The Sonnet Queen Reviews James A. Tweedie's Book of "Mostly Sonnets"

Mostly Sonnets

Subtitle:  Formal Poetry in an Informal World

Author: James A. Tweedie

Publisher: Dunecrest Press

ISBN: 978-1945539329

Released July 2019

$9.95 (Paperback) $2.99 (Kindle)

67 pages

Available on Amazon. 

Reviewed by Theresa Rodriguez

As a fellow sonneteer I felt like I was reading the words of a kindred spirit when I read James A. Tweedie’s Mostly Sonnets: Formal Poetry for an Informal World. Tweedie is a very fluid writer with a clean, clear, expressive style, which grabs ahold of you with its immediacy and beauty of execution. What is most striking is the mixture of Christian belief intermingled with an honesty of thought, never coming across as sermonizing, but expressing a faith-filled wonder and appreciation for the natural world and the place of the intelligent believer within it.

In “For My Beloved,” the closing couplet summarizes a sonnet on communion, or the Eucharist:

“A sacramental mystery divine

To taste that I am Yours, and You are mine.”

In “Love that Lasts” we are treated to such phrases as “flame-impassioned kiln of lust;”“Incendiary fireworks of heart/And thigh;” and “faux-felt, fickle love” which is “temporal and ephemeral at best.” The closing couplet brilliantly summarizes the contrast of lust versus true love:

“True love is not based solely on the thrill,

 But reaffirmed each day by force of will.”

In Poem IV of the “Poems of Hibernia and Caledonia” (“To the Unknown Scribe of the 8th Century Book of Kells”), we learn of the scribe:

        "He transcribed scripture and illumed each text

With intricate designs infused with prayer;

Forsaking this world’s kingdoms for the next.”

One of my favorites is “When God dies,” which is a powerful antidote to atheism:

“The silent echoes of a stillborn sun

Portend the doom of uncreated day,

As once-knit atoms come unspun

And time implodes in random disarray.

Now-soulless life unbreathes its final gasp,

Unsuffering in meaningless distress,

As darkness holds the cosmos in its grasp—

Imbued with mindless, vapid pointlessness.

Abandon hope, all ye who enter here,

For separated from eternity,

Love, truth, and beauty fade and disappear,

The hapless victims of Modernity.

A universe that’s empty, formless, void,

Is all that’s left when God has been destroyed.”

In Mostly Sonnets we are also treated to a set of three love sonnets “In an Antiquated Style;” a pair of sonnets about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; a sonnet about treading “The Pilgrim Path,” where “We must cross our daily Rubicon;” a sonnet about humpback whales; and a powerful reflection in “On Regret,” where the author is reflecting on his life and the choices of the past:

“Although I have regrets, it’s far too late

To undo what I did so long ago.

Perhaps it’s best to bless and concentrate

The past to God, and then just let it go.

And yet how nice it would have been, somehow,

To know back then the things that I know now.”

What I appreciate most is Tweedie’s honesty when it comes to dealing with matters of his own faith. In the sonnet “What If” he asks a series of rhetorical questions about the possibility of “faith proven false,” opinions possibly “found to be in error on review,” and the chance that “…all that I’ve held certain [is] turned unclear.” The final couplet sums up his believing heart perfectly:

“Take note: My faith in Jesus remains strong,

But as for all the rest I could be wrong.”

I have found throughout the book that his closing couplets are very strong and have a truly musical flow to them— as do the poems themselves, full of lyrical beauty and many well-articulated truths.

Other topics such as a rural Christmas, the Black Death, a winter thunderstorm, a whale watch, and issues of faith provide a variety of reading pleasure. This was a truly enjoyable reading experience. I would recommend Mostly Sonnets to anyone who loves the sonnet form and would enjoy the combination of finely-written poetry with an honest, religious aesthetic sense.

Find out more about James A. Tweedie at https://classicalpoets.org/james-a-tweedie/

More About the Reviewer

Theresa Rodriguez is the author of three books of poetry: Jesus and Eros: Sonnets, Poems and Songs (Bardsinger Books, 2015), Longer Thoughts (Shanti Arts, 2020), and Sonnets, a collection of sixty-five sonnets (Shanti Arts, 2020). Her work has appeared in such journals as The Scarlet Leaf Review, The Wilderness House Literary Review, Spindrift, Mezzo Cammin, The Wombwell Rainbow, Serotonin, The Road Not Taken, and the Society of Classical Poets Journal. Her website is http://www.bardsinger.com, where you can view videos of her performance poetry and find information about her books. Follow Theresa on Instagram and Twitter @thesonnetqueen.

