03-07-2011, 10:14 PM
(03-05-2011, 06:14 PM)Lawrence Wrote: I'm trying to write a long poem about an astronaut looking back on his past. These are my first four lines...This seems affectedly baroque, though I think that's inevitable; the style isn't far from those employed in old Greek poems, and you're a 21st century writer. But you do pull it off pretty well; despite being doomed to appear affected, it doesn't come across as dishonest or pretentious.
May I profess a past adrift in darkness; I'm not sure "profess" is quite the right word, or else it needs more explanation. Would "reveal" work better.
How I, deprived of kin, enduring exile, Good line. Elegant and graceful.
Floated years lonely amongst the cold company This line seems to have too many words. Could it be shortened to this?: "Drifted for years in the company of stars". As it is it seems to be telling more than showing.
Of stars. How, inside my stranded satellite I love the phrase stranded satellite.
I wept and wished for nothing but the world. Nice closer.
Any suggestions?
"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges." - Gene Wolfe

