Poem: In the sky

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  • Midnighter
    FFR Player
    • May 2009
    • 49

    #1

    Poem: In the sky

    Originally named "Our souls" I decided to change it cause this sounds better. It was written for black history month. I'm not one to always celebrate it. (I am black just in case you were wondering) but i feel every now and again a few moments of silence should be taken to honor those fallen civil rights leaders and social equality advocates. Tell me what you think ^^

    No tears are left to cry
    The pain slips away
    Our souls find rest in the sky.

    Sweating till thy skin is dry
    The sun burns with every ray
    No tears are left to cry.

    Sing loud brethren, by and by
    Thy voice shall lead the way
    Our souls find rest in the sky.

    Beaten down, with heads held high
    Skin ripped and torn away
    No tears are left to cry.

    Riding on wind, our spirits fly
    Father, lead us not astray
    Our souls find rest in the sky.

    Walking in faith till we die
    Together we’ll be someday
    When no tears are left to cry,
    Our souls find rest in the sky.
    Last edited by Midnighter; 02-5-2011, 09:17 AM.
  • xXDarkkstarrXx
    FFR Player
    • Mar 2007
    • 24

    #2
    Re: Poem: In the sky

    Wow this was really pro. Nice rhyming

    Comment

    • gearshead
      FFR Player
      • Jan 2011
      • 9

      #3
      Re: Poem: In the sky

      Good poem

      Comment

      • kitkat9
        FFR Player
        • Feb 2009
        • 87

        #4
        Re: Poem: In the sky

        Originally posted by Midnighter

        No Tears are left to cry

        The pain slowly slips away
        Our souls find rest in the sky.

        Sweating till thy skin is dry

        The sun beats down with each ray
        No tears are left to cry.

        Sing loud, oh brethren by and by

        Thy voice shall lead the way

        Our souls find rest in the sky.

        Beaton down, with heads held high

        Skin ripped and torn away

        No tears are left to cry.

        Riding on wind, our spirits fly

        Father, lead us not astray

        Our souls find rest in the sky.

        Walking in faith till we die

        Together we’ll be someday

        When No tears are left to cry,

        Our souls find rest in the sky.
        This is nice, I do have a few suggestions if you're willing to look at them. You have some random capitalization (highlighted in red). I have done that before too probably a typo, but as a reader I automatically kept those words in mind thinking it's more important than others. I also think formating wise it needs a makeover, I kinda wished there had been stanzas. It makes me pause and process, a good time to start a new stanza is after most of the "No tears are left to cry."
        Is "Beaton" supposed to be Beaten? I think there are some lines that feel forced...they could be reworded. They don't really follow the rhythm that this poem has (highlighted in green).
        Ok last thing! I think you have some wordiness going on, I think you should go through read it alloud and listen for extra words. For example, "Beaton down, with heads held high" take out with, and when read there is a pause at the coma. With poetry every single word has a meaning, and every single word matters whether it's "a", "to", "it", whatever. Be selective only keep what matters.

        I like this a lot. It has a heaviness to it, that kinda just weighs on you while you read. It's nice but saddening, giving an interesting effect. Just go back revise, rewrite, revise, and rewrite. Hemingway once said "Your first draft is always shit. Writing is rewriting." Keep writing.

        Comment

        • Midnighter
          FFR Player
          • May 2009
          • 49

          #5
          Re: Poem: In the sky

          Originally posted by kitkat9
          This is nice, I do have a few suggestions if you're willing to look at them. You have some random capitalization (highlighted in red). I have done that before too probably a typo, but as a reader I automatically kept those words in mind thinking it's more important than others. I also think formating wise it needs a makeover, I kinda wished there had been stanzas. It makes me pause and process, a good time to start a new stanza is after most of the "No tears are left to cry."
          Is "Beaton" supposed to be Beaten? I think there are some lines that feel forced...they could be reworded. They don't really follow the rhythm that this poem has (highlighted in green).
          Ok last thing! I think you have some wordiness going on, I think you should go through read it alloud and listen for extra words. For example, "Beaton down, with heads held high" take out with, and when read there is a pause at the coma. With poetry every single word has a meaning, and every single word matters whether it's "a", "to", "it", whatever. Be selective only keep what matters.

          I like this a lot. It has a heaviness to it, that kinda just weighs on you while you read. It's nice but saddening, giving an interesting effect. Just go back revise, rewrite, revise, and rewrite. Hemingway once said "Your first draft is always shit. Writing is rewriting." Keep writing.
          Thanks for the critiques. I actually kind of agree with your comment on the heaviness. This poem was written in the 19th century villianelle format so I was alot more focused on the format than the flow. In fact, the villanelle poems i've read were all a little shaky in terms of flow. Some were better than others but even if it was barely noticable, it was still there. Anyway, I made some corrections so it should be a little better now. Thanks again for the critiques. I probably should have shown the stanzas in the first place though cause they were always there. My bad (^.^')
          Last edited by Midnighter; 02-5-2011, 09:41 AM.

