Gentle are the Hands

Hi Winny! TaterTot here, I'll be reviewing this piece if that's alright.

This is a beautiful poem. It's short, to the point, simple and deep. I also like how it reflects on the realities of life while also opening up room for hope.

I like how you used the classic A B A B format, it keeps things moving smoothly. Furthermore, I like how the syllables on each line complement each other.

Punctuation is pretty much spot-on and fluid so that it correlates with the next line.

I can't really find any errors in this piece, so great work! It's a bit short, but speaks for itself so you don't have to write more.

All in all, good job. I love it and look forward to seeing more pieces like this.

Thank you kindly, have a fabulous day! c(;

~TaterTot

Hi WinnyWriter! Lim here with a review.

This is a short and sweet poem. It reads to me like an ode of some sort, praising a friend, though could also be interpreted as an ode to good friendship in general, I would think. The traits being praised are interesting: it starts with gentleness, but then the two in the middle have to do more with valour or perhaps endurance (strong, steadfast) and then graciousness in the end seems more similar to gentleness. I think it could be interpreted as telling a story of the speaker’s relationship to the friend. Perhaps it starts with confiding in the friend (gentleness), and then the friend stands up for the speaker (strong, steadfast), and they continue to be good friends even after the trouble has passed (graciousness)?

Something I like about the poem is how you’ve put the adjective first in the line and made that a characteristic pattern. It gives me the feel of old proverbs or old texts somehow. I also like how that works with the stress patterns of those words: both “gentle” and “gracious” have one stressed syllable and one unstressed syllable immediately after, so they both seem to sound softer, which matches the imagery in those lines (“hands that reach”, “sits with you”). Meanwhile “strong” and “steadfast” are all stressed syllables, which then matches the ‘harsher’ language like “foe”, “quake” and “cost”.

Is there a reason the semi-colons are used in the second and third lines? I noticed for the other lines where the “sentence” “ends”, a full stop/ period was used rather than semi-colons, so I was wondering if that was a deliberate choice.

Another thing I noticed was that in the strong/ steadfast lines, ‘the’ was omitted:

Though heart may quake, it true remains.

At cost to self do what is right,

Steadfast is the one who will
At cost to self do what is right,
And gracious is the friend who still
Sits with you through the darkest night.

Hello hello, I hope you dont mind me popping in with a quick review. I will apologize that this will be short. However, I hope my input could at the very least brighten your day. With being said let's get into it, shall we?

Overall I think this very sweet poem. Although it's short I feel the message comes out loud and clear. Often those we hold the most dear because of their unending support are the most overlooked. I feel the social media age has encouraged shallow and isolating friendships so I am glad to see writing shining life on true friendship.

Honestly, it's so refreshing when it comes to the often jaded outlook of today. I do feel you could expand on the details of this friendship. Things like staying up late on the phone or cheering each other up. However, this is less feedback and more general thoughts. I think this short and sweet poem works just fine as is.

Speaking of feedback I would normally get into it right now. The thing is I couldn't find much at all. So I think it's best to just wrap it up instead.

This was a great little poem that I think everyone can in some way relate to. I hope you have a great day or night. As always keep writing and remember to drink water!

I like this poem. It's short and sweet, and has a meaning that isn't all that deep, but also makes you wonder if there's another meaning to the poem. Keep up the good work!