Sonnet: Dauntless

[honorat]

by Honorat

Summary: A Sonnet! For the Pirate poetry meme! I blame geek_mama_2 for bringing this to my attention. My last 10-page chapter "Night Passage" in “Aboard the Dauntless” summarized into fourteen lines. My very first Petrarchan sonnet with the volte coming after the octave. Do I ever feel Renaissancey!



Blindly, she flings her hull against the night,
Fragile wood, reckless of ravening stone.
A creature tormented, her timbers groan.
Close-hauled and heeling hard, daring this flight
Into oblivion, through head seas’ bite,
She claws the current’s threat. The dark waves moan
And dash her decks. A banshee wails—the lone
Wind knifes her canvas, stinging, like cold fright.
She shudders. But his calm hand on her wheel
Asks her to trust that with him she will swing
Through wind and thunder's roar. Soon will her keel
Caress calm waters, soft breezes will sing
In her white sails. “Hold on, love.” A bell’s peal,
Fierce as her own heart, this stranger’s words ring.

Comments

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I love the alliteration in this, as I told you. Very well done.

[honorat.livejournal.com]

You know, you're right. There's a lot of alliteration in there. I wonder if I planned that? I mostly remember wrestling with iambic pentameter, counting syllables, and arranging that abbaabbacdcdcd rhyme scheme. I'm glad the word choice worked.