Cryptic Armature: Verses in the Manner of....
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About this ebook
More than just a collection of verses, this book is something of an informal commentary on the history of English literature, something of a conversation with a few of the finest poets in the language. These original poems are written “in the manner of...,” using forms and structures pioneered by great writers (and occasionally artists) of the past to create something contemporary and modern.
Michael R. Collings
I am a professor emeritus of English at Pepperdine University in Malibu CA (although my retirement home is in southwestern Idaho). During my twenty-seven years at Pepperdine I taught everything from Freshman Composition to Advanced Grammar to Business Writing; from Survey of English Literature to Milton and the Epic; from Introduction to Creative Writing to Senior Seminars in Writing.Along the way, I discovered the joys of writing, not just to meet requirements for graduate degrees or to insure tenure, but for myself--saying things in a way that might make my thoughts more interesting for readers and thereby invite them back into the books I talked about. Most of my academic writing relates to authors I love: John Milton, the great 17th-century English poet, on the one hand; Stephen King, Orson Scott Card, Piers Anthony, and additional science fiction, fantasy, and horror writers on the other.But my real love now is creative writing: novels, short stories, and most especially poetry. My offerings range from the three-line haiku found in Tissue Promises to a 6,500-line epic, The Nephiad. And everything in between.Please let me know what you think at my website: http://www.starshineandshadows.com/
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Cryptic Armature - Michael R. Collings
Cryptic Armature
Verses in the Manner of….
Michael R. Collings
Published by Michael R. Collings at Smashwords
Copyright 2010 Michael R. Collings
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Other titles by Michael R. Collings
At Smashwords.com:
Shorts: Terse Verse at: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/26188
Going on a Picnic: Poems Especially for Children at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/25752
A Quizzical Verse: Limericks Comic and Not at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/24956
Tissue Promises: 151 Haiku at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/24475
Just a Few Words
Imitation and re-creation have long and illustrious histories in the annals of literature. Every poet builds upon the achievement of those who came before, whether it be through borrowing plots and characters or through copying stanza forms, rhythms and metrics, even specific lines and phrases.
Such actions are not plagiarism. There is no attempt to disguise the dependence of one poet upon another. Indeed, perceptive readers are supposed to recognize the connections and examine resonances between works…to explore how the earlier makes the latter stronger or more effective.
Each of the followings poems depends upon scaffolding erected by other—and in this case, far better—poets. Influences may be obvious and overt, or more subtle and covert. But none of these poems could exist without the models provided by past masters.
Contents: Verses In the Manner of…
Anglo-Saxon Verse
The Battle of Brunanburh: A Verse Translation
On the Viking Immolation of My Son’s Braces
Leonardo Pisano Bigollo (Leonardo Fibonnacci
)
One Last
Nellie Hunt
Storm
Milk Spills
Spring—In Process
7-Step Program
Dante Alighieri
Islands
Weeding in the Poetry Beds
Giotto di Bondone
Rounder Than the ‘O’
Francesco Petrarch
Something There Is….
Revelation III
Beyond the Plains
John Skelton
Skelton’s Verse
Judi’s Otter
William Shakespeare
On Stress
What Might Follow Fire
To the Wilds
John Donne
Death, Be Not Proud
Robert Herrick
Upon Julia Unclothed
George Herbert
Affliction
Gianlorenzo Bernini
The Ecstasy of S. Teresa di Avila
John Milton
In a Distant Other-When
Damon Again
Sabrina
On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity
Mementos
Alexander Pope
In Defense of Form
William Blake
On William Blake
William Wordsworth
Intimations….
Sir Walter Scott
Lochinvar
Emily Dickinson
Because I Would Not Stop for Death
Elemental Song
Agate Slice
In the Garden, Sweet-Hearts Grow
Trees Broach Red by Branches
Stolid by the Roadside
Robert Frost
Frost’s Crow, Reappearing
The Way a Stone
A Mother’s Smile
Daisies’ Gold
A Springtime Rain
Nectarine
February Rose
November Rose
December Rose
Adelaide Crapsey
Snap-back! Cinquains
Syllables
Gorgon’s Harsh Hair
Something Soft
Eyes Blear
Guardians—Organ Pipes
What Did You Say?
René Magritte
Quintessence II
Allen Ginsberg
WalMart at 3am
About the Author
Other Books by Michael R. Collings