Poetdelphia Poetry 2013 — Challenge #1 — It’s poetry month once again. For you writers out there, we’ll be posting poetry challenges occasionally throughout the month. Give it a go, and feel free to post your draft in the comments section below. Challenge #1
The Lover’s Complaint – The idea of the lover’s complaint poem takes its name from “The Lover’s Complaint”, a narrative poem published as an appendix to the original edition of Shakespeare’s sonnets, published in 1609 (although published in a book of Shakespeare’s work, that poem’s authorship is a matter of critical debate). Think of a lover’s complaint as a poem in which the speaker complains about his or her lover and questions the relationship. Why did the speaker fall for or get seduced by the beloved? Would the speaker do so again? Why does the speaker stay in (or leave) the relationship? These are some of the questions a lover’s complaint might consider. Another famous lover’s complaint would be Browning’s “My Last Duchess”.
Write a Lover’s Complaint poem in which YOU are not the speaker. Instead, assume the persona and voice of a character from mythology, pop culture, history or literature. Write in free verse or in form, and try to have at least one unexpected turn in the poem, perhaps near the poem’s end.
Be sure to join Poetdelphia this April 5th at 6 pm at Cups and Chairs for our next salon! Details at https://www.facebook.com/events/471187406280056/
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