Words, Words, Words
The annual Shakespeare By The Sea Festival Sonnet Contest
Winning Entries
• 38 sonnets were entered in the Adult category
• 41 sonnets were entered in the High School category
• 106 sonnets were entered in the Junior High School category
• Total sonnets reviewed by the judges = 185
Adult Category
- Winner – Kevin Sooley – A Sonnet for Beards
- First runner-up – Michael Nolan – The Surprise
- Second runner-up – Catherine Mason - More than the
flowering moon in darkest night
Winner
A Sonnet for Beards
There is no mark of man so strong and wise,
The passage to manhood, granted to all.
That coarse grey hair that hangs from jaw to thighs,
A mighty thicket, a most rugged wall.
Among great Macedons and Greeks akin
And fearsome Norsemen from the frozen north;
The beard was praised, a gallant tradition
From chins of all majestic hairs burst forth.
Great men from every walk of life hath seen
The way of the beard, a path to great joy
They all go bearded and none of them “clean”
What I have searched for since I was a boy.
There are but two who do dare beardless go
Woman and child, and I am neither, no.
By Kevin Sooley
First runner-up
The Surprise
She took me by surprise against the door;
Hot hands let loose my pants, her tongue tongued mine.
She raised me up to drop me on the floor,
Her flesh enclosed my flesh, her weight pressed mine.
Sweet Christ! Three months of nothing and now bliss.
To a soul lost in desert deep and dry
Revealed the prayed-for bush-rimmed oasis:
Praise God, suck up, dive in and don’t ask why.
Her eyes lust-blind, her hair as Maenead-wild,
Her shaking broke my spine, but not my luck;
But where had gone the girl I knew so mild,
Who now, her face blood-masked, began to buck,
Who, with a sudden jolt, collapsing, came,
And moaned into my ear another’s name.
By Michael Nolan
Second runner-up
More than the flowering moon in darkest night
More than flowering moon in darkest night,
More than the sun in crimson glory set,
I prized your beaming face of burnished light,
Every loving glance since first we met.
Sweeter than music, sweeter than the song
Of birds that greet the coming of the day,
Is your voice to me, whether right or wrong,
Joy-bringing, gilding every word you say.
More thrilling is your touch to me by far
Than softest, satin dress or silken purse.
It makes my heartbeat pulse just like a star
That sheds its seed throughout the universe.
Surpassing high the laurels of renown,
You are my sceptre, throne, my shining crown.
By Catherine Mason
High School Category
- Winner – Zack Moore, O’Donel High School – Bottom’s
Dream
- First runner-up – Nick Melendy, O'Donel High School – The
Lament of a Geek
- Second runner-up – Curtis Dinn, St. Kevin’s High School - Poppy
Winner
Bottom’s Dream
The ways that love hast touched us all, in past,
Can seldom be, or feel, as often seem.
But quoth me when I say, by memories past
The purpose of these times is but a dream.
For as I stumbled with my boorish crew
(And how became my colleagues, I’ll not say)
Thy senses were abrupt, and then I knew
That queer things were afoot that faithful day.
Thy likeness was translated to a beast
And then was led to where the gods choose fate.
My morbid fascination then not ceased
When one did swoon, and greet me as her mate!
These childish tales, though fanciful, are of
The fickle thing us mortals doth call Love.
By Zack Moore, O’Donel High School
First Runner Up
The Lament of a Geek
I hear the whispers, the stares, and I think
"What? What on Earth is it? What's wrong with me?"
Then I know the truth, and my heart does sink
I know exactly what I ought to be
I ought to be tall, athletic, and hot
I should be popular, and known to all
As the king of the school, not some small dot
Who glares and hates when the jocks mock and call
But instead, I am short and weak, y'know?
Brain weighs a ton, but not much in body
Pencil can scrawl and make writing art, so
When people say "play sports", they are dotty!
To hell with the cool kids! They just don't see
That late in life, they'll be working for me.
By Nick Melendy, O’Donel High School
Second Runner Up
Poppy
My days were spent with you out on the farm,
Feeding the cows and playing in the grass.
You always kept me away from all harm,
For all my life these memories will last.
Like a giant you towered over me,
Living life, teaching me to seize the day
Every summer we’d let the dogs run free
But you knew were they lost they’d find a way
The barn where us children spent all our time
Muddling around, finding new treasure
The barn knows of what fun we had inside
Jumping from the roof, climbing the ladder
Now as an adult, love I will extend
More than my grandfather, you’re my best friend
By Curtis Dinn, St. Kevin’s High School
Junior High School Category
Winners –
- Nicole Maneckjee, Leary’s Brook Junior High School – Shine
Hope on Old Shadows
- Cecilia Power, Mount Pearl Intermediate School – January
12th, Haiti
Runners-up –
- Josh Lane, Mount Pearl Intermediate School – Water’s
Incalculable Judgment
- Kierra Howlett, St. Kevin’s Junior High - Romeo and
Juliet Sonnet
- Krista Barbour, Leary’s Brook Junior High School – The
Bully
- Joshua Chaffey, Mount Pearl Intermediate School – Uncle
Josh
Winners
Shine Hope on Old Shadows
Four feet deep in snow, each foot trudging free
Foggy minds lead to perceptions unkind
And I can not quite dream of clarity
Sunlight, warmth, zest, the craving to unwind
Beauty in gentle wind and butterflies
Flower petals dance in the summer light
Ogle imperfections and empty skies
Beyond this inept storm, a blinding sight…
Ice reflects a mirror image at you
Snow melts - idly - with the promise of day
From spring is the birth of sweet summer dew
Slowly, worries hibernate far away
Underneath the damp ground are budding dreams
Where each sunray is potential, it seems
By Nicole Maneckjee, Leary’s Brook Junior High School
January 12th; Haiti
January Twelfth, Haitians are dying,
Buildings are falling at a quickened pace.
