Upon Seeing a Photograph of the Parthenon

by Glimmerglass

Published May 28, 2010

In Lyric Poetry

PreviousNext

I am drawn to its light,
Like a moth to a lamp.
Shot from the Archer
Somewhere behind,
An arrow of fire

Ignites the columns
From within,
Like the kerosene flame
Behind stained glass.
The white flutter

Of night-chilled wings
Breaks the distance
Of inches, of centuries.
Here I am reconciled
With history, with the ancient

Smoothness of stone,
The weary laborer’s back,
And the fragile taste
Of mystery lurking
In the temple’s hearth.

Comments & reviews · 6
Random avatar
Iamnotperfect
Comment
Iamnotperfect commented Comment · Sep 8, 2010

Hi I really enjoyed reading this poem and to be honest I can't really find anything wrong with it.
Overall nice work, keep writing ;)

User avatar
Glimmerglass
Comment
Glimmerglass commented Comment · Sep 6, 2010

Hi! Thanks for the review.

I see what you mean. This poem is still a first draft, and I have hopes for its potential. I have to do my usual rip-this-poem-into-pieces ceremony that happens before I start to edit it, so I'll make sure to keep your suggestions in mind when I put it back together. :)

Thanks again!

--Glim

User avatar
ultraviolet
Review
ultraviolet wrote a review Review · Sep 6, 2010

Here to review as requested!

This has come vivid detail and nice descriptions. I like the flow too. One thing I noticed, though, is that it was a bit hard to understand. You have sentences divided between stanzas, which usually indicate different ideas, much like paragraphs of a story do. Because this doesn't rhyme or have a particular pattern that it follows, other than a vague 5-line stanza one, I'd suggest breaking this up differently. As it is, my mind couldn't make connections between lines on stanzas and the sentences they're in. The punctuation was not enough to draw my attention to the sentence structure.

Other than that, I do like this, though it was a bit hard to follow. Sorry if this sounds a bit harsh, but I think that if you restructure this, it could be even that much more amazing.

loveness, ultraviolet

User avatar
SilverSharpie
Review
SilverSharpie wrote a review Review · Jun 1, 2010

I loved this poem. I shall start with the first thing I loved...
- I though in the first stanza... "moths to a light really?" but then I saw how you used the light, the flaming arrow, to slide so perfectly into the the next stanza and description that I was blown away- thank you for returning life to an old cliche!
- Your descriptions were vivd but not lurid so that they held an elegance not unlike the parthenon
- The whole poem gave me a very greek god-y vibe. It was just a sensation I got from reading the poem that I couldn't quite pinpoint but was still super cool to experience.
All in all- superb.

User avatar
ladyworkz
Comment
ladyworkz commented Comment · May 29, 2010

This poem is very well written. Any reader would happily note that you have a very strong idea in your mind and know exactly what you are saying. Stellar descriptions addded to the prominent imagery you placed in this poem. Work very well done!!!

User avatar
Arya56227
Comment
Arya56227 commented Comment · May 29, 2010

Is 'WOW!' enough of a review?? haha No, seriously. I have absolutely no idea how to review poetry--well, for the most part--so I'll just go ahead and say from a complete bystander POV that I LOVE this. End of story. =D



Ghosts, demons, and ghouls cannot scare the cat's underling.
— TheMulticoloredCyr