I Allegro Amabile
Shakespeare denies that love can be love
which alters when it alteration finds.
Experience informs me otherwise.
That first euphoric flurry
bears us onward in impetuosity
from first encounter
through exploration,
discovery,
exposed illusion.
Ephemeral glory
but love for all that.
II Allegro Appassionato-Sostenuto-Tempo I
Stormy transition morphs to humdrum
climbs to summit and back again –
swell to great with crashing chords
in clashes of divergent moods;
slides subtly through moderato
via pause and repeat to gentle
understanding. Calm acceptance
rules resurgence of passion
to tenderness and back again –
another kind of love.
III Andante con Moto – Allegro
Another kind of love – despite of wrinkles
this thy golden time –
all passion not quite spent,
progression from hectic,
through stately to humdrum
and back again.
Togetherness a bulwark
against worldly pressure
to ripening harvest of creative pleasure
as time accelerates towards conclusion.
Another kind of love.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lrY7rpA
Process Notes: Joseph Harker never fails to challenge us, stretching my poeming to its limits and beyond. Last week at http://namingconstellations.wordpress.com/2012/03/03/reverie-nine-sunlight-sonata/ he proposes a Sonata poem, with lots of ideas of how to go about it. Yesterday I listened all morning to Brahms Sonata Op.120 No.2 for clarinet and piano on repeat, while baking bread and attending to sundry household tasks. The music, which is some of the most difficult I have ever played, is full of passion tempered with calm passages. My thoughts turned to marriage and its evolution. The first section quotes from Shakespeare, Sonnet CXVII, and the last from Sonnet III. Swell to Great is a coupler on a pipe organ, linking two big pipes to produce a thunderous sound. My poem echoes in part the cadence of the music, with rather too many mixed metaphors, but so be it, I’ve done my best. All suggestions for improvement gratefully received.
Also posted at http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/?zx=b5584de227c1b80e, for the prompt ‘love and affection’ in a post about singer Joan Armitrading, and for the Open Link Night at the poets’ pub: http://dversepoets.com/2012/03/13/openlinknight-week-35/
You certainly capture the seasons of love in all their diversity and truth. The metaphor of musical modes makes the progression that much more effective. Oh if only we had the passion of love that we had as youths. But then I spent my love on poetry, a harsh and often cruel paramour! 🙂 A wonderful poem with wise words for all.
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Thank you, Chazinator. Tis true that age lends a more balanced perspective to the issues that cause us so much angst in youth.
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i admire your talent. ♥
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A progression in and off itself, one your capture greatly through each chapter, wonderfully done.
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Fine expression of Love’s many shades.
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This has a definite Shakespearean cadence–and I can sense some music within the structure, as well–though I’m ignorant when it comes to classical music–still I can feel a pulse of it here, so I think you did something right.
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nice…i love your progression through the changes in love throughout its life…and your titles play very well with each as well…i think i like the last one the best…
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Amazing things going on here with sound devices, especially in the second stanza, and you did a grand job of having the words mimic their topic. I’d want to hear that piece of music as well, as I suspect it would complement this nicely.
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What an amazing way to create a poem, listening to a sonata repeat as you bake bread. I am impressed, by the process and by the result, so very well done.
K
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very nice! “exposed illusion,” yes, indeed.
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Viv, this is such a great metaphore. I, too, heard the Wow in my head (just as Misk did) and could think of nothing really meaningful to say. The transition between parts and ages is very well felt and written. I liked it a lot!
Best, M.
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Thank you, Mariya. Metaphor is not my forte, but I was determined to get there with this one.
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This is music. Glorious music.
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I too, enjoyed the tempo in this, Viv.
Pamela
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A huge jump in tempo and rhythm between I and II, which I found exciting. I actually heard the word Wow in my head as I read it. The theme touched me deeply, as my MIL is undertaking chemotherapy next week, FIL recovering from a stroke, and my hair is thinning faster than my husband’s, and time is flying furiously. I think that your efforts are well rewarded with a great piece of work. Well done, Viv.
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Sorry you’re all having such a tough time. Hair is rapidly moving house – from head to chin! Thank you for your kind comments.
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I just remind myself that im not the one with cancer or a stroke. Perspective is important, I think.
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I love the progression of this, Viv. I can’t find fault.
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I wish you would – there must be loads.
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You are so amazingly creative, Viv.
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