MORE ABOUT BLOGGER AND WAYS TO GET THE MOST FROM THIS BLOG

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everithing from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

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The Queen of Sonnets Reviews James Sale's Poetry "HellWard"

A Review of HellWard by Theresa Rodriguez

Title: HellWard: The English Cantos Volume One

Author: James Sale

Genre: Poetry

146 pages

Independently Published

ISBN: 979-8654151919

Released June 2020

$10.02 (Paperback)

Purchase on Amazon

Reviewed by Theresa Rodriguez

I had the pleasure of listening to James Sale read each of his twelve Cantos of HellWard through his Wider Circle YouTube videos, which was a riveting experience. Then I had perhaps the even more riveting experience of reading the book, which I did in one day. The language is so compelling and the story so interesting that I could not put it down! 

HellWard is a journey of the mind and spirit whereby the author, in a series of visions, is guided by no less than the great Dante himself through various wards of hell. Within these wards he encounters an array of people from his past, as well as world leaders, philosophers, and poets.

In HellWard we find powerful, often disturbing language, at the same time raw and refined, beautiful and at times jolting in its honesty. What struck me particularly throughout the book is the way Sale uses mono-syllabic words to powerful effect: death, hell, pain, depth, weak, guts, ache, dark, gunk, blight, flesh, tears, stench, dread, blood, hiss, oozed,“clots of gore” (a wonderful image), cries, groans, filth, swill, “smelt the blood” (another wonderful image), skull, skin, bone, ice, heat, hot, bare, raw, mess, froth, “dark webs,” “hard  knots”, guilt, “black holes,” blotch, stank, bleak, slop, “greed and pride and lust,” and “sick slime.” Each of these words are like little pinpricks, jabbing the sensibilities over and over again as one reads through the text.

I was deeply affected by many passages in HellWard. These few examples impressed me particularly: 

In Canto Two, James is seeing his mother in hell:

“My hair electrified, raised up in shock;

My tongue cleaved to the roof of my mouth;

I could not speak, seemed my whole being locked,”

And in this poignant passage we read about his dysfunctional relationship with her:

“How I longed, despite it all, just to feel

She loved me, and that deeply she approved;

My whole life waiting, and hoping she will

At last say words that mean, truly, I am loved.”

In Canto 3 we have a vivid and disturbing scene of a former friend's sperm-bank babies:

“'Hi James,' he said, emotionless and waste.

'I'd knew you'd find me; knew you'd like my work.'

What work? I thought, Then heard some sullen sobs:

The walls themselves had faces in, each hurt--

Each face half-formed, deformed, and like a yob's

Made so through lack of love and fatherhood,

But each one spoke, as one collection, mob;

Each one deprived of anything called good

So each one cried and tried to finger-point,”

There is a fine alliterative passage in Canto 5:

“And Marlene's hair, once red, now growing shoots

Of flecked and flecking grey, like fine, foamed froth,”

And a beautiful passage on prayer in Canto 6:

“And I at last in the wide interval

Unfroze and found myself creating prayer.”

Dante's advice to James in Canto 7 is skillfully rendered:

“What's solid materialises here;

In mortal life cause and effect may not

Always manifest as a conjoined pair;

Delay may be profound, prolonged, such that

The superficial mock, see that as proof

No order is, or word established fiat;”

As well as is this passage:

“Where is my guide? Was that someone I dreamed?

How lonely being lonely felt.”

In Canto 9, we find another striking image:

“...we drowned

In his rich sop of words that, as I say,

Echoed in double froth, doubled rebound,”

The book is full of intensity and movement, and there is much more ready to to read and savor.

One technical aspect of Sale's writing that intrigued me is is use of imperfect rhyme. As he says in the interview which follows the Cantos: “Of course, the key is not to set oneself the misguided task of insisting on perfect rhymes, since our language is not as rich in them as Italian.” Hence we have such combinations as “breaker,” “beaker,” and “features”; “other,” “further,” and “together”; and “fish,” “crush,” and “flesh.” I have been fairly rigid in my own rhyming philosophy but reading Sale's work has inspired me to play around with a little more flexibility in my rhyming in the future.

