Treasuring Poetry – Poet and author, Sally Cronin, talks about poetry and my review

Today, I’m delighted to welcome author, poet, and blogger, Sally Cronin as my February Treasuring Poetry guest.

Why do you write poetry?

Thank you so much Robbie for inviting me along to talk about poetry it is lovely to be here.

I loved nursery rhymes when I was very young, and for most children it is their first introduction to poetry. I wanted to write my own and would scribble down as stories that probably made no sense to anyone but me.   I illustrated them and even put them together in a book I kept under the mattress and they were not shown to anyone. I was seven and my growing love of all kinds of poetry from short and pithy to the long saga adventures has never faded. As a teenager I switched to writing song lyrics and found it a wonderful way to express my thoughts and feelings.

For many, as we become adults, life brings other priorities and responsibilities, and writing for pleasure is put aside. When I gave up corporate life and retrained in nutrition in my 40s I still worked hard, but the schedule was mine to make. It left time for my more creative side and I began to write books, and also began to experiment with poetry in various formats.

I love the challenge of telling a story in a few lines or ever a few syllables. I have often started off with five or six verses and ended up with two. It is the same with 99 word flash fiction and nothing gives me more pleasure when someone says they enjoyed the story.

Do you think poetry is still a relevant form of expressing ideas in our modern world? If yes, why?

I definitely think poetry is still a relevant form of communication in our modern world. In fact the more technology takes over our lives, it should become more relevant. Robots are being programmed to write text in many forms including poetry. But, without the human emotion infused into the words, it might rhyme, be perfectly correct in form, but it will lack that vital ingredient.

Which poem by any other poet that you’ve read, do you relate to the most?

I have always loved poetry and there are many I relate to, particular as I get older. One of the hopes of any writer is that our words will linger on after we have gone, but I also believe we leave a sense of ourselves in the places we have lived and the people we have known. I have lost family and friends and I see those I have loved in quite random things that remind me of them and the time we spent together. This poem by Mary Elizabeth Frye sums that up for me beautifully.

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.

Which of your own poems in Variety is the Spice of Life is your favourite and why?

I am not sure if it is because I am now heading into my second childhood, but I had a lot of fun writing Lullaby and perhaps it is because of an abiding memory of being sung to as a child in a foreign language when we lived abroad. The words might not have been understood but the emotion and love certainly were.

Lullaby

to sing
a lullaby
you must first consider
preferences of the baby
waiting

perhaps
a jolly song
aimed to make them chortle
to wave their hands around with glee
happy

maybe
slow and gentle
soothing a fractious mood
or the soreness of teething gums
tearful

deep toned
to reassure
those fearing the shadows
now allayed by a father’s voice
safety

language
a foreign tongue
but words that mothers sing
to babies all around the world
loving.

Is writing poetry easy for you compared to prose or do you do a lot of editing and revision of your poems?

I probably do as much editing and revision of my poetry as I do my prose. I used to struggle with the format but now I am working with syllabic poetry I find it easier. I began writing haikus about ten years ago and once I began participating in challenges online on a regular basis, my options for different formats expanded.

As with my prose, I start with a brain dump and then go back again and again until I am happy with the end result.

Poetry is always best shared orally by the poet. You have started sharing your poetry via podcasts. Are you finding this a good way of sharing your poetry with others?

I mentioned how poetry should convey emotion that resonates with the reader, and I do believe that when a poem is read aloud, it allows for colour to be added to the words to bring the emotion to life. From the feedback, including you own, I am finding it a great way to share my poems and those of others I admire, such as the War Poets.  This year I hope to share more of those and of other poets I admire.

Podcast link https://soundcloud.com/sallycronin

Thank you, Sally, for being a wonderful guest!

My review of Variety is the Spice of Life by Sally Cronin

This delightful book is a mixture of poetry and short stories. Much of the poetry relates to nature and nature’s impact on humanity, although a few focus on human relationships. All of the poems are syllabic and beautifully written.

My favourite of the poems, and a few lines from each, are as follows:

Kinship –
“sanctuary formed in kinship
there may not always be harmony
but the ties of love cannot be broken.”

Storm front –
“clouds disperse and run for their lives
to seek shelter of night
softer gaze of
the moon.”

Drought –
“grass shoots
vibrantly green
burst thought the ground in days
a miracle of abundance
at last”

The short stories in the book are all typical of the author’s style of writing. Each story pierces the veil of human relationships and behaviour and exposes the good and the bad for the reader’s enjoyment, surprise, shock, and entertainment.

