Today’s poem is a prayer. It has been a difficult week: not a disaster, but still one to test the limits of my faith. I have tried to express something of the emotions of the week in this poem, one of the more rigid poetic structures, the ballade. A ballade has a structure of threeContinue reading “Experiments in Form Part 8: The Ballade”
Author Archives: Matthew Pullar
I was teaching rhyming couplets when…
I presented some students today with the first half of a rhyming couplet for them to finish. The reuiqrement was that their line had rhyme with my line and had to be written in iambic pentameter. Here is my original line with a student’s response: Behold, upon the sky I saw a star, A star,Continue reading “I was teaching rhyming couplets when…”
The Dragon
It starts off with these superficial scales: They come off easily; I watch them fall Into the water, washed in streams away. But soon, although my nails scratch away And wish by force of will to make this fall – The outward garb of inner greed; these scales, Practised and rehearsed for years – allContinue reading “The Dragon”
Sonnet for Dave Brubeck
Quiet as the moon your fingers whisper With the cries of men who dream the sky; The smiles of your fingers glister With the father’s eloquent reply. While the evening’s solemn stillness floats high, Flute as soft as windbreath, new as morning, Dances over desert sands and faint, dry, Tempted souls, the nighttime of theirContinue reading “Sonnet for Dave Brubeck”
…and after you have done everything, to stand (For Charles Simeon, Evangelist)
Yes, you are tired, it hurts, you are weak; the stubborn pewholders are locking their pews, the church doors are closed on Sunday afternoons; and every sabbath morning hearts and ears are locked; the harvest falls daily upon the hardest soil and while you speak to parched, dead bones, your throat too grows dry. ButContinue reading “…and after you have done everything, to stand (For Charles Simeon, Evangelist)”
Experiments in Form Part 7: Striking
Today is Armistice Day, or Remembrance Day, so I have written a poem in honour of what the day represents. We all know that the war to end all wars did not succeed; but in Jesus Christ there is a prospect of true peace one day soon. This poem is also my experiment with anapesticContinue reading “Experiments in Form Part 7: Striking”
Armistice (For Martin of Tours)
Too long he had served Caesar; now The soldier put down his arms. He gave his cloak up to the beggar And stood while others called him weak. When peace was signed, they let him go, That coward who’d betrayed his king, But Martin had another Lord And left to fight for Him. He felledContinue reading “Armistice (For Martin of Tours)”
The Widow’s Offering (Twenty-Fourth Sunday After Pentecost)
Naomi cries for joy because A child now rests at her breast; The mother and her child eat – The oil is still pouring; The widow offers up her coins, The all she has to give, for He Is her all in all. And all the lowly ones lift up Their heads to see HimContinue reading “The Widow’s Offering (Twenty-Fourth Sunday After Pentecost)”
Experiments in Form Part 6: More finger exercises
One thing that happens when working in a fixed meter is that the poem’s rhythm can start to sound forced. It can also give the poem a momentum which is hard to break; it makes short and elegant poems feel abrupt, simply because bringing the momentum to a close quickly is a challenging thing. OneContinue reading “Experiments in Form Part 6: More finger exercises”
Experiments in Form Part 5: Finger Exercises
The third of the four main poetic feet, the dactylic foot, is perhaps the most fun to play with, though also very challenging. Its name comes from “dactyl” for “finger” and it relates to the three sections of the finger: one long, two short, meaning one stressed beat followed by two unstressed beats. It givesContinue reading “Experiments in Form Part 5: Finger Exercises”
The Consolations of Writing 