This collection of twelve Cantos is the pinnacle of achievement by a master poet. Sale has managed to interweave a vibrant personal narrative with current topics of interest such as mass murder, Brexit, and modern poets and philosophers. It is a rich and intense reading experience. I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in Dante, classical poetry, or social commentary.

James Sale’s website is https://jamessalepoetry.webs.com

More About the Reviewer

Theresa Rodriguez is the author of three books of poetry: Jesus and Eros: Sonnets, Poems and Songs (Bardsinger Books, 2015), Longer Thoughts (Shanti Arts, 2020), and Sonnets, a collection of sixty-five sonnets (Shanti Arts, 2020). Her work has appeared in such journals as The Scarlet Leaf Review, The Wilderness House Literary Review, Spindrift,Mezzo Cammin, The Wombwell Rainbow, Serotonin, The Road Not Taken, and the Society of Classical Poets Journal. Her website is http://www.bardsinger.com, where you can view videos of her performance poetry and find information about her books. Follow Theresa on Instagram and Twitter @thesonnetqueen.

MORE ABOUT BLOGGER AND WAYS TO GET THE MOST FROM THIS BLOG

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everithing from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Note: Participating authors and their publishers may request s social sharing images like the one in this post by Carolyn Wilhelm at no charge.  Please contact the designer at:  cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com. Provide the name of the book being reviewed and--if an image or headshot of the author --isn't already part of the badge, include it as an attachment. Wilhelm will send you the badge to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Wilhelm the link to this post, too!

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Poet Reviewing Poet: Theresa Rodriguez Intrigues with Take on Chronicles in Passing

Author: Carol Smallwood 

Title: Chronicles in Passing

Publisher: Poetic Matrix Press, P.O. Box 1051, Lake Isabella, CA, 93240, 2019. 

102 pp. $17.00.

Available on Amazon

Reviewed by Theresa Rodriguez

The thing that struck me most strongly upon reading Carol Smallwood's Chronicles in Passing is the complete command of classical forms: the Rondeau, the Cinquain, the Pantoum, the Triolet, the Vianelle, and the Sestina. Smallwood displays fine technical mastery while uniquely using classical forms to frame her focus on the mundane and commonplace. Her writing flows with ease within the structure and rhyming of the classical forms. One can clearly see, as Smallwood mentions in her Introduction, that she “finds writing in formal style enjoyable” by “giving readers something extra,” “like presenting a box wrapped in a special paper with a bow.”

What I could also appreciate is that she does not limit herself only to formal or classical verse but recognizes that “there are times... when words in free verse are better in conveying the intended message,” in her endeavor to “try what fits.” I was glad to see free verse that did “fit” the intended topics very well.

Smallwood does indeed write about the mundane and commonplace, but her treatment of these topics is anything but mundane and commonplace. She manages to deftly take the mundane and transform it into the sublime. She gives weight and dignity to topics of life that might normally be overlooked. Blue jeans, the supermarket, clothes on a clothesline, a car wash, store flyers, homemade quilts and clothing, ballroom dancing, grocery shopping, going to a restaurant, dirt roads, spools of thread, clothing fashion, and the color pink-- none of these topics escapes Smallwood's decisive treatment. It causes one to be mindful of some of the ordinary things of life, things that can be shaped into works of great beauty, especially by the mind and pen of a skilled poet. It has given me an appreciation of our common world in a way I had not had before reading this volume. It has taught me to seek out the simple things and find the poetry in them. Smallwood most definitely has done this, in great measure!

I also enjoyed her sense of imagery and description which can be found throughout the volume. For instance, in one of my favorites “A Hardcover Book,” Smallwood talks about being perceived as some kind of anachronism by carrying around a hardcover book as opposed to “a small electronic tool,” as “quite the dinosaur, out of touch and even speckled with mold” (8). In her free verse “The Place of the Cure of the Soul,” Smallwood describes “something about the feel of books, the crackle of newspapers, smell of magazines and in owning them” (14). In her Vianelle “Counting Backwards,” she shares how

“...the chatter near Christmas Day

was irritating, but told it was just feminine hormone delay

and before long it would be better so wisely didn't reply when addressed” (17).

