PERMISSIONS: To view the blog, post on it, and comment on posts, you must be invited. I will send you an email invitation to join the blog, and then you must follow the instructions to join up and begin posting. You can't join the blog without first creating a Google account.

POSTING: Post your poems by clicking "New Post" at the top right of the page. Paste your poem into the window.

LABELING: Then label the post with the assignment name (i.e., "confessional poem," "sonnet," etc.), your name (i.e., "Tony Barnstone," etc.), and the week (i.e., "week one," "week two," but not "week 1"--spell out your numbers). If you post a poem in week two that is due in week three, label it "week three." When you begin to type in a label, the program will fill it in for you, so your post will be labeled with the rest of the poems in the same category.

COMMENTING: Afterwards, you can "comment" on the posts of your classmates. Post "group one" and "group two" one-page critical responses as "comments" on the posted poems, but also print out copies for me and for the poet and give them to us in class.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

The Golem and the Blacksmith

A blacksmith banged on wood chips at a rock forge.
As he tempered hardened oak like steel
the bellows blew. Hot wood was dancing red
in his coal black eyes beneath knotted brows.

From deep in flame a shape began to show.
The blacksmith drew a Golem from the forge.
He told the creature “live!” And gave it breath.
The Golem started stirring; slow at first.

Its eyes then cracked and creaked and oak lids split.
The blacksmith laughed at what he’d made appear,
“Golem,” he said “you’ll jump if I shout jump.”
The Golem simply cocked his head and stared.

Not one to stand for wooden eyes or minds,
the blacksmith set the Golem fast to work.
He sought for answer’s veiled from mortal men;
as Faustus had from Mephistopheles.

The blacksmith marveled over what he knew,
His wisdom like an oak it grew and grew.
The Golem simply cocked his head and stared
He knew the Smith and watched his hubris grow.
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1 comment:

  1. michael knoxMay 4, 2009 at 4:42 PM

    Critical Response #2
    Xan Calonne
    Michael Knox

    When I heard this poem in class I really enjoyed the use of wood as your main focus as the Golem. I later found out that the traditional golem is rock so I was brought back a little. After reading this again however, I have come to conclusion it is much more interesting as a wooden Golem. There is so much detail with wood that is obviously expressed in most of your work, that if it were rock, there would be a lack of detail. Good work man, I am impressed with the flow of the piece and you did a great job flowing that wooden image throughout the piece.
    Some words of kind criticism though, based only on meter of the poem and I do know this was our first iambic poem so I'll go lightly. Some of the meter is off in a few lines at the beginning, the first line has an extra foot, and the second line almost wants to read with an alighted "As" rather then "he." Just something to think about and maybe work out but that first line I feel is powerful, could be more powerful if the right words were there expressing the same image, but with only 5 feet. Great work man I really liked the poem.

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