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  Poetry, and discussions of it, have a long history. Early attempts to define poetry, such as Aristotle's Poetics, focused on the uses of speech in rhetoric, drama, song and comedy. Later attempts concentrated on features such as repetition and rhyme, and emphasised the aesthetics which distinguish poetry from prose. From the mid-20th century, poetry has sometimes been more loosely defined as a fundamental creative act using language. Poetry often uses particular forms and conventions to expand the literal meaning of the words, or to evoke emotional or sensual responses. Devices such as assonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia and rhythm are sometimes used to achieve musical or incantatory effects. Poetry's use of ambiguity, symbolism, irony and other stylistic elements of poetic diction often leaves a poem open to multiple interpretations. Similarly, metaphor and simile create a resonance between otherwise disparate images—a layering of meanings, forming connections previously not perceived. Kindred forms of resonance may exist, between individual verses, in their patterns of rhyme or rhythm.

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Along the Wayside


Along the wayside as I went, - sails torn with my endeavor
to circumvent what loomed ahead, - I beheld a sight  un-bethought
that froze me standing where I stopped; - filling my heart with utter dread
as the castle's broken mortar shed... -
This  point of reference thus enough - to make a person fear as said.

The scene stretched forth as a mist of rain - came lightly falling  from a sky of grey
to alight a ground unevenly terraced; - as even pieces fell away.  
Etchings bearing weathered shores - where flowing dunes in granite baked;
as densely forested valley floors - forever thriving in their place
festooned  turrets towering high - above the ocean breakers nigh...
Booming under laden bluffs - far below a leaden sky...

...and while  remaining oblivious - to the underscoring of his mind,
all that is, or once had been, - fell prey to the battering waves of time.

(Poem completed: 1999)

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Poetry written by: Bryan Garaventa; all rights reserved. No unauthorized reproduction or distribution is permitted without prior consent. If you would like permission for either of these purposes, or for any other reason, please click here to inquire further.

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