          Comment

          • kitkat9
            FFR Player
            • Feb 2009
            • 87

            #6
            Re: Poem: In the sky

            Originally posted by Midnighter
            Thanks for the critiques. I actually kind of agree with your comment on the heaviness. This poem was written in the 19th century villianelle format so I was alot more focused on the format than the flow. In fact, the villanelle poems i've read were all a little shaky in terms of flow. Some were better than others but even if it was barely noticable, it was still there. Anyway, I made some corrections so it should be a little better now. Thanks again for the critiques. I probably should have shown the stanzas in the first place though cause they were always there. My bad (^.^')
            I'm glad I could help Yes, now I'm seeing the villanelle, haha, I'm sad I hadn't noticed it in the first place. Lol.

            Comment

            • Netjet!
              Sic itur ad astra
              FFR Simfile Author
              • Jan 2008
              • 4701

              #7
              Re: Poem: In the sky

              I enjoyed reading and reciting that poem. An issue I found was that you have a repeated use of "cry" or rhyming words thereof. You might have included it on purpose, so kudos to your for that; although, by using them repeatedly it draws away from the overall value of the message you're trying to portray. Try to incorporate different rhymes near the end, to allow for differentiation and more creativity and theme-development.

              Nice job.
              RIP Steve Van Ness <3

              Comment

              • kitkat9
                FFR Player
                • Feb 2009
                • 87

                #8
                Re: Poem: In the sky

                Hmm, Midnighter, I wanted to apologize, I now see the stanzas. I quoted your text before I read it. Now i'm looking at the original post and what do you know there are stanzas. Haha, sorry.

                Comment

                • Midnighter
                  FFR Player
                  • May 2009
                  • 49

                  #9
                  Re: Poem: In the sky

                  Originally posted by Netjet!
                  I enjoyed reading and reciting that poem. An issue I found was that you have a repeated use of "cry" or rhyming words thereof. You might have included it on purpose, so kudos to your for that; although, by using them repeatedly it draws away from the overall value of the message you're trying to portray. Try to incorporate different rhymes near the end, to allow for differentiation and more creativity and theme-development.

                  Nice job.
                  Thanks but, could you elaborate a bit more? If u meant in the final stanza, the last two lines are supose to be the first two refrains repeated. Like I told kitkat9 the form is villanelle, its not a very popular form nowadays but i tried to write it in that style.

                  Comment

                  • Midnighter
                    FFR Player
                    • May 2009
                    • 49

                    #10
                    Re: Poem: In the sky

                    Originally posted by kitkat9
                    Hmm, Midnighter, I wanted to apologize, I now see the stanzas. I quoted your text before I read it. Now i'm looking at the original post and what do you know there are stanzas. Haha, sorry.
                    Oh, there's no need to apologize. Your critiques have actually been the most helpful ^^

                    Comment

                    • Tokzic
                      FFR Player
                      • May 2005
                      • 6878

                      #11
                      Re: Poem: In the sky

                      Repetition for no reason is generally a terrible idea. "Beaten down, with heads held high" is thick with expression and sounds meaningless.

                      Last edited by Tokzic: Today at 11:59 PM. Reason: wait what

                      Comment

                      • Midnighter
                        FFR Player
                        • May 2009
                        • 49

                        #12
                        Re: Poem: In the sky

                        Originally posted by Tokzic
                        Repetition for no reason is generally a terrible idea. "Beaten down, with heads held high" is thick with expression and sounds meaningless.
                        What repetition are you talking about? and the line is definitely not meaningless

                        Comment

                        • KyuuketsukiX.x
                          FFR Player
                          • May 2008
                          • 5

                          #13
                          Re: Poem: In the sky

                          Originally posted by Tokzic
                          Repetition for no reason is generally a terrible idea. "Beaten down, with heads held high" is thick with expression and sounds meaningless.
                          I don't see the meaninglessness of the line at all. It's like saying 'even though we don't have much to look forward to, even though all our hopes are snatched out of our hands. We keep proud and strong.'

                          Well that's how I see it.
                          When I read the poem, it gripped at my heart.

                          Comment

                          • Midnighter
                            FFR Player
                            • May 2009
                            • 49

                            #14
                            Re: Poem: In the sky

                            Originally posted by KyuuketsukiX.x
                            I don't see the meaninglessness of the line at all. It's like saying 'even though we don't have much to look forward to, even though all our hopes are snatched out of our hands. We keep proud and strong.'

                            Well that's how I see it.
                            When I read the poem, it gripped at my heart.
                            Thank you ^^

                            Comment

                            • crumheart32605
                              FFR Player
                              • Jun 2007
                              • 11

                              #15
                              Re: Poem: In the sky

                              This is crap

                              Comment

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