Those that are gone, their spirits are flying,
Up to the heavens, to a better place.
Those left remaining are orphaned and sick,
Pollution, their new threat, no water now.
The smell of the deaths, in the air is thick,
They still have hope, but I do not know how.
The people are screaming and crying loud,
Their loved ones, left rotting on the streets, dead.
They have nothing, the need to be endowed,
A single earthquake, grief is world-wide spread.
Those left remaining need a helping hand,
They are dying, its time to take a stand.
By Cecilia Power, Mount Pearl Intermediate School
Runner-Up’s
Water’s Incalculable Judgment
It is calm and comforts like no other.
Smoother but also bitter like the colds night.
Poseidon and Neptune they are brothers.
Hasty contact may stimulate a fright.
Water is free, may it be hot or cold.
It’s sloppy in a funny sort of way.
Water is tranquil, just as well as bold.
Rapid and twisted in the night of day.
The only thing with the world in it’s wake.
It’s very own power keeps land at bay.
So innocent there is nothing to take.
Water always flows it will never stay.
In order to persevere, do not fight.
If you wish to move on control your might.
By Josh Lane, Mount Pearl Intermediate School
Romeo and Juliet Sonnet
I loved you from when I saw your eyes –
I knew the plans my parents made were wrong.
‘Twas you my heart would long for – our demise
Was set in stone by feuds fought way too long.
We ran away in secret to be wed –
Our life of married bliss begun with gore.
Our final chance was this, the friar said
But even that was not to end the war.
Sublime - the song you sang to me in rhyme,
Your rhythm set the beating of my heart.
Our love had reached its pinnacle, its prime
Forever now immortalized in art.
“For never was a story of more woe –
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."
By Kierra Howlett, St. Kevin’s Junior High
The Bully
Thou insolent child thou hath not a chance
Forgotten in an abyss of great woe,
Careful timing is pursued in this dance
If thou falter, thou art mine wretched foe.
Retain the veil o’r thine faint-hearted face,
Act oblivious of my victim’s moans.
Then near my side thou may find thine true place,
If thou warble, let it be in hushed tones.
Dejected one of considerable youth,
I doubt thou comprehend what now thee do.
Piteous one, please refrain from the truth,
Still, our relations can not start anew.
Though I wish it not so, it is thine choice.
Thou impudent child must now use thine voice
By Krista Barbour, Leary’s Brook Junior High School
Uncle Josh
Wait what is this now expected of me?
This is strange, yet I am still kind of proud.
Not much will time come that I may’nt be free.
Oh he will be stinky and he will be loud.
I have a few years before he can talk,
What will he see in me, I don’t know.
And then one day he will learn how to walk,
Uncle Josh will teach, uncle Josh will go.
To be an uncle, it makes me feel old,
That is all I am, it will not change much.
Ice creams will be bought, stories will be told,
I hope he’ll like chips, my favorite’s Old Dutch
And I don’t care what anyone will see,
‘long as he becomes all that he can be.
By Joshua Chaffey, Mount Pearl Intermediate School
Entries were asked to follow the
Shakespearean
sonnet form:
- 14 lines of iambic pentameter
- an
ABAB CDCD EFEF GG rhyme scheme
Our panel of judges
from selected the
winning sonnets plus
runners-ups in each
of three categories:
- Grades 7-9
- Grades 10-12
- Adult
This
year our judges were:
- Angela Antle, Host of Weekend AM
for CBC Radio
- George Murray, Poet and Executive Director
of the Association of Cultural Industries (ACI)
- Michael
Pickard, Poet and Shakespeare By The Sea Festival Board Member
- Ken
Simmons, Entertainment Editor for The Telegram
- Gemma
Schlamp-Hickey, Poet and Chair of the Writer's Alliance of
Newfoundland and Labrador (WANL)
Winners
and runners-up in each category will received a 2010 Shakespeare By The
Sea Festival gift pack (approximate value $140).
The winners
also each received a
$100 cash prize and their poems were read
aloud for broadcast on
CBC Radio’s Weekend AM show on April 25th,
2010.
Winning entries were also published in the
April
24th edition of
The Telegram newspaper and will be published
in the 18th annual Shakespeare By The Sea Festival program.