Sunday, August 16, 2009

Week 8: Villanelle Results

Beth, Dustin, and Dana were joined by guest judge Maureen Seaton for Week 8: Villanelle. Click here to revisit the Week 8 poems.


W.F. ROBY
KRISTEN MCHENRY
KATHI MORRISON-TAYLOR


The weekly judges & guest judge Maureen Seaton all agreed that there is a clear winner for Week 8: Villanelle. Congratulations, W.F.


While the decision for the winner was easy, Kristen and Kathi, the decision for the bottom two was not easy. In fact, the decision for the bottom two was quite difficult, and the decision as to who goes on permanent caesura was extremely difficult.

Kristen and Kathi, the weekly judges feel that for most of the competition the two of you have been neck and neck. Both of you have had your ups and downs-- we've thought you've been great at times; we've questioned what you were doing at times. We see it all coming down to the week 8 assignment.

Kristen, you revised your poem correcting the AAB rhyme scheme error to the proper ABA rhyme scheme of the villanelle. However, the judges feel your original poem was stronger than the revision.

Kathi, the judges won't deny that you made great choices with your revisions; however, you didn't address the issue of slant rhyme.

Who stays? Who goes on permanent caesura? The poet who took the chance to revise and took two steps back, or the poet who wrote a good poem in spite of the rules....

Kristen, you are on permanent caesura.

8 comments:

Kristen McHenry said...

It's been fun! Thanks for all your hard work, Dana, Dustin, and Beth. This was a great experience, and it taught me a lot. I'm thrilled to have gotten as far as I did; when I found out I was a finalist, I never expected to make it past the first week, much less to Week 9! Kathy, Emily, and WF--my fingers are crossed for all of you. Knock' em dead. I'll be watching!

Emily said...

Kristen, I admire your work (and your grace) tremendously. Thank you for all the beautiful poems you shared, and good luck!!!!

Ron M. said...

A poem with the full sentence line of "I took to the drug like a ferry" won? For real? That legitimately qualifies as one of the worst similies I've ever read.

I have to ask: Is this competition rigged? Roby should have been cut weeks ago, imho.

Emily said...

Well, if the line was 'I took to the drug like a ferry' and not 'I took to the drug like a ferry/ducks into the crests of waves', maybe you'd have a leg to stand on.

Unknown said...

Ron --

Congratulations on leaving your name. Most people who come by to take a swipe don't have the decency to do that.

Funny you should add an "imho" tag to your post. In my experience, a "humble opinion" generally stops short of shouting its own name. Still, your opinion is valid. In fact, if you look through my own posts on the subject, you'll find that there was a time we agreed.

Good thing my mama taught me to brush them haters off.

Bring on the final.

Ron M. said...

Yes, Emily, the second to last line is:
"I took to the drug like a ferry."

The line in that position, as written, stands on its own.

Unknown said...

Ron -- your assessment that the contest is rigged, while not totally original, wins the prize for "troll comment of the week".

The line repeats itself at the end of the poem, AFTER the line has been extended a couple of times.

Surely you respect the idea of formal poetry? The line can repeat a fractured version of itself. I gave readers the benefit of the doubt, but obviously I shouldn't have.

I'll take your criticism with me when I revise the poem. And thanks for your help.

Emily said...

Ron-- you should write a villanelle! Here-- you've got 72 hours, and you have to use perfect rhyme. Oh, and you can only vary three words in the repeating lines. Also, you work full time. And it's going on display for four judges you admire and the rest of the free world. OH, and don't forget to make it about politics!! Ok, Ron... go get 'em!