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    BEYOND THE DAM: Sonnets and Poems
    BEYOND THE DAM: Sonnets and Poems
    BEYOND THE DAM: Sonnets and Poems
    Ebook297 pages1 hour

    BEYOND THE DAM: Sonnets and Poems

    By R. Allan Dermott

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    About this ebook

    We should begin by looking at the title for a moment, Beyond … the … Dam. This may seem a little out of the ordinary as it is based on only one sonnet, but this title does have a higher meaning as it focuses on raising thought beyond any limits as do many of these sonnets and poems. There are also ones with literary or historical references, and a few on the humorous side. There are many taken from my own personal experiences through the years.
    Included are sections on Personal Reflections, Inspirational Ideas, Personal Spiritual Growth, Bible and Christianity References, History References, True stories, Literature References and Nature.
    Allan writes in his Conclusion: "Reading, including not only non-fiction and fiction, but also poetry, is the closest thing to true magic that humans possess. It allows us to enter the mind of another person, to see what they see, experience what they feel, and understand their very personal perception of life. And along with this magical experience comes another fanciful and otherwise impossible idea: time travel. Reading can take us back into the thoughts of people who lived hundreds of years ago, or the inner lives of denizens of the future. Be it ancient Greece or a colony on the moon, we’re transported to worlds beyond our own, that come alive with the help of our imagination."
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBalboa Press
    Release dateAug 1, 2024
    ISBN9798765252321
    BEYOND THE DAM: Sonnets and Poems
    Author

    R. Allan Dermott

    Allan, a poet at heart, has been writing sonnets and poems since his college days. He writes in his Preface: “When a book of poems is opened, what does the reader hope to find? Generally we find one wants a poem to have some kind of beauty and meaning. ... The purpose of this collection is to give pleasure – both inspirational and intellectual, both humorous and serious, both joyous and contemplative. And wrapped up with this pleasure is concern and love for people and their search for purpose or identity. One of the greatest joys is seeing others happier or better off for something you yourself have done for them.” Allan earned degrees in English Education with a BA and MS from Florida State University and a Doctorate from the University of Maine at Orono. He has written two books prior to this one: Breakthrough Analysis of Daniel’s Prophecies and Championing Womanhood Through a Higher Concept of God. His website is rallandermott.com where information on all three books can be found with Blogs added regularly.

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      Book preview

      BEYOND THE DAM - R. Allan Dermott

      Copyright © 2024 R. ALLAN DERMOTT.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

      Balboa Press

      A Division of Hay House

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.balboapress.com

      844-682-1282

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

      Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

      ISBN: 979-8-7652-5233-8 (sc)

      ISBN: 979-8-7652-5232-1 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2024909568

      Balboa Press rev. date: 07/31/2024

      27808.png

      Honoring a Poet

      with his Sonnets

      and Poems

      … With Many Personal

      Reflections …

      Preface

      When a book of poems is opened, what does the reader hope to find? The answer, of course, can be expected to vary from person to person; however, generally we find one wants a poem to have some kind of beauty and meaning. But what is meant by these two terms?

      For defining beautiful as it pertains to poetry, many scholars turn to Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his On the Principles of Genial Criticism (1814). There he distinguishes between the beauty in a poem and the agreeableness of the subject. A subject may be agreeable to one person but not liked by another. The beauty in a poem, however, depends upon the poet’s representation in words of external nature and human thoughts and affections, both relatively to human affections, by the production of as much immediate pleasure in parts, as is compatible with the largest sum of pleasure in the whole. Not outlining restrictions on either poetic subjects or techniques, Coleridge then is concerned with the choice and organization of words and their effect on their respective parts as well as on the poem as a whole.

      But the average reader of poetry – knowing that besides carrying song, words also convey meaning – is not generally satisfied with narrow obscurity or an abstraction of unknown symbols whose code is sealed and lost somewhere in the poet’s mind. At least with Coleridge we can study the medieval superstitions and decipher his mind. But even with his most popular work, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, he has a literal level that makes the poem enjoyable for even the non-intellectual. And the researcher, on a more symbolic level, can delve more deeply into what the poet is saying. In any case, besides the beauty of poetry and all the techniques to bring it across the gap of poet to reader, there appears we need the aid of meaning – and understanding – to enjoy a poem fully.

