deepundergroundpoetry.com
Tempest and Aftermath
Association, apex to nadir,
may soften concepts held of others’ fate,
but only if the mind discriminate,
and learn extremes have charlatan and seer.
With crude insight, thoughts fail to fuse, they shear,
the crest, the trough, excesses common trait,
or seem if one won’t differentiate,
then rudderless the waves control and steer.
The calms of norms, once spurned, unveil their charm,
akin to whiling hours in reverie,
but middle ground is too a sought for place.
To guide a ship through storms must raise alarm,
now in dry dock, but then the history
may grant the foolish mariner scant grace.
may soften concepts held of others’ fate,
but only if the mind discriminate,
and learn extremes have charlatan and seer.
With crude insight, thoughts fail to fuse, they shear,
the crest, the trough, excesses common trait,
or seem if one won’t differentiate,
then rudderless the waves control and steer.
The calms of norms, once spurned, unveil their charm,
akin to whiling hours in reverie,
but middle ground is too a sought for place.
To guide a ship through storms must raise alarm,
now in dry dock, but then the history
may grant the foolish mariner scant grace.
Published 4th Mar 2023
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4th Mar 2023 10:41pm
Absolutely splendid!
Your sonnet calls to mind a very old book by George Savile, Marquess of Halifax, and entitled...THE CHARACTER OF A TRIMMER.
The book is about splitting the difference in political turmoil by employing the metaphor of "trimming" which apparently used to be a nautical term for tacking left and right in order to sail into the wind, or adversity in general, per se.
I actually managed to obtain a copy of the book, at very little cost, but have yet to read it. Sometimes I have to settle for a summation.
Your poem has rekindled my ambition to read it.
Your sonnet calls to mind a very old book by George Savile, Marquess of Halifax, and entitled...THE CHARACTER OF A TRIMMER.
The book is about splitting the difference in political turmoil by employing the metaphor of "trimming" which apparently used to be a nautical term for tacking left and right in order to sail into the wind, or adversity in general, per se.
I actually managed to obtain a copy of the book, at very little cost, but have yet to read it. Sometimes I have to settle for a summation.
Your poem has rekindled my ambition to read it.
I see that Wikipedia has little about the book my sonnet brought to your mind, only an image of a title page dated 1688, bearing the said title and attributed to the author the Honourable W.C. Congratulations on the purchase of something that has escaped their editors' scrutiny. This dates to just after the last Caroline period. I hope that the current king has more luck than the one who preceded the second of the same name.
4th Mar 2023 11:35pm
Yes!
As an American, I am compelled to be an anti monarchist, but regicide is a bit much, which is one reason why I identify as a Whig on my Facebook profile.
In these trying times it has become an extremist act to try and split the difference betwixt extremes, eh?
As an American, I am compelled to be an anti monarchist, but regicide is a bit much, which is one reason why I identify as a Whig on my Facebook profile.
In these trying times it has become an extremist act to try and split the difference betwixt extremes, eh?
As one of my uncles wryly commented, whoever you vote for the government always gets in. The successors of some American Whigs ignore the vote. It seems impossible to split the difference on this one, as the extreme becomes absolute. You reason, so I'm sure such conspiracies cannot be counted yours.
5th Mar 2023 00:34am
Quite so. American Whiggery was only able to exist in the naïve ambiance of our early republic. Once the realities of differing opinion were gorgonized into warring camps, the Whigs dissolved as if they never existed, and the republic became a bitter stew of perpetual contention, with only a few brief respites.
Which is why I'm so keen on getting the Marquess's advice.
Which is why I'm so keen on getting the Marquess's advice.