In “The Hovering,” deities are “defined in other cultures as weavers of destiny upon a tapestry loom” (19). In her Sestina “A Regular” we are given a lovely image of salt on a tray: 

“... I noticed its salt sprinkles made a vast night sky full of wonder

and understand why our ancestors made stories of constellations” (26).

In “There Were Only,” she describes “gentle rain reinforcing the nose as the most elemental of the senses” and poignantly thinks of “computers blinking in the empty library like solitary lighthouses” (32).

My favorite, however, is the vianelle “Our Unconscious Censor,”where the subject of writing down dreams upon waking produces some excellent imagery, where one  can “train” to write down dreams as soon as you wake:

“and confront the subterranean fear as if a waiting rattlesnake

coiled in a yawning cavern that's deeper, more terrifying than any hell”

and

“so get rid of the hoary, deep oozing fear making your tremble, shake:

but your built-in censor is a trench against shattering bombshells--”

Finally, she asks:

“Is one a coward not to go ahead and capture dreams, face at daybreak

once and for all-- end the fear-- what could be that awful to dispel?

One can train to write down dreams just as soon as you wake

yet is it best to let your built-in censor block when so much is at stake?” (70)

I also found her many of her choices of rhymes to be ingenious: I have never seen rhymes for “necessary,” “customary,” “shade vary,” “monetary,” “them airy,” and “arbitrary” in one poem before, but this is the quality of inventiveness we find in the Vianelle “An American Icon,” a poem about blue jeans (51). I was equally impressed with the rhyming of “myth” and “Monolith”  in her Pantoum “The Pleiades” (16), and “diverged,” “surged,” “purged,” “converged,” “urged,” and “submerged” in her Vianelle “Two Roads” (68).

In reading her work in this volume I only occasionally see her inner life-- and the moments here and there are intriguing, and make me want her to reveal more. In “The New Galaxy,” she describes a date with “Mitchell,” where an evening at the opera reveals understated but deep feeling:

“...I remembered smiling at the attendant when he

asked 'Did you and your wife enjoy the performance'

because it meant we looked like we belonged together”

She goes on to share how she clutched the program of Aida, “proof that the night was real” and how

“...When Mitchell walked me to my

car in the darkness, his coat blew against me,

a benediction I knew had to be lasting. Would I ever 

know the new galaxy the student had said with such

excitement had just been discovered?” (33)

I like this aspect of her writing, and wish there was more of it: tenderly rendered and touching. We do find more of this revelatory aspect in “A Matter of Nightmares,” where descriptions of  Bob's nightmares are “terrible” and Alison's brother 

“who'd returned from Nam:

unexpected sounds sent him diving under

any cover; certain smells made him shake,

his arms were infected trying to get rid of

“crawly leeches.”

She then describes Lily has having 

“post-traumatic stress disorder first called 

shell shock: that what went on behind white

picket fences was war.” (50)

I do like her understated treatment of the emotionally profound. I only wish there were more moments like this, as they intrigue and attract me. What more does this poet have inside, waiting to be revealed?

Carol Smallwood is to be praised for her skill, perspective, and philosophy over a wide poetic range. Hers is a unique set of senses, capturing sights, sounds, moments, and observations of the everyday world in such a manner that causes the reader to see what is all around him in a fresh, new way.

 MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

--Theresa Rodriguez is the author of Jesus and Eros: Sonnets, Poems and Songs (Bardsinger Books, 2015), Sonnets(Bardsinger Books, 2019) and Longer Thoughts (Shanti Arts, 2020).

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER, THIS BLOG, AND ITS BENEFITS FOR WRITERS

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everything from Amazon Vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Note: Participating authors and their publishers may request the social sharing image by Carolyn Wilhelm at no charge.  Please contact the designer at:  cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com. Provide the name of the book being reviewed and--if an image or headshot of the author --isn't already part of the badge, include it as an attachment. Wilhelm will send you the badge to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Wilhelm the link to this post, too.

#TheFrugalbookPromoter, #CarolynHowardJohnson, #TheNewBookReview, #TheFrugalEditor, #SharingwithWriters, #reading #BookReviews #GreatBkReviews #BookMarketing