On bad poetry

A sonnet about bad poetry:
It's such a sitting duck to write bad
Poetry, that the mind is made sad
Contemplating it. Casuistry
Mixed with ingenious puppetry
Of words, passed off as verse, make a mad-
Dening brew; the perpetrator's glad
Smile the epitaph of artistry.

But there is redemption in restraint
For history's cruel treatment of
Poetasters bears silent witness
That their glories if any are faint;
And while in this day the world may scoff
At true art, it alone is ageless.

(a-b-b-a-a-b-b-a c-d-e-c-d-e)

Comments

John Walter said…
Far better than clever, this piece was not only ingenious in its rhyme scheme but inspired in its reasoning, especially from the poet speaker's mock pose as a bad poet. I love the 'poetaster' usage, as well as 'casuistry.' I just got schooled in sonnet writing, and I've always considered myself a genuine sonneteer. Bravo, Raamesh.
Ozymandias said…
Thank you, John! I do hope you'll leave critical comments on the other 'sonnets'.

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