literate  ~  canadian ~ global  ~ celebrating 5 years of insignificance

[Home] [Submissions] [Links] [Search & Archives]


On the Sonnet

by David Solway

I know what the critics値l say: too late
for such archaic forms, such proleptic
elegance. Or too intensely private
for the common reader, too dyspeptic,
just the grumbling of some paralytic
rolling about in his sonnet-wheelchair.
Tell me, friend, who値l criticize the critic,
as Juvenal might have asked, and who値l spare
the poet something to be wary in,
a little counterprint or afterbook?
Who値l knock the ultracrepidarian
from his swivelchair, parasite and crook
that he is? Who値l instruct him to be nice,
to give the sonnet justice, not just ice?

 

[Home] [Submissions] [Links] [Search & Archives]

The Danforth Review is produced in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. All content is copyright of the person who created it and cannot be copied, printed, or downloaded without the consent of that person. See the masthead on the submissions page for editorial information. All views expressed are those of the writer only. International submissions are encouraged. The Danforth Review is archived in the Library and Archives Canada. ISSN 1494-6114. 

[see TDR visitors by month]   

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts. Nous remercions de son soutien le Conseil des Arts du Canada.