The Shakespeare by the Sea festival celebrated the Bard's birthday Friday by giving presents to the three winners of its Words, Words, Words sonnet contest. The contest, announced on Twelfth Night (Jan. 6), gave poets in three categories the opportunity to wax lyrical. Deadline for entries was the Ides of March. Here are the winning entries:
Adult Category
Winner: Kevin Sooley
"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.
First runner-up: Michael Nolan, "The Surprise"
Second runner-up: Catherine Mason, "More than the flowering moon in darkest night"
High School Category
Winner: Zack Moore, O'Donel High School
"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.
First runner-up: Nick Melendy, "The Lament of a Geek"
Second runner-up: Curtis Dinn, St. Kevin's High School, "Poppy"
Junior High School Category
Winners: Nicole Maneckjee, Leary's Brook Junior High School
"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.
Cecilia Power, Mount Pearl Intermediate 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.
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."
Winning words announced
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Published on
April 24, 2010
- Published on July 1, 2010
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Staff ~ The Telegram
Theatre
The Shakespeare by the Sea festival celebrated the Bard's birthday Friday by giving presents to the three winners of its Words, Words, Words sonnet contest. The contest, announced on Twelfth Night (Jan. 6), gave poets in three categories the opportunity to wax lyrical. Deadline for entries was the Ides of March. Here are the winning entries:
Adult Category
Winner: Kevin Sooley
"A Sonnet for Beards"
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