My four favourites were as follows:

Miss Lloyd’s Robin – a short story that has many facets. It emphasizes that people’s looks generally do not define them and gently reminds the reader not to stereotype people based on appearance. Miss Lloyd thinks that Sharon Dawson will never amount to anything because she has unruly red hair that is hard to tame. This story also highlights the damage an unkind teacher can inflict on a student. At the same time, Miss Lloyd, so hard and sharp in the classroom, has a softer side and feeds the birds in her backyard with relentless determination. This is a beautiful, feel good story that leaves the reader believing in the goodness of people.

The Green Hill – this short story has a light paranormal twist and joyfully highlights the beauty of a long and loving relationship and marriage between two people. It also demonstrates the strength of devotion that develops between people and their dogs.

The Secret – another beautifully written story about the potential damage secrets within a close family circle can do. It also highlights the terrible indifference of many people in positions to influence others, especially youngsters, and their complete irresponsibility and selfishness. This story made me glad that most of the girls I grew up with and who my sons associate with are a bit street wise. Modern women who grow up in more enlightened households are no longer naïve to a point where they can ruin their whole lives over a misguided mistake. It was delightful that this story had a satisfying ending.

The Healer – this tale was set in a dystopian future when people with the ability to heal and help the sick are persecuted as charlatans and imprisoned for life. I enjoyed reading about Serina and her gift and discovering how common sense and love for a child will often overwhelm fear of reprisal from a misguided and often cruel leadership. A lovely story with a fulfilling outcome.

Another well written and thought provoking collection from a talented author.

Amazon US books

Amazon UK books

Sally Cronin’s Amazon author page

About Sally Cronin

Sally Cronin is the author of sixteen books including her memoir Size Matters: Especially when you weigh 330lb first published in 2001. This has been followed by another fifteen books both fiction and non-fiction including multi-genre collections of short stories and poetry.

As an author she understands how important it is to have support in marketing books and offers a number of FREE promotional opportunities on her blog and across her social media. The Smorgasbord Bookshelf

Her podcast shares book reviews, poetry and short stories Sally Cronin Soundcloud

After leading a nomadic existence exploring the world, she now lives with her husband on the coast of Southern Ireland enjoying the seasonal fluctuations in the temperature of the rain.

My blog is https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com

And for more information on my books listed here at Amazon please visit

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/my-books-and-reviews-2019-2021/

Connect with Sally Cronin

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7979187.Sally_Cronin
Blog : https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/sallycronin
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sgc58

About Robbie Cheadle

Award-winning, bestselling author, Robbie Cheadle, has published thirteen children’s book and two poetry books. Her work has also appeared in poetry and short story anthologies.

Robbie also has two novels published under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

The ten Sir Chocolate children’s picture books, co-authored by Robbie and Michael Cheadle, are written in sweet, short rhymes which are easy for young children to follow and are illustrated with pictures of delicious cakes and cake decorations. Each book also includes simple recipes or biscuit art directions which children can make under adult supervision.

Robbie’s blog includes recipes, fondant and cake artwork, poetry, and book reviews. https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/

Dark Origins – Nursery Rhymes, Fairytales and Stories: The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe

Overview

I am kicking off Dark Origins 2023 with an analysis of the origins and historical accuracy of The Pit and the Pendulum. This short story by Edgar Allan Poe is set at the height of the Spanish Inquisition.

The story begins with the unnamed narrator being condemned to death. As the judges announce his fate, the narrator focuses on seven tall candles. The light of the candles initially appears to him like angels and he feels comforted. He is soon, however, overcome by horror at his fate and the candles disappear when he collapses into semi-consciousness.

When the narrator awakes, he is initially to scared to open his eyes. When he does open them, he finds himself in complete darkness and spends some time imagining the tortures of the Inquisition. After some time has passed, he musters the courage to start moving and tries to make sense of his surroundings by using his sense of touch. Falling asleep at one point during his navigation of the cell walls, he wakes up to find water and bread which he consumes. After completing his tour of the cell walls, he attempts to walk across the chamber and almost falls into a deep, circular pit. He discovers more bread and water and falls asleep again.

Awaking from his second sleep, he realises that his water is drugged and also that his prison is much smaller than he thought. He also discovers that the walls are made of metal and not stone and that he is now tied on his back to a piece of wood with only his left hand up to his left elbow free. He is very thirsty due to the salty food but the water pitcher has been removed. Looking up at the ceiling, the narrator sees a painting of Father Time holding a large and slow moving pendulum.

