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      Poetry Challenge: Equilateral Proverbs

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      Epigrams and Proverbs, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
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Reviews

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Reviews

Book Review: Doorway: The English Cantos, Volume III by James Sale

The Society
April 26, 2025
Dante, Epic, Poetry, Reviews
10 Comments
. Book Reviewed: Doorway: The English Cantos, Volume III, by James Sale, 2025 by Cynthia Erlandson It’s been several years since I’ve read Dante’s Divine Comedy; yet as I read James Sale’s Doorway,...

Book Review: Uttering the Unutterable by Louis Groarke

The Society
November 27, 2024
Essays, Poetry, Reviews
30 Comments
. Book Reviewed: Uttering the Unutterable: Aristotle, Religion, and Literature by Louis Groarke, McGill-Queen's University Press, 2023 by Margaret Coats Literature is shortchanged in the modernist and...

Book Review: Legends of Liberty Volume II by Andrew Benson Brown

The Society
June 7, 2024
Poetry, Reviews
4 Comments
. Book Reviewed: Legends of Liberty Volume II by Andrew Benson Brown, Bard Owl Publishing, March 2024 by Theresa Werba Andrew Benson Brown has created a continuation of his Revolutionary War historical mock...

Book Review: What Was and Is—Formal Poetry and Free Verse by Theresa Werba

The Society
May 13, 2024
Poetry, Reviews
5 Comments
. Book Reviewed: What Was and Is---Formal Poetry and Free Verse, by Theresa Werba, Bardsinger Books, April 2024 by James A. Tweedie With What Was and Is—Formal Poetry and Free Verse, Theresa Werba (formerly...

‘Bridgerton’s DEI vs. Historicity’: A Poem by Drilon Bajrami

The Society
May 3, 2024
Culture, Poetry, Reviews
20 Comments
. Bridgerton’s DEI vs. Historicity They sacrifice true historicity, So DEI trumps authenticity. But Bridgerton and Netflix, they don’t care, Because those ethopaths with neon hair Give fat cats in their...

Are Epic Heroes Toxic?—Classical Poets Live with Andrew Benson Brown

The Society
April 21, 2024
Classical Poets Live, Culture, Essays, Poetry, Reviews
11 Comments
. https://youtu.be/ICEvMGx4WnY . . Andrew Benson Brown has had poems and reviews published in a few journals. His epic-in-progress, Legends of Liberty, will chronicle the major events of the American...

Book Review: Songs of My Life and Death by Peter Hartley

The Society
December 21, 2023
Poetry, Reviews
8 Comments
. . Reviewed Book: Songs of My Life and Death by Peter Hartley, Grosvenor House Publishing Limited, May, 2023 by Susan Jarvis Bryant . Songs of My Life and Death is a treasure trove of poetic gems. It is a...

Book Review: Selected Verse of Émile Nelligan: Québec’s Great Lyric Poet, by Ian Allaby

The Society
October 26, 2023
Poetry, Reviews, Translation
8 Comments
. Reviewed Book: Selected Verse of Émile Nelligan: Québec's Great Lyric Poet, translated with commentary by Ian Allaby, Petra Books, 2023 by Gabriella Bedetti His masts touched the sky, he sailed on seas...
poetry/cook/reviews

Poetry Book Review: Making Music by Sally Cook

The Society
September 1, 2023
Art, Poetry, Reviews
16 Comments
. Reviewed Book: Making Music by Sally Cook, White Violet Press, 2012 by Monika Cooper Making Music by Sally Cook is a book that comes with a painting on its cover, a still life no less. Wine-colored drapery...
poetry/tweedie/reviews

Book Review: Poems with a Wink and a Smile by James A. Tweedie

The Society
June 22, 2023
Essays, Poetry, Reviews
14 Comments
. Reviewed Book: Laughing Matters: Poems with a Wink and a Smile by James A. Tweedie, Duncrest Press, 2023 by Theresa Werba This collection of humorous poetry by the excellent James A. Tweedie is more than a...
poetry/benson brown/readings

