The GAMBLERS

Lesson 6: Sonnets (Spenserian)

By covered wagon, pioneers pushed west;

from east, with hope, they came to Washington;

a wagered future ‘cross Pacific Crest …

new territory known as Oregon.

Determined men bet southern lands of sun …

to eager northern rivers, rushing fast 

would turn their luck, with golden riches won,

laid claim ~ where fate threw life, as dice were cast.

Yet, as it’s happened all through hist’ry’s past,

success had flipped a double-sided coin.

For, native peoples lost … they’d finished last;

white reservation-raced, forced red to join.

Now, tribal nations benefit the most;

redeeming games of chance … played coast to coast.

2022

Author's Note

Vindication is so sweet! I like that people who were so wronged by the expansion of our society, are now done right by the greed and avarice of our society. On those occasions I made a ‘donation’ to my local Indian Tribe, I considered it a worthwhile expenditure. I was given a title and theme for this lesson. ‘The Gambler’, traveling across states. I started to write something very different, considered the theme after writing a verse, then this came out of nowhere. (Which is where my mind is)

The distinction between a Spenserian Sonnet and English is the rhyme pattern. abab bcbc cdcd ee.

Reviews

[Betty Hermelee]

What a reversal in history…. First we treated the natives like s**t, took their lands and whatever treasure’s….. then much later on, some were able to pull up their boot straps and open casinos…to make themselves rich…that said, many reservations are poor, drunken peoples with no jobs, and drug’s galore….. nice write!
Best, B.

[William Michael Reeves]

I'm sorry B. I just saw your review. How rude of me. I know you know how we can lose reviews between the pages. Treated like s**t is right! I think about this quite a bit actually and was happy the subject and title I was given gave me the opportunity to write about it. Could probably write a crown of Sonnets on the subject. I don't go to casinos often, but when I do, lose, I don't feel so bad about it. When we had a little money to throw away we'd call it, making a donation to our local tribe. Thank you Betty

[Betty Hermelee]

No worries, and you’re very welcome!
Best
B.

[lightsong]

Wow! yes an impressive Sonnet, whether I know of that history or not, it reads so perfect, with a tone as only it should be, and a face of Billigami we don't see often. Very well done Bill! it is flawless!

[William Michael Reeves]

Thanks. What I enjoyed most about this was the poetic exercise of writing for a title and subject I was given. You mentioned poetic tones. When you have a minute, give me a title and/or subject, blow a little poetical dust my way, and see what happens. Flawless? Thank you! That means a lot coming from a seasoned reader such as you.

[lightsong]

have known myself to be a seasoned poet but seasoned reader... wow extra flavor extra ego!

as for the poetic tone, my tone wants to be sad these days... still no tears were managed to expand on papers

[Ken e Bujold]

A solid go at all Spenser Will. I must say I do admire your sticktoitiveness. I so rarely go back to the old ways these days. About as close I suppose is my Elegy for an Unrepentant Sinner, but even then it was only as a reply to Ted Hughes, who himself was only playing at the old style.

The subject of the poem has a grand majestic scope and you capture it well. Loved the easy cadence, no real stick-outs that forced the beat into too small a space to breathe. I thought for a moment about Hist'ry but then agreed with your choice as it reads like dialect.

One thing and this is just me speaking. I am not a fan of the 3dots in poetry. The typical idea of thought extends on past the written works well in fiction where the reader is filling in a lot of gaps with the extensive info the work has already provided. With poetry, you need to keep your reader on a leash, not so taunt as to choke them, but firm enough to keep them moving in the direction you intend. I think you might consider the use of the em dash in place of the 3dot. It will allow the thought process you want but keep the reader tight to the scan you set.
Note (we don't GOD KNOWS WHY have the em dash available in our posting boards, so a good workaround most of us use is -- of 2 hyphens, not perfect but acceptable)

[William Michael Reeves]

Punctuation is so tricky. The elipses replace words. Dashes or tildes indicate additional information. All these lessons that make up most of my first page, punctuation has been the most difficult thing to grasp. And yes, I think in linear fashion, and collect comic books, so ticking off the list of poetic forms and the desire to have one of each has made me fairly determined. Thanks Ken

[Nima.Hope]

Your knowledge and caring of your country is very impressive. If anybody knew their culture, country and society the best, each nation could blossom like USA has.
As a Persian, this poem was like a puzzle to me and I enjoyed the puzzle.
Nima

[William Michael Reeves]

If you are from Persia you must be a time traveling poet. This is what my alter ego does, folds words into poetic puzzles. Billigami is his name. Glad you enjoyed this poem. Read you soon.

Bill

[Nima.Hope]

Yes, I'm honored to be from Persia. I like to travel through time and write poems about different ages of time. Your style is very interesting to me. I didn't know about Billigami, thanks for your introduction.
Wish you the best.
Nima

[duff]

Rags to riches at its worst. Karma is a b***h. Skillfully written.

[William Michael Reeves]

Thanks. Their success was another's downfall.

Aren't those shoes on the wrong feet? Left looks right but right left doubts.

[Aura]

This is an interesting poem concerning the history, it seems, of the states of Washington and Oregon. When I read this sonnet, it seemed to be talking about how the British or white race took the land that once belonged to the Indigenous nations. Now that their land was taken away, these indigenous nations were then forced to assimilate or adhere to the Dominant white race and give up their indigenous identity. But as time goes on, in the present... well at least where I live, Indigenous people are getting recognition for all the wrongs that was committed against them. You write the Spenserian Sonnet well here Bill, and you chose a great topic for the title that you were given. An interesting unique thought for the title. When I first read the title "The GAMBLERS" I was imagining a poker match! Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed reading this enlightening sonnet!

[William Michael Reeves]

Don't forget the land of sun, California. It was a poker match with survival on the table. Hard to imagine leaving everything and heading out into the unknown. Their success was the indian's demise, and now success. Thanks Aura. Hope you're taking notes on the different requirements of Sonnets.

[Aura]

My pleasure! well, I haven't a clue about California, in fact, I'm not familiar with U.S history. But I assume in the Western World, the history somewhat aligns in terms of the White Race exploring unknown lands, settling, stealing indigenous peoples land, taking it for themselves, and believing that they were the superior race and any other one had to assimilate or be wiped out from the earth. I'm understanding a bit of the different types of sonnets in terms of the rhyming scheme:

English Sonnet: a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, gg
Spenserian Sonnet: a-b-a-b, b-c-b-c, c-d-c-d, ee
Petrarchan Sonnet: a-b-b-a, a-b-b-a, c-d-c,c-d-c, ee

hm I might've been almost correct on those.

[Aura]

ohhh yeah, petrarchan sonnets don't have the couplet at the end. oops.

[William Michael Reeves]

I do believe you got it. And don't forget the 'turn' aspect if you tackle one.

[William Michael Reeves]

Petrarchan has sestets, like we did in ours.

[Aura]

Oh yeah, got it!

[Cherrie Palmer]

Bill you always tackle your poetry in top form and twist of topic.
Lesson 6 a real winner.

[William Michael Reeves]

Thanks Cherrie. When I learned about the Volta needing to 'turn', I took that lesson to heart. And the subjects. A winning spin! Thanks