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Shakespeare's Monkeys

Infinite Monkeys. Infinite Typewriters.

More in Shan's Crap (Shannon McEwen)

Breathless between the sheets - A triolet

In the fragrant after sex glow
Shattered I collapse beneath you
No longer caught up in the flow
In the fragrant after sex glow
Waiting for my quick heart to slow
Tumbling down from where I just flew
In the fragrant after sex glow
Shattered I collapse beneath you

1- Anstey on May 7 2007

You seem quite fixated on sex. You naughty thing.

I'm not SURE whether i think the collapse line works or not. I like it better the second time than the first, There's a slightly forced thing going on in line 2.
 It might just be me though.

 

 


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  • stephan

2- Leanne on May 7 2007

Shan, I like what you're doing here but I feel obliged to point out that your changes in meter are a bit problematic.

 

IN the FRAGrant AFter sex GLOW (When I say this "sex" gets lost a bit, as "glow is an emphasised word so you've got a dactyl in the middle there -- DUM da da)

SHATtered I colLAPSE beNEATH you (This line is purely trochaic)

No LONger CAUGHT up IN the FLOW (and switching to iambic)

IN the FRAGrant AFter sex GLOW

WAITing FOR my quick HEART to SLOW (I can say this line as completely trochaic but that puts emphasis on "quick" rather than "heart" which is not good, so again you've got a dactyl stuck in the middle, just in a different place)

TUMbling DOWN from WHERE I just FLEW (Again a dactyl, because if you put the emphasis on "just" to make this trochaic it ends up quite weak)

IN the FRAGrant AFter sex GLOW

SHATtered I colLAPSE beNEATH you


My suggestion for this is probably to make the whole thing iambic, so each line ends with strong beat -- however it's probably easier to turn it into trochees given the number of trochaic lines.  What about "Caught in the fragrant post sex glow" or something, to put the emphasis on "sex" where it belongs?  

I find when I'm writing metric poetry I end up tapping on the desk to be sure of where the emphasis falls.  It might help to actually say the line aloud and then say "DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da" or whatever over the top of it to see if it matches.  It really is imperative in a poem like a triolet that you get the meter consistent -- though there are no metric rules in the French forms, they're supposed to be written in the rhythmic and regular French language.  In English if you don't pay attention to meter it doesn't work half as well.

 

 

Shannon McEwen

avatar
on May 7 2007
from Canada

Sharp like a wet noodle
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