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James Hart's avatar

Nice one, Peter. "haggard Home-thirst in my heart"—yes indeed, I can certainly relate to that! What made you interested in working with Rhyme Royal? (I tend to like the form a little better than the Spencerian stuff.)

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Peter Harrison's avatar

Cheers, James! I love the number seven, of course, the rhyming pattern feels quite natural to me and iambic pentameter is something of a comfortable middle-ground (tetrameter requiring more concision and hexameter feeling far heavier). But, perhaps primarily, I like that I can get a stanza down in a spare fifteen or twenty minutes. Also, I believe I once read a note you posted about the Rhyme Royal being a good size for a complete thought without the embellishment that might be required for a sonnet (I'm sure I've butchered your words, but I remember quite agreeing with your point).

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James Hart's avatar

No, you got it! I just don't see it used all that much generally, so I was curious why it appealed to you, too. Glad I'm not the only one!

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Katie Andraski's avatar

Great lines. The whole poem is very fine, filled with longing. Well rhymed. Thank you

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Peter Harrison's avatar

Much appreciated, Katie. I'm very glad you enjoyed it.

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Katie Andraski's avatar

I have a haggard Home-thirst in my heart,

Which hurts at times with joy that's worse than fear,

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