... of a day full of clay, and work, and fire,
It was the voice of mad seas, the great roar,
In a drafty museum: your nakedness
Through leafy solitudes and quiet nooks
Sun struck the water like a damnation
Transfixed by glare of blue from gorgon's eye
beneath the springtime of an apple tree.
Worthless such vision to eyes gone dull
While men pay reverence to mighty things,
obscure: the scalding sun till no clocks move
and the infinity of mathematics.
In the trembling of an infinite kiss,
The petals of the vagina unfold
Couched in cauls of clay as in holy robes
Gulls in a feathered fugue of wings outdo.
the history of melancholia
Ousts mistier peers and thrives, murderous,
yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red
Who totters forth, wrapp'd in a gauzy veil,
To her breast, like a fly on a flower.
Her green eyes slant, hair flaring in a fan
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command,
And pick the worms off me like sticky pearls,
As those whose beauties proudly make them cruel:
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
turning back to the chalk of the sources,
sing to the simple maize in the kitchen
That looks on tempests and is never shaken
in a thousand tiny reservations
letting the dead ride alone in the hearse.
Author notes
syllabic. rhymed.
final line stanza 1 rhymes with final line stanza 4
stanzaic rhymes
lst stanza aa
2nd stanza aaee
3rd stanza aaii
4rth stanza aabbbccc
Sonnet VIII: If your eyes were not the color of the moon
Pablo Neruda
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/8573-Pablo-Neruda-Sonnet-VIII--If-your-eyes-were-not--the-color-of-the-moon
of a day full of clay, and work, and fire,
Opehlia
Arthur Rimbaud
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/44934-Arthur-Rimbaud-Ophelia-
It was the voice of mad seas, the great roar,
Morning Song
Sylvia Plath
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/8465-Sylvia-Plath-Morning-Song
In a drafty museum, your nakedness
The Lonely God
James Stephens
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/27590-James-Stephens-The-Lonely-God
Through leafy solitudes and quiet nooks
Suicide Off Egg Rock
Sylvia Plath
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/40242-Sylvia-Plath-Suicide-Off-Egg-Rock
Sun struck the water like a damnation.
Prologue to Spring
Sylvia Plath
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/40235-Sylvia-Plath-Prologue-To-Spring
Transfixed by glare of blue from gorgon's eye;
Ode To Sadness
Pablo Neruda
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/8389-Pablo-Neruda-Ode-To-Sadness
beneath the springtime of an apple tree.
On The Decline Of Oracles
Sylvia Plath
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/55433-Sylvia-Plath-On-The-Decline-Of-Oracles
Worthless such vision to eyes gone dull
England
Thomas Bailey Aldrich
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/34725-Thomas-Bailey-Aldrich-England
While men pay reverence to mighty things,
Sonnet To Satan
Sylvia Plath
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/40240-Sylvia-Plath-Sonnet-To-Satan
obscure the scalding sun till no clocks move
War
Arthur Rimbaud
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/45558-Arthur-Rimbaud-War
and the infinity of mathematics
Sun And Flesh (Credo In Unam)
Arthur Rimbaud
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/44933-Arthur-Rimbaud-Sun-And-Flesh--Credo-In-Unam-
In the trembling of an infinite kiss!
Discover
Richard Brautigan
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/10546-Richard-Brautigan-Discovery
The petals of the vagina unfold
The Dead
Sylvia Plath
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/24385-Sylvia-Plath-The-Dead
Couched in cauls of clay as in holy robes,
Midsummer Mobile
Sylvia Plath
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/55430-Sylvia-Plath-Midsummer-Mobile
Gulls in a feathered fugue of wings. Outdo
Melancholia
Charles Bukowski
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/10715-Charles-Bukowski-Melancholia
the history of melancholia
Poems, Potatoes
Sylvia Plath
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/13610-Sylvia-Plath-Poems--Potatoes
Ousts mistier peers and thrives, murderous,
Ode to the West Wind
Percy Bysshe Shelley
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/7651-Percy-Bysshe-Shelley-Ode-to-the-West-Wind
Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red,
And Like A Dying Lady, Lean and Pale
Percy Bysshe Shelley
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/4831-Percy-Bysshe-Shelley-And-like-a-Dying-Lady--Lean-and-Pale
Who totters forth, wrapp'd in a gauzy veil,
First Evening (Premier Soiree)
Arthur Rimbaud
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/44931-Arthur-Rimbaud-First-Evening--Premi-re-Soir-e-
To her breast, like a fly on a flower.
Cinderella
Sylvia Plath
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/13244-Sylvia-Plath-Cinderella
Her green eyes slant, hair flaring in a fan
Ozymandias
Percy Bysshe Shelley
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/7128-Percy-Bysshe-Shelley-Ozymandias
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Lady Lazarus
Sylvia Plath
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/8464-Sylvia-Plath-Lady-Lazarus
And pick the worms off me like sticky pearls.
Sonnet 131
William Shakespeare
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/47858-William-Shakespeare-Sonnet-131---Thou-art-as-tyrannous--so-as-thou-art-----
As those whose beauties proudly make them cruel;
Ode To Autumn
John Keats
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/4333-John-Keats-Ode-To-Autumn
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Some Beasts
Pablo Neruda
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/8270-Pablo-Neruda-Some-Beasts
turning back to the chalk of the sources.
Ode To Maize
Pablo Neruda
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/8388-Pablo-Neruda-Ode-To-Maize
sing to the simple maize in the kitchen.
Sonnet 116
William Shakespeare
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/7126-William-Shakespeare-Sonnet-116---Let-me-not-to-the-marriage-of-true-minds----
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
We Are Many
Pablo Neruda
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/8622-Pablo-Neruda-We-Are-Many
in a thousand tiny reservations.
The Truth The Dead Know
Anne Sexton
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/9891-Anne-Sexton-The-Truth-The-Dead-Know
letting the dead ride alone in the hearse.
A contest entry
- Cento Challenge by JM Kenyon.
2400 points, ended August 15, 5 entries
Gold trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
-
You have an absolutely stunning cento here
You've done a fabulous job melting these lines together into a rhythm quite suited to the title and topic. There is a great deal of powerful metaphor in this piece that gives me a lot to think about. So many different poems and authors have come together in this piece to make it a unique experience to read and enjoy. Very well done!
s and best wishes always... ~Genie~
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