The narrator is distracted by rats scurrying about the floor of his prison and when he looks up thirty minutes later, he realised that the pendulum has a razor-sharp blade attached to it and it is moving down towards his body. The author’s intention with this depiction of Father Time holding a deadly weapon is to remind readers that we are all fighting against the clock which ticks steadily towards our inevitable ending.

The narrator devises a clever plan to escape death by being chopped by the pendulum which was designed to cut into his heart.

The pendulum is withdrawn from the room after his escape from his bonds and death by the pendulum, making it obvious that his torturers are watching his every move. The next torture is a mixture of heat and the walls closing around him and forcing him towards the pit. As death gallops towards him, he lets out a piercing scream and there is a blast of trumpets and the walls roll back. The narrator is rescued and the torture of the Inquisition is over.

Dark Origin

The Pit and the Pendulum is about the torments endured by a prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition. It is interesting that Poe made no attempt with this story to be historically accurate and there are three areas where his short story differed significantly from historical facts, as follows:

1. The narrator’s rescuer – the narrator is rescued by General Lasalle who was a French cavalry general during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, in particular, the Peninsular War which took place between 1808 and 1814. The Spanish Inquisition was at its height between 1480 and 1530, centuries before this war. The detailed tortures described in Poe’s story have no historic parallels in the activity of the Spanish Inquisition at any time, and particularly not at the beginning of the 19th century when only four persons were condemned under this regime.
2. The original source of the pendulum torture method is one paragraph in the preface of The history of the Inquisition of Spain published in 1826 by Spanish priest, historian and activist, Juan Antonio Llorente. The paragraph detailed the second-hand account by Llorente of the release of a single prisoner from the Inquisition’s Madrid dungeon in 1820. Llorente included a description by said prisoner of the pendulum torture method. This description has been dismissed as factually inaccurate by modern historians. It is believed that Llorente misunderstood what he heard and that the prisoner was actually referring to the strappado (garrucha), a common Inquisition torture in terms of which the prisoner’s hands are tied behind his back and he is hoisted of the floor by a rope tied to his hands. This method is also called the “pendulum”.
3. Poe places a Latin epigraph (phrase, quotation or poem) before the story describing it as “a quatrain composed for the gates of a market to be erected upon the site of the Jacobin Club House (the Jacobin Club was the most influential political club during the French Revolution of 1789) at Paris”. Poe did not invent this epigraph as this inscription was composed with the intention of placing it on the site, but the market was not built as intended and did not have any gates and, thus, no inscription.

Summary

Poe’s intention with this short story appears to be to capture the horrors of confinement and torture and the terrible realization by the victim that he is going to die regardless of the choices he makes i.e. the pit or the pendulum. The Spanish Inquisition setting would thus appear to be merely a convenient setting for the tale. Consequently, Poe was not limited by historical accuracy with his descriptions of the torture chamber and methods or the rescue of his hero.

Quotes from The Pit and the Pendulum

The Pit and the Pendulum is one of the most famous of Poe’s works together with The Tell-Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, The Fall of the House of Usher and the Masque of the Red Death.

Famous quotes from The Pit and the Pendulum are as follows:

“And then there stole into my fancy, like a rich musical note, the thought of what sweet rest there must be in the grave.”

“I call to mind flatness and dampness; and then all is madness – the madness of a memory which busies itself among forbidden things.”

“In death – no! even in the grave all is not lost. Else there is no immortality for man. Arousing from the most profound slumbers, we break the gossamer web of some dream. Yet in a second afterward, (so frail may that web have been) we remember not that we have dreamed.”

About Roberta Eaton Cheadle

Award-winning, bestselling author, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, is a South African writer and poet specialising in historical, paranormal, and horror novels and short stories. She is an avid reader in these genres and her writing has been influenced by famous authors including Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Amor Towles, Stephen Crane, Enrich Maria Remarque, George Orwell, Stephen King, and Colleen McCullough.

Roberta has two published novels and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories included in several anthologies. She and is also a contributor to the Ask the Authors 2022 (WordCrafter Writing Reference series).

Roberta also has thirteen children’s books and two poetry books published under the name of Robbie Cheadle, and has poems and short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

Roberta’s blog features discussions about classic books, book reviews, poetry, and photography. https://roberta-writes.com/.

Find Roberta Eaton Cheadle

Blog: https://wordpress.com/view/robertawrites235681907.wordpress.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobertaEaton17

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robertawrites

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Roberta-Eaton-Cheadle/e/B08RSNJQZ5

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