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    AC Benus
  • AC Benus
  • Author
  • 08/10/2016
  • 277 Words
  • 1,593 Views
  • 4 Comments
Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

One Hundred and Fifty-Five Sonnets - 20. Venus from the waters

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Sonnet No. 39

 

On an island jagged by crystal blue waves,

A boy's body drips coming from the sea,

His tones falling like drops on musical staves,

Saying no more perfection can ever be.

Your smile is like the cant of a sunbeam

To sidelong strike and dazzle where I stand,

But warmer than any starlight can seem

Is the way it lights my body, face and hand.

Venus was born from these waters way back,

And rose from the glinting sea a diamond,

But striding before me, there's nothing you lack,

For the facets of you won't be outdone.

You are my jewel within the sunshine's glow,

Murmuring light to colors deep below.

 

 

Sonnet No. 40[1]

 

Alone and pensive over the lonely countryside,

I measure my paces both late, and dragged rigidly,

and to my eyes holding out, set to bolt, intently

at the sight stamped in the gravel of a human stride.

No other weapon but fight-or-flight is fortified

in the view of my fellow men, who evidently

ascribe joylessness to my actions generally,

and have no idea how I blaze on the inside.

But from now on, I vow these mountains and hills will dote,

these waterways and woods will know in me they strengthen,

and indeed, will see what hidden from others shall brim.

For no matter the harshness of the path, or remote,

wanderer no more, that Love won't leave my side again,

motivating, reasoning with me, and I with him.

 

 

 

[1] Translation of Sono e pensoso, Sonetto 35 dal Rerum vulgarium fragmenta di Francesco Petrarca. Published in November of 1337.

_

Copyright © 2018 AC Benus; All Rights Reserved.
  • Like 6
Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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Chapter Comments

Mikiesboy

39 is glorious. It’s perfect, sun, sea, a gorgeous, wet, and dripping young man—what more could you want? I loved the lines:
Venus was born from these waters way back,
And rose from the glinting sea a diamond,
But striding before me, there's nothing you lack,
For the facets of you won't be outdone
Lovely comparison between Venus, a diamond and your boy, who in comparison lacks nothing.

 

40 is smooth as some lovely maple syrup whiskey liqueur I have. Just wonderful stuff! I truly hope Love will be with you always.
Both of these are beautiful, AC. I adore them both.
tim xo

  • Love 1
Parker Owens

You completely captivated me with number 39. Your reference to Venus emerging from the waves is especially apt and stirring, but so is your use of droplets as musical notes finding their places on staves. How the melody of your boy's movements must play in your mind!
Number 40 called to mind the image of a sixteenth or seventeenth century painting, darkened with age or ill use. And yet, the last sestet brightens and deepens the whole, and it's possible to take the words in several directions. Beautifully done.

  • Love 1
AC Benus
On 8/10/2016 at 5:51 PM, Mikiesboy said:

39 is glorious. It’s perfect, sun, sea, a gorgeous, wet, and dripping young man—what more could you want? I loved the lines:

Venus was born from these waters way back,

And rose from the glinting sea a diamond,

But striding before me, there's nothing you lack,

For the facets of you won't be outdone

Lovely comparison between Venus, a diamond and your boy, who in comparison lacks nothing.

 

40 is smooth as some lovely maple syrup whiskey liqueur I have. Just wonderful stuff! I truly hope Love will be with you always.

Both of these are beautiful, AC. I adore them both.

tim xo

Thanks for your support, Tim. I appreciate it. I think you summarize both poems in a lovely way, and it makes my heart glow.

Cheers! *raises two brandy snifters, one for you, one for me*

Edited by AC Benus
AC Benus
On 8/11/2016 at 5:33 AM, Parker Owens said:

You completely captivated me with number 39. Your reference to Venus emerging from the waves is especially apt and stirring, but so is your use of droplets as musical notes finding their places on staves. How the melody of your boy's movements must play in your mind!

Number 40 called to mind the image of a sixteenth or seventeenth century painting, darkened with age or ill use. And yet, the last sestet brightens and deepens the whole, and it's possible to take the words in several directions. Beautifully done.

Thank you, Parker. There is a companion piece to No. 39, a beach scene in "How the Heart Approaches What it Yearns." I can't remember which came first, but it's likely both poem and prose piece were born at the same time.

No. 40 was a bear. I posted Petrarca's original and my translation in Live-Poets to (hopefully) show how faithful my rendering is. Considering the form, and the number of rhyming b-b pairings, the result flows pretty smoothly. If you cannot tell, I am proud of my work on No. 40 – as I say, it was a bear, but hopefully reads like a puppy.

Thanks again, my friend.

Edited by AC Benus
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