CPL: ChatGPT Poetry Quiz, Lillian-Yvonne Betram, Interview with James A. Tweedie, and More

The Society
June 11, 2023
Classical Poets Live, Interviews, Poetry, Readings, Reviews, Video
13 Comments
. Classical Poets Live with Andrew Benson Brown Episode 4: Poetry in the Age of AI If you enjoy this video, please like and subscribe on YouTube to support the...
poetry/cooper/reviews

Book Review: Seven Poems by Jacob Balde, Translated by Karl Maurer

The Society
May 20, 2023
Poetry, Reviews, Translation
6 Comments
. Reviewed Book: Seven Poems by Jacob Balde (Translated by Karl Maurer) Cooper and Posey, 2023 by Monika Cooper In 2022, a small and brand-new press launched a paper ship, full of herbs and poppies from...

Review of Modern Art: An Exhibition in Criticism, a Book of Poetry by Michael Curtis

The Society
May 27, 2022
Art, Essays, Poetry, Reviews
11 Comments
. Reviewed Book: Modern Art: An Exhibition in Criticism, by Michael Curtis, National Civic Art Society, 2022 by Evan Mantyk On May 12, 2021, a terrible painting somehow sold for $103 million. It depicts a...

Review of A Thing With Feathers, by J. John Nordstrom

The Society
January 4, 2022
Essays, Love Poems, Poetry, Reviews
2 Comments
. Reviewed Book: A Thing With Feathers, by J. John Nordstrom, independently published, 2021 by Andrew Benson Brown A Thing With Feathers is the debut novel of J. John Nordstrom (the pen name of Joseph J....

Review: Legends of Liberty Volume 1 by Andrew Benson Brown

The Society
August 18, 2021
Culture, Epic, Essays, Humor, Poetry, Reviews
3 Comments
Reviewed Book: Legends of Liberty Volume 1, by Andrew Benson Brown, T A J Classics, 2021 by James Sale Legends of Liberty is an important new poem from the American poet, Andrew Benson Brown. The nearest...

Review: ‘Light In the Darkness—The Poetry of Peter Hartley’

The Society
July 7, 2021
Clerihew, Essays, Poetry, Reviews
19 Comments
Reviewed Book: Light In the Darkness—The Poetry of Peter Hartley, Dunecrest Press, 2021. by James A. Tweedie Peter Hartley writes poems. Good poems. Poems that sing, dance, and soar with the rhyme and...

A Review of James B. Nicola’s ‘Fires of Heaven’

The Society
July 2, 2021
Essays, Poetry, Reviews
7 Comments
Fires of Heaven, published by Shanti Arts, 2020, can be purchased here. by James Sale James B. Nicola is one of America’s brightest poetry stars. His poetry is restless, searching, and soaring. There is,...

A Review of Amanda Hall’s The Gift of Life: An Epic in Verse

The Society
June 12, 2021
Essays, Poetry, Reviews
31 Comments
Reviewed Book: The Gift of Life: An Epic in Verse by Amanda Hall, 2021. by Margaret Coats So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. ---Shakespeare, "Sonnet...

A Review of James A. Tweedie’s Mostly Sonnets: Formal Poetry in an Informal World

The Society
March 3, 2021
Beauty, Essays, Poetry, Reviews
13 Comments
Reviewed Book: Mostly Sonnets: Formal Poetry in an Informal World by James A. Tweedie, Dunecrest Press, July 2019 by Theresa Rodriguez As a fellow sonneteer, I felt like I was reading the words of a kindred...

The Singing Lines of Theresa Rodriguez: A Review of Sonnets

The Society
January 12, 2021
Essays, Poetry, Reviews
13 Comments
by Andrew Benson Brown Theresa Rodriguez, Sonnets. 2nd edition. Shanti Arts, 193 Hillside Road, Brunswick, ME, 04011, 2020. 75 pp. $12.95. In his literary criticism, William Empson showed a subtle...

