “The world population is over 8,000 million. According to the Georgia Guidestones, this figure needs to be reduced to 500 million. In other words, the population needs to be reduced by 95%---15...

. The Pigeon Once upon a workday morning, sleepy-eyed and loudly yawning, I was splattered without warning by a pigeon from the shore. At my half unconscious stupor, this unpardonable pooper, Took his aim just like a trooper from a raging bloody war, And he peppered me with pigeon poop...

. Pets and People Do cats and kittens ever wonder Why their owners have no fur? Do dogs think it was blind fate’s blunder That the likes of humans were Afflicted with this vile condition, Curse of their unique position On this crazy planet earth? Or do all furred ones,...

. O Say, Can You See?   Let’s think as we sink into star-spangled wonder, Intolerable acts were the reason to fight Each pillaging bully who’d brazenly plunder The treasures of those who were drawn to the light. Let’s ponder the journey, the valiant history Of pilgrims in search of the...

. Anew Whisk me away to the mountainside. __Spirit me far to the glen. For I long to find that secret place __Where I can begin again. All of us long at least once in our lives __To flee from all that is known. But most of us die with...

. Riddle This tiny thief Has ground to grief Many a mighty poem, No wiser for The learned lore He nibbles, tome by tome— But though he'll munch My words for lunch, He never eats his own. . . Name the Novel O Little Bear! O Greenyfinch! O Snowflake, Little Swan! The fire's...

. A Ballade on Being Commissioned  Twixt Florence and the Holy See Of every artist you could hire You thought it meet to torture me. You gave no weight to my desire But quick to wield the Church’s ire Commissioned me to paint for you And mount a scaffold ever...

. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHUuaA8DKiQ . On Palestrina's Music Sicut cervus desiderat ad fontes aquarum, Ita desiderat anima mea ad te, Deus. Psalmus 41:2 As the deer desires springs of water, So my soul desires you, O God. Psalm 42:1 __Like the deer who longs for water ____And finds a living source, Listeners...

. Our 2023 Haiku Competition is on now HERE. WHO Anyone in the world, of any age or background, may participate. Among members of the Society of Classical Poets, everyone including Advisory Board members may participate, if not involved in judging the contest. The winner, if not resident in the...

. How to Write Haiku What Makes a Good Haiku? by Margaret Coats The required 5-7-5 syllable form alone does not make a haiku. A good haiku ⦁ presents an observation of nature, or of human activities in nature ⦁ uses present tense (“goes” or “going,” not “went” or “has...

. You are invited to a reading of poetry that shines a light on the plight of ordinary, innocent people in China today who are unjustly persecuted by the communist government---a government indirectly funded by you, me, and everyone reading this. . Submit to Read Anyone published by the Society...

. Gleam by Any Means The poem that I seek to write, the piece with flair and form, Which raises spirits high as clouds on zephyr breezes warm, Or states a truth in such a way that brings a tear to the eye Remains, for now, elusive as a mist...

. Groomers   The words the school kids speak are not their own--- Fiends mold the untrained brain till every thought Is hostage to their noxious sexual drone. Their toxic tongues are rife with hype that’s wrought To prey on pliant minds and sully souls--- To torture and contort truth to...

. Life Is a Dream by Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600-1681) Translated by Elwin Wirkala The king dreams he is king, and lives with this deception ordering, disposing of and governing, and all the applauses he receives are but a loan writ on the wind and burnt to ashes...

. On Rupert Sheldrake’s Morphic Fields Are we just rats within a maze? Perhaps. But then perhaps there’s more to rats than what We know. Take for example rats completing A water-maze within a lab at Harvard. At first they're slow, of course, but soon they change. A drive to...

. https://youtu.be/DIhS6QTHh90 . Hosted by British poet James Sale and held by the Society of Classical Poets, the theme of this reading is classical figures in the broad sense. The 100 Days of Dante Poetry Competition’s winning poems are part of the event, as well as poems from the SCP's...

. The Requisite I may have made a great mistake In my pursuit of solitude and grace; Perhaps have stumbled unaware Into an all-too-human ache I don’t know I’ve the fortitude to face Or honesty its source to bare. The emptying I thought I sought Has as indeed I’d planned...

. Abiding Senescence My energy and physical abilities Will not again be limitless as once they were. To those more qualified to ponder facts like these, Without a single qualm or doubt I will defer. They tell me I should try to get more exercise, To do my best to...

. “Upon These Boughs that Shake Against the Cold” ---Shakespeare, Sonnet 73 Her script was always lovely and unique, And still unique when it began to wobble, Along with spoken words. Increasing trouble With memory made her less inclined to speak. But still, she wrote her letters. Before we’d started...

