The words of this sonnet transport me to a place where I can see the "builder" with his plane feeling the rough texture of the wood becoming smooth(er). and at some point he says with a gravely voice, "good enough" . . .
Love it! My Dylan-saturated brain can't help but hear an echo of "But he's badly built / And he walks on stilts / Watch out he don't fall on you" from "Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)." But that's the difference between us: artists create and professors compare.
As a fellow Dylan fan, you might appreciate this. Have you ever noticed that each verse of "Tangled Up in Blue" is kind of a sonnet? The published lyrics list only 13 lines per verse, but the way Dylan sings it there's really 14 with a closing couplet ["Gettin' through / Tangled Up in Blue"]. Not iambic pentameter, but still pretty cool, right? The Italian poet he mentions was probably Petrarch, inventor of the love sonnet. After reading your sonnet, I can imagine you both "Workin' for a while on a fishin' boat / Right outside of Delacroix" and smashing bottles 'gainst each bow.
Thanks for the art and inspiration, Josh! Now you make me want to go listen to Lyle Lovett's "If I Had a Boat" and Guy Clark's "Boats to Build," or go read Tennyson's "Ulysses." (Again with the comparisons....)
The words of this sonnet transport me to a place where I can see the "builder" with his plane feeling the rough texture of the wood becoming smooth(er). and at some point he says with a gravely voice, "good enough" . . .
The poet knows when to lift the pen, the artist the brush, the boat builder their tools. Also, no water seeping in.
Love it! My Dylan-saturated brain can't help but hear an echo of "But he's badly built / And he walks on stilts / Watch out he don't fall on you" from "Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)." But that's the difference between us: artists create and professors compare.
As a fellow Dylan fan, you might appreciate this. Have you ever noticed that each verse of "Tangled Up in Blue" is kind of a sonnet? The published lyrics list only 13 lines per verse, but the way Dylan sings it there's really 14 with a closing couplet ["Gettin' through / Tangled Up in Blue"]. Not iambic pentameter, but still pretty cool, right? The Italian poet he mentions was probably Petrarch, inventor of the love sonnet. After reading your sonnet, I can imagine you both "Workin' for a while on a fishin' boat / Right outside of Delacroix" and smashing bottles 'gainst each bow.
Thanks for the art and inspiration, Josh! Now you make me want to go listen to Lyle Lovett's "If I Had a Boat" and Guy Clark's "Boats to Build," or go read Tennyson's "Ulysses." (Again with the comparisons....)
Reminds me a little bit of “Monster Ballads”, where the songs or the poems are the boats, launched out to the world.
Thanks for this wonderful way to start my day!!!
Crazy cool Josh
I’ll be teaching sonnets this year to my high school students. This would make a great intro to the verse form for them. Love this!