A Review of Juvenalia by Reid McGrath

The Society
October 12, 2020
Essays, Poetry, Reviews
12 Comments
Juvenalia by Reid McGrath, Kelsay Books, 2019 by James Sale Regular readers of The Society of Classical Poets’ pages will be familiar with the name of Reid McGrath; he has been extensively published...

Ekphrastic Economy: A Review of Memoirs of a Witness Tree, by Randal A. Burd, Jr.

The Society
September 20, 2020
Essays, Poetry, Reviews
6 Comments
Memoirs of a Witness Tree, by Randal A. Burd, Jr. Kelsay Books, 2020 by Andrew Benson Brown Reading Aristotle’s Poetics is in some ways a curious experience for the practitioner of poetry. In this...

The Rebirth of Epic: A Review of James Sale’s HellWard

The Society
August 22, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Epic, Essays, Poetry, Reviews
31 Comments
by Andrew Benson Brown James Sale’s HellWard is the first volume of a planned trilogy entitled The English Cantos. If the quality of the current volume is any indication of the two forthcoming ones, then...

Review: ‘The Stargazers,’ A First Book of Poems by James McKee

The Society
April 9, 2020
Essays, Poetry, Reviews
by T.M. Moore James McKee, The Stargazers (Atmosphere Press, 2020), $17.99 James McKee’s inaugural foray into verse publishing offers a panoply of poetic forms, themes, images, and delights. The Stargazers...

Review: Poetry by Theresa Rodriguez

The Society
November 26, 2019
Essays, Poetry, Reviews
7 Comments
by James Sale Sonnets, 2nd edition. Shanti Arts, 2020 Jesus and Eros, Bardsinger Books, 2014 Theresa Rodriguez is a relatively new and exciting poet on the pages of The Society of Classical Poets. As a...

On Wendy Cope’s Wasteland Limericks (Essay)

The Society
May 15, 2019
Culture, Essays, Humor, Limerick, Poetry, Reviews
6 Comments
by Lew Icarus Bede The way I dealt with T. S. Eliot's The Wasteland was to write a poem, equally desperate, in that same allusive style—with notes. That unpublished poem Cicadas' Voices, written in the...

Review: “Profane and Sacred Love” by William Ruleman

The Society
March 14, 2019
Beauty, Essays, Poetry, Reviews
2 Comments
William Ruleman: Profane and Sacred Love, Feather Books, 2002 and reprint 2014 by James Sale Having read some excellent poetry by William Ruleman on the pages of the SCP I determined to buy a collection so...

Review: In the Measuring, Carol Smallwood, Shanti Arts 2018

The Society
November 3, 2018
Beauty, Essays, Poetry, Reviews
12 Comments
by James Sale Carol Smallwood In the Measuring is a substantial new collection of 77 poems by Carol Smallwood. Carol is well-known to readers of The Society of Classical Poets, as her poems regularly...

Review: Selected Poems from Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal, Translated by Helen Palma

The Society
October 17, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Essays, Poetry, Reviews
10 Comments
by Joseph Charles MacKenzie Read the Selected Poems from Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal online. Email [email protected] for details on purchasing the book. Two arts are beautifully displayed in...

Review: Two Poetry Books by James B. Nicola

The Society
September 24, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Essays, Humor, Poetry, Reviews
3 Comments
by James Sale Wind in the Cave, Finishing Line Press, 2017 Out of Nothing, Shanti Arts Publishing, 2018 Recently in a poetry review of another poet on these pages I commented that the poet had included 33...

Review: ‘Organ Harvest’ by Damian Robin

The Society
July 20, 2018
Culture, Essays, Human Rights in China, Poetry, Reviews
5 Comments
Organ Harvest by Damian Robin, published by Fulton Verse, 2018. Read three sonnets from the work here.  by James Sale Damian Robin is well known to readers of the Society of Classical Poets web...

Review: Three Poetry Books by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
June 20, 2018
Culture, Essays, Poetry, Reviews
33 Comments
by James Sale FORMAL COMPLAINTS by Joseph S. Salemi, Somer Rocks Press, 1997 MASQUERADE by Joseph S. Salemi, Somer Rocks Press, 2005 SKIRMISHES by Joseph S. Salemi, Pivot Press, 2010 I first encountered...