. There Is a Quiet Place There is a quiet place Where we can go to hide. A place where no one sees us, That cannot be denied. There is a quiet place Where we can go to think. A place to solve our problems And get our life in...

. Advice from the Untalented They smugly said I’d never make much money From playing with my words and making art, That it would be a waste to spread such honey So any fool could tear the thing apart. “Forget it! You have always been contrarian. There’s money to be...

. Australia in 2022 written on the eve of a federal election where everything is at stake but nothing is on the agenda. A nation now in name and nothing more, Misruled by milquetoast middle-managers Impervious to shame, who proudly whore Themselves for pittance, making mortgagors Of unborn souls and...

. “In God We Trust” The motto for our nation boldly states, “In God we trust,” Which is, of course, a matter for each person to decide. We can’t assume such faith is held by all, nor is it just To claim it as prerequisite for patriotic pride. But even...

. Tongues as of Fire If men desire to find belief, to sing It out through throats works best to make the soul Embrace it.  This will make the sought faith zing Behind their hearts and manliness’s whole. The faith will throb straight through the tenor throats, The baritones and...

. The Duke D’Alençon Meets Joan of Arc What task from the dauphin comes to me hence? A lowly maid now seeks his audience. This Joan, a girl from province unheard of, They say she can hear voices from above. I care not for such things, but like the rest...

. An Open Poem to Evil “Gravity is real... it’s hard to keep a bag of shit in the air forever.” ---Alex Wilhelm You goofy spoofin’ kooks are pitchin’ poop. You’re selling poison no one wants to buy. A man can be a woman? That’s a scoop! To groom and...

. Apollo in Retirement Quite early he approached a humble hut, With saxifrage and canneberge sun-brewed To melt the stone that galled the shepherd’s gut, And brighten him with warmth of health renewed. The healer was a handsome older man, Not much accustomed to go far beyond Spheres where his...

. A Glass for My Father Marie-Maurille de Virot, Mademoiselle de Sombreuil (February 14, 1768—May 15, 1823) My father was the Marquis de Sombreuil: An old man when it happened, but back then The Revolution took no note of age, Of sex, infirmities, or past distinction. All they saw was...

. On the Extradition of Julian Assange The fiends who wield the power here on earth (The ones who gag our speech to gain control) Are shouting out just what the truth is worth By extraditing this heroic soul. For outing scarlet hand and darkest deed, The honest will be...

. Who Bled When all is said and life be trod, One takeaway the Son of God Made clear, when rising from the dead? The winner here's the Guy who bled. . . Alec Ream is a writer living in Virginia. His poetic work and creative fiction have been widely published....

. A Modernization of “To His Coy Mistress” You say we should some years delay The coming of our wedding day, But God commanded us to try To fruitful be and multiply. To make new life, we cannot shirk; The night shall come, when none can work. Just as she...

. In Praise of Bollywood To India! To visit from afar... My journey there would be a dream fulfilled. To visit Delhi, Agra, Bangalore, To ride an elephant, pluck a sitar; I’d see a thousand temples loudly filled And visit ruins steeped in Sanskrit lore. How I regret I’ve never...

. Speechless I have smelt the perfect scent of the flower of a rose, Known intoxicated freedom where frangipani grows. Watched majestic rivers meet the wild and moody sea, And flown right over mountains where only gods should be. I have drunk the purest water in the deepest caves on...

. Decolonising the Curriculum – Dual Scenario on Salford University's recent treatment of the sonnet. We must decolonise our poetry Because it’s the twenty-first century, So don’t get preachy, telling me We owe it to ourselves and our ancient codes To read sonnets and odes, To write limericks and rondeaux,...

. Why This Time, Why This Place? When I die And leave this land, Please dear Lord Extend Your hand. Extend Your hand To this good soul, Who finds this life Does take a toll. The toll it takes Has many forms, Do this, do that--- One must conform. Conform...

. . My Thoughts Laid Bear  “Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering” ---Winnie the Pooh I like to mull. I like to muse. I like perusing others’ views. Philosophers, I've read a few (a Sartre,...

. What Is “Pro-Choice"? If my child were sent to die, Be chopped to pieces like a pig, To spare him death, I’d plead and beg, __His life with mine to buy. Yet pregnant moms demand their “rights” To chop their children in their wombs In hit-men’s bright and sterile...

. Classical Poetry and the Martial Ethos by Andrew Benson Brown . The Heroic Age Towards the end of “Egil’s Saga,” one of the masterpieces of Icelandic literature, the eponymous hero composes a verse to eulogize a fallen friend: . Their numbers are dwindling, the famous warriors who met with...