Richard Vallance

Many Thanks To Richard Vallance I would like to begin this article by thanking Richard Vallance for all of his hard work over the years, on the Vallance Review. His regular insightful, well-researched articles have been invaluable for students learning about classic poetry forms, as well as being of interest for our regular readers. In recent years he has even helped us further by typesetting all of the review in HTML, to the usual style, each month. He has also found sources of portraits of the poets, and provided illustrations and fine art from a variety of sources online, all of which make the Vallance Review more visually pleasing, as well as informative. I am always amazed at the comprehensive work and detail that goes into these monthly reviews, not least of which is in the References and Notes, at the end of each one, which allows readers to follow up links for further reading. I first met Richard Vallance online in 2001, when I joined his sonnet forum "Describe Adonis", and we became friends. I later did a joint interview with Richard Vallance and Scotty Snow in the June 2001 issue of Poetry Life & Times. After seeing Richard's various critiques of sonnets on his forum, I invited him to do a regular review feature in Poetry Life & Times, and we came up with the title "The Vallance Review." The first one was in September 2001. This article will not attempt to cover every Vallance Review ever written to date, but will celebrate the best of them. Vallance Review No. 1, September 2001: "The Dead" by Mathilde Blind Mathilde Blind was a notable Victorian poet, biographer, editor-translator, whose pseudonym was Claude Lake. She was a passionate believer in equal rights for women. In this first Vallance Review, Richard explored her moving sonnet "The Dead", in all its dark, profound awareness of the tragic finite nature of human existence. He also quotes her sonnet "On the Lighthouse at Antibes", which gives us a dramatic sense of death lurking in the capricious nature of the sea. Click the picture link above, to read the sonnets and the entire review. Vallance Review No. 11, July 2002: When Is a Sonnet a Song? (Part 1) What can I say... to my great surprise, in July 2002, Richard decided to review one of my sonnets, "Pianissimo".. This Vallance Review explores the idea of sonnets which are actually about music. He starts off by going into the history of sonnets, in terms of their musicality, and quotes an interesting one by William Wordsworth which begins "Scorn not the sonnet..." then brings us up to date with more recent developments in poetry, before reviewing my "Pianissimo" in detail. The final part has a fascinating section entitled "Further References to Sonnets Dealing With Music" - which is packed with quotes from wonderful sonnets on this theme, with comprehensive links for the source material. Part 2 of this Vallance Review appeared in the December 2002 Poetry Life & Times. Scroll down for the screen capture link, later in this article... Vallance Review No. 15, November 2002: Rupert Brooke's "The Dead" Coincidentally the same title as Mathilde Blinde's sonnet from the first Vallance Review...The theme of this particular one is actually to commemorate Remembrance Day. Rupert Brooke (1887 - 1915); one of Richard's favourite poets, wrote this sonnet in 1914. Richard reviews it on several emotional and philosophical levels, bearing in mind the tragedy of war, the frailty of humanity and Rupert Brooke's own sensitive, often depressive personality. Vallance Review No. 16, December 2002: When Is A Sonnet A Song? Part 2 This Vallance Review was an interesting venture into musical multimedia and poetry combined. It reviewed "Brighter Orbs on High", a new musical midi composition by the Canadian composor Peter Zanette, which was inspired by William Lisle Bowle's Sonnet "On Hearing Handel’s ‘Messiah’". It fitted in very well with that time of year - Christmas. It also concluded the exploration of the musicality of the sonnet in general, which had been started in July the same year. I particularly like the fact that a picture of Peter's original musical score was included on the page. Further down, there is a pleasing picture of Peter himself at the piano, smiling as he plays. Richard was also kind enough to include a midi which I had later written as the music for my own sonnet "Pianissimo", which he reviewed in July. So readers get to hear two pieces of (fast-downloadable) midi piano music, as well as reading the review. Vallance Review No. 24, August 2003: Selective Historical Bibliography on the Sonnet This is an excerpt from a complete 100 page essay, in six Sections, The Historical Evolution of the Sonnet, complete with its own research bibliography. which appears on Richard's CD Rom "Canadian Spirit Voices", published in March 2003 by Kedco Studios Inc., ISBN 1-878431-44-7. Recommended reading, especially for students of literature who want to explore this subject, or poets who love the sonnet form and wish to read about how it has developed over the centuries. Vallance Review No. 25, September 2003: Potatoes, Sonnets and The Enormous Muse What can one say about The Potato of Terror? In this mind-igniting, sometimes frightening review, Richard collaborates with The Potato of Terror to bring us an in-depth article about the anarchic perspicacity of Tuberism in sonnets. The Potato chimes in to give us a brief history of Bong Quatrains, as penned by that notorioius reprobate of yore, Spudnacious Bong. If you thought you knew everything you needed to know about sonnets, think again, or at least reserve judgment, until you have read "Siren of The Deep" and mulled over the wobblings of the Enormous Muse. Brace yourself, and click the link.... Vallance Review No. 43, March 2005: "Fatal Interview" With Edna St. Vincent Millay This Vallance Review discusses Edna Saint Millay's most famous sonnet collection is Fatal Interview (1931) [2,7], comprised of 52 sonnets in celebration of her recent love affair in Paris with George Dillon, 14 years her junior. Richard also writes an "interview" with Edna, to explore her thoughts behind these sonnets, giving us exerpts from them in her answers, along with new insights into her life and loves. Vallance Review No. 51, November 2005 The Canadian Maritime Documentary Poem This Vallance Review gives a comparison of E.J. Pratt's "Titanic" (1935) and Eric Linden's Garland of Sonnets, "Halifax Explosion" (2003). It also documents the emergence of the Canadian maritime documentary poem as a distinct genre in its own right. Richard really warms to his subject on this one, as the subject of the Titanic, in particular, is one of his passions, as well as all things maritime. Vallance Review No. 54, February 2006 Pierre de Ronsard (1524-1585): Je vous envoie un bouquet... This is as fine and fair bouquet ... Richard Vallance translates Pierre de Ronsard's beautiful sonnet "Je vous envoie un bouquet..." into English and delivers a highly-comprehensive Vallance Review in both French and English. All of the French text is in black and the English is in blue. "Je vous envoie un bouquet..." is an intensely romantic love sonnet. As Richard points out, "Ronsard is one of the most eminently gifted of all sonneteers celebrating love in all of Western literature. This sonnet, justly famous as it is, bears compelling witness to the poet's sensibilities as a lover." In Conclusion... To conclude, I would like to wish a fond farewell to Richard Vallance as writer of The Vallance Review for Poetry Life & Times, and thank him for all of his hard work and research into every one he produced. What a star! I look forward to reading his new Vallance Review Canada ezine, and will certainly keep in touch on a number of different projects. by Sara L. Russell, Founder of Poetry Life & Times, Editor 1998 to 2006. Richard Vallance is the author of: Canadian Federation of Poets: Poetry Lessons: Lesson & Exercise - Week 18 SONNETS in The Canadian Federation of Poets weekly Poetry Progress Lessons & Exercises series SONNETTO POESIA is published quarterly in print & is advertised on the front page of the current issue of Poetry Life and Times. To subscribe to SONNETTO POESIA, contact the editor, Richard Vallance. To read the earlier e-zine back issues, visit the sonnet journal's Home Page here: SONNETTO POESIA ISSN 1705-4524 SONNETTO POESIA ISSN 1705 4524 Vol. 5 no 1, winter 2006 is in print.   In this and in every issue thereafter, the first page is dedicated to an historical sonnet, which has been previously been reviewed in The Vallance Review, Poetry Life & Times. SONNET

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