      One of the most obvious things one might think a poem to have is subject matter. However, some poets are so concerned with the beauty of a poem that they either hide or forget to include a subject altogether. But if we analyze Coleridge’s basic poetic concept again, we see he distinguishes between the beautiful and the agreeable on the natural assumption there must be something to find either agreeable or disagreeable. For if there is no subject matter, when the reader is finished with a poem, he feels as though he has walked over the cliff of abstraction, and while falling, searched the flying, singing crevices for something to grasp – that is, until he has come back to this world and hit solid rock, finding both himself and the poem devoid of life.

      Thesis – or what the poet is trying to say – also has to do with meaning. Robert Frost once wrote about what he called the figure a poem makes. He elucidated by saying it begins in delight and ends in wisdom. Obviously, the abstractions must be controlled and the element of truth blend in with, become the natural outgrowth of, become at-one with the delight or beauty in the poem. No earthshaking truth needs to be expounded – only some kind of clarification – so that, as Frost put it, we have a momentary stay against confusion. And using Keats’ concept of equating beauty and truth, we can find this wisdom or thesis in a simple illustration or description beautifully expressed so that its significance – as minute as it might be – adds another expansion or a new dimension to thought.

      Sometimes, however, poetic forms can get in the way. For example, if the poet is too conservative as not to allow for flexibility in striving for some kind of mathematical perfection, often monotony will unnecessarily hide an idea in boredom, as sometimes with the neo-classical, exact meter and heroic couplets. But, on the other hand, if the poet is too liberal as not to control his fascination with experimental forms, sometimes both the thesis and poetry are lost in the excitement of the form. The main pleasure from poetry, of course, comes with the effect either on the ear or mind’s ear rather than the eye. And more typography, or the pattern of a poem as it appears on the page, definitely has its main appeal on the eye. Form, therefore, should not be an end in itself but should instead support and strengthen the oral beauty, subject matter, or understanding.

      The above is not a treatise against either meter and heroic couplets or the experimental rhythms and forms, just so long as the techniques employed enhance the poet’s chief poetic goals, as outlined by Coleridge. It is almost humorous now how the two sides attack each other to justify their own cause. The important thing, however, is for the individual poet to use whatever techniques he chooses for his particular objectives to his best advantage and on that basis be judged.

      The purpose of this volume is to give pleasure – both inspirational and intellectual, both humorous and serious, both joyous and contemplative. And wrapped up with this pleasure is the author’s concern and love for people and their search for purpose or identity. One of the greatest joys is seeing others happier or better off for something you yourself have done for them.

      With this in mind, giving joy through poetry quite parallels Tennyson’s concept of loving others from In Memorium

      ‘Tis better to have loved and lost

      Than never to have loved at all.

      The Sonnet

      This book, being mostly sonnets, needs some introduction to the art of the sonnet. Allan’s wife Lynn (who has put this volume together) especially greatly admires the musicality of the sonnet form. Besides the meaning within a sonnet, one of the main pleasures comes from the rhythm patterns and the music it creates. Along with the understanding of an idea, the oral beauty of the sonnet strengthens its meaning.

      Much has been written about the difficulty of writing a sonnet and the respect for anyone who can write in such an elevated manner. It has been said that sonnets can be one of the most difficult, yet satisfying, types of poems to compose.

      Sonnets are incredibly complex, utilizing a strict rhyme scheme and poetic rhythm. The sonnet is a difficult poem to master, but when it’s done right, it can be beautiful and profound. A traditional sonnet is three quatrains of four-line stanzas concluding with a rhyming couplet. Iambic pentameter is always used, each line with ten syllables, alternating stressed and unstressed. Allan’s preferred rhyme scheme is Shakespearean with alternate lines rhyming.

      Introduction

      Beyond the Dam, a collection of sonnets and poems, has long been Allan’s completion intention ever since he was a college student. Now this has come to fruition.

      This title has two very significant meanings. First and foremost is the higher meaning as it focuses on raising thought beyond any limits as do many of these sonnets and poems. The title is also based on a personal experience when Allan and his brother Leonard went down the Penobscot River on a handmade wooden raft one summer vacation during their high school years.

      What an unforgettable adventure!

      There are four versions of the sonnet that sparked the title going from before to beyond the dam: Before the Dam, then a humorous one

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