George Held
YOUNG PRIZE WINNER READING
"This poem is called a sestina,
A form that repeats the six
End words through six sestets, usually in iambic
Pentameter—though Swinburne used hexameter—but
mine
Is irregular, you'll find,
With lines ranging in length widely.
"You can tell from my work how widely
I've ignored the classic sestinas,
Though, as I have said, I also ignore iambics,
Since the main requirement is the six
End words—such fun to find—
And note how I make them all mine.
"Yes, I'm proud of these form poems of mine,
Though John—Hollander—does prefer sestinas
That scan, that is, in iambics;
But I do need to free myself from a man over six-
ty to cast my words widely
With every young editor I can find.
"All the better journals are eager to find
Poems in traditional forms—sonnets, sestinas,
Villanelles—but no longer in iambics.
Well, most of their readers can't scan a piece of mine
Anyway, so what if my meter misses the mark widely
As long as my sestets add up to six?
"While I confess, it's only been six
Years since I graduated, I have been published widely,
Yet most of the audience here are relatives of mine,
Who have become fans of sestinas,
From their applause, you'll find,
Even though they're not strictly iambic.
"Then, of course, there's the envoy, also to be iambic,
And containing the end words, all six,
Though their order can vary rather widely—
And, truth to tell, I have also varied the end-word order; I
find
That helps me to transcend the form and make it all mine.
So without more ado, here is my sestina,
"Completed by this envoy: six sestets,
Then this tercet, which is widely iambic,
The basic foot I mine to end my sestina."
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