Rediscovering Percy Shelley’s Greatest Work: ‘Prometheus Unbound, with Other Poems’

The Society
January 25, 2018
Beauty, Best Poems, Culture, Essays, Poetry, Reviews
8 Comments
By Brett Forester Writing but one fine, enduring poem is a remarkable achievement. Writing a book of great poems is an even rarer triumph. Yet in 1820, British Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (born...

Review: What Is Shen Yun All About?

The Society
January 19, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Essays, Human Rights in China, Music, Performing Arts, Poetry, Reviews
42 Comments
By Evan Mantyk Advertising for it is everywhere. If you haven’t seen it, you just haven’t been paying attention. A brilliantly colored image depicts a Chinese woman striking an airborne pose. But what is...

Book Review: Groans From Old Bones by William F.E. Morley (1920 – )

The Society
September 25, 2017
Essays, Poetry, Reviews
4 Comments
Click here to download the entire book as a pdf file. By Leonard Dabydeen In the fraternity of poetic minds we can luxuriate joyously on the richness of old age, or on becoming old but fresh as sunshine...

Review: Wolfe and Other Poems by Donald Mace Williams, Wundor Editions, 2017

The Society
September 2, 2017
Essays, Poetry, Reviews
3 Comments
By James Sale Donald Mace Williams Wolfe and Other Poems is an extraordinarily good collection of poems, clearly written by a veteran writer. The underlying credo of the collection is very aptly summed...

Classical Book Review: The Icelandic Sagas: Tales of Kings and Heroes (Folio)

Joshua Philipp
August 16, 2017
Essays, Poetry, Reviews
By Joshua Philipp Abbie Farwell Brown described the far north in his 1902 book, "In The Days of Giants," as "the land of the midnight sun, where summer is green and pleasant, but winter is a terrible time...

Essay: Leo Yankevich: un Coup d’œil (A Glance)

The Society
July 27, 2017
Deconstructing Communism, Essays, Reviews
48 Comments
This essay was written in 2007 and has remained unpublished until now. by Ludiew E. Sarceb Few of the contemporary poets with whom I am familiar have any profound sense of history (and, therefore, of our...

Classical Book Review: John Keats: Poetry of Quiet Longing and Natural Beauty (Folio)

Joshua Philipp
July 12, 2017
Essays, Poetry, Reviews
2 Comments
By Joshua Philipp The poetry of John Keats is known for its light and dreamy nature. Even in his time, in the early 1800s, he was considered old-fashioned, both in his topics and in his style of writing. He...

Classical Book Review: Dante’s Vita Nuova and Reflections on Divine Love (Folio)

Joshua Philipp
June 20, 2017
Dante, Essays, Poetry, Reviews, Translation
4 Comments
By Joshua Philipp The Italian poet Dante Alighieri is best known for his journey into hell, purgatory, and heaven which he told of in his "Divine Comedy." But before he took that journey, he took a very...
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  1. Russel Winick on ‘The Water Closet’ and Other Bathroom Poetry by Cheryl CoreyMay 16, 2025

    So Cheryl - this one is in your honor, for introducing the topic: HOW TO NOT RUIN YOUR DAY For…

  2. C.B. Anderson on ‘Pressed for Time’: A Poem by C.B. AndersonMay 16, 2025

    Exactly, James. We theosophers call it the mystery of existence.

  3. C.B. Anderson on ‘Pressed for Time’: A Poem by C.B. AndersonMay 16, 2025

    Well, Alan, you must have heard already that old trope: Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to…

  4. Cheryl A Corey on ‘Going Home to Campania’: A Poem by Patricia Rogers CrozierMay 16, 2025

    Very effective how you begin and end the poem with contrasting images of both road and pines, past and present.…

  5. Cheryl A Corey on ‘The Water Closet’ and Other Bathroom Poetry by Cheryl CoreyMay 16, 2025

    Thanks, Russel. I learned of Sir John Harrington in a book I'm reading, and that became the impetus for the…

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