Thread: Are You Up To A New Challenge...I DARE YOU!

Every once in a while, a writer needs a new challenge to rouse him from complacency! This should be easy for English Lit Majors, and an introduction to the classics for the rest of you who haven't a clue!

Select a favorite poem or quote from a classical work and write your own version of it keeping true to its character. (I've already posted one in Poetry...LEAVING THE PAST BEHIND based on the Rubaiyat, by Omar Khayyam). Will anyone be brave enough to start?

the poem I just posted in the Poetry section was of this nature... but I'll post it here for good measure =^..^= the quote is from Othello, but the poem is about Twelfth Night. Don't ask.

The Quote: Who will not change a raven for a dove? (I think Othello himself says it, but I'm not sure)

*~*~*~*

What see I in Duke Orsino?
You’re the one who does not go
Beneath the flimsy surface, his façade of selfish love
But as they say, who would not change a raven for a dove?

He wears his feelings openly, his heart upon his sleeve
He has the gall to love a woman basking in her grief
Perhaps devotion seemeth not to matter in the end
But I believe that even love requires one true friend

What see I in Duke Orsino?
That, my friend, is mine to know
But I can see beneath his wall, his silly, selfish, love
And as they say, who would not change a raven for a dove?

Trust in me, oh trust in me! That much, yes, he does
But believes that I am someone he could never love
In this cloak, in this disguise, I can’t be more than friend
But when he gives that searching look, I wonder o’er again...

And in the end, with guise revealed
We all will know what Fate has sealed
And then we’ll see what happens of my everlasting love
I’ll fin’lly know – oh will he change that raven for my dove?

*~*~*~*

Hi Cora...welcome to the forums.

Well done! It's like a breath of fresh air to hear the classics once again. Excellent interpretation.'

Let's see if anyone follows suit!

Of course I would choose Tyger - Tyger by William Blake

A melting pot breathed fire
to forge the missing link.
Blending tar and copper wire
deep growls and sultan's slink.

Who blew the bellows and bent the claws?
Who put sharp fangs in savage jaws?

The fiery furnace roared
a predator emerged
to terrorize the hoard
and cull the grazing herd.

Who ignited twin amber eyes?
Who created the lithe disguise?

The earth has lost it’s peace
the meek are now under siege.
Feather, fur and fleece
who prayed unto their liege.

Who brought the balance and the scales?
Did You choose that might prevails?

Wow Pen...what a surprise...I'd never had thought of that poem for you!!!!

Excellent...William would be proud...or on second thought....Jealous?

Mr. Blake may be decomposing but he has nothing to fear when it comes to my respectful rendition. Bea, if you check my lit.org "Exposed" interview I identify this poem as my favourite.

Tyger!*Tyger!*burning*bright
In*the*forest*of*the*night,
What*immortal*hand*or*eye
Could*frame*thy*fearful*symmetry?
In*what*distant*deeps*or*skies
Burnt*the*fire*of*thine*eyes?
On*what*wings*dare*he*aspire?
What*the*hand*dare*seize*the*fire?
And*what*shoulder,*and*what*art,
Could*twist*the*sinews*of*thy*heart?
And*when*thy*heart*began*to*beat,
What*dread*hand?*and*what*dread*feet?
What*the*hammer?*what*the*chain?
In*what*furnace*was*thy*brain?
What*the*anvil?*what*dread*grasp
Dare*its*deadly*terrors*clasp?
When*the*stars*threw*down*their*spears,
And*watered*heaven*with*their*tears,
Did*he*smile*his*work*to*see?
Did*he*who*made*the*Lamb*make*thee?
Tyger!*Tyger!*burning*bright
In*the*forests*of*the*night,
What*immortal*hand*or*eye*
Dare*frame*thy*fearful*symmetry?

William Blake