Sherlock Holmes: 60 for 60

Welcome once again to my poetry page!

I hope each week you will read Dr. Watson’s delightful narrative and then go on to write a poem related to it in some way. All forms of poetry are permitted, and further down the page there is a selection you might like to consider using over the coming weeks.

And here, courtesy of my housemaid Rachel, is this week’s suggested poem to read—a suggestion inspired by the themes and subjects in this week's story. Hopefully you will enjoy the poem, and perhaps it may give you some ideas for a poem of your own or allow you to look at Dr. Watson's story in a new way.



Vita Nova

By Louise Glück


Note from Rachel: To me, this poem evokes some of Lady Brackenstall's feelings and memories of her first meeting with Captain Crocker, on that early voyage as she sailed toward what seemed a bright future -- the springtime of her life. Now after dark years the Captain returns to her, with a more violent and desperate result, but he once again offers her a sense of hope for a fresh start.



Thank you so much to Rachel. And I thought we could also have a go at a new poetry form: the echo verse.

YoungWriters gives this definition:

An Echo Verse is when the last word or syllable in a line is repeated or echoed underneath to form a rhyming line, normally ending as the last line being the title to the poem.


Here is my example—a work of complete fiction:


“They’ve returned home muddy, madame.”
(Damn.)
No. No more swearing—I will abstain
(Stain!)
Removing this will take all my skill.
(Kill.)
Let us begin.
(Gin.)



But you do not have to use that form. Any form of poetry is welcome this week—and every week! Here are a few suggestions for you:

221B verselet, abecedarian poetry, acrostic poetry, alexandrine, ballad, beeswing, blackout poetry, blitz poem, blues stanza, bref double, Burns stanza, call and response, chastushka, cinquain, circular poetry, clerihew, colour poems, compound word verse, concrete poetry, Cornish verse, curtal sonnet, diamante, doggerel, double dactyl, echo verse, ekphrasis, elegiac couplet, elegiac stanza, elfje, englyn, epigram, epistle, epitaph, epulaeryu, Etheree, fable, Fib, florette, found poetry, free verse, ghazal, haiku, In Memoriam stanza, Italian sonnet, jueju, kennings poem, lanturne, lies, limerick, line messaging, lyric poetry, mathnawī, micropoetry, mini-monoverse, musette, palindrome poetry, pantoum, Parallelismus Membrorum, poem cycle, quintilla, renga, rhyming alliterisen, riddle, rime couée, Schüttelreim, sedoka, septet, sestina, sonnet, tanka, tercet, terza rima, tongue twister poetry, triangular triplet, triolet, Tyburn, villanelle


Please leave all your poems inspired by The Abbey Grange in the comments on this post. I look forward to seeing them!


Warm regards,

Mrs. Hudson

This Sunday, 19th March, we'll be posting our 60 word ficlets for The Abbey Grange.

It is a bitterly cold and frosty morning, towards the end of the winter of '97 and Holmes and Watson are on their way to Abbey Grange, the Kent home of Sir Eustace Brackenstall. It appears Sir Eustace has been murdered during a burglary, but could there be more to it..?

If you haven't tried 60 for 60 before, full information - including our schedule - can be found on our profile. But in essence: you read ACD's story and then you write a 60 word story inspired by it! You don't have to post a story every week - just join in whenever you feel like it.

Each Sunday we will also have our weekly discussion post, where we discuss a topic inspired by the canon story. And there’s Mrs. Hudson's Poetry Page too - any poems written about this week’s story can be left as a comment on her post. As usual, her housemaid Rachel will be suggesting a poem for us to read to give us added inspiration, and there will also be a new poetry form to try: the echo verse.

You can choose one activity, or have a go at everything. Or just come along and read the 60s! (And have a chat in the comments.) All options are absolutely fine.

Hope to see you on Sunday. But don’t worry if you can’t join us then - we stay open for posting and commenting all week!


Just adding a quick thank you to Mouselet, who was standing by keen and ready to do this intro post if necessary. (She always seems to enjoy ABBE for some reason…)

Canon Story: The Abbey Grange
Title: Restless
Author: scfrankles
Rating: G
Author's Notes: It was on a bitterly cold and frosty morning during the winter of ’97 that I was awakened by a tugging at my shoulder. It was Holmes. Well, who else would it be? (Something for Hallowe’en.)


The tugging at my arm roused me and I opened my eyes to see a candle disappearing down the landing.

“What is it, Holmes? A case?”

Half asleep I made my way downstairs, muttering about some of us needing our rest.

It was only when I entered the dark and empty sitting room, I remembered.

Holmes had gone to France.

This week we’re having a look at The Abbey Grange. I’ve typed up a few thoughts and questions to get the discussion going—please leave your own ideas in the comments!

( Discussion continues... )