Richard Vallance

Vallance Review, March, 2003 Describe Adonis © by Richard Vallance, 2003 - Reviewed by Sara L. Russell Inspired by Shakespeare's Sonnet 53 INTRODUCTION For the March 2003 Vallance Review, I decided we should review a sonnet by Richard Vallance himself, so of course it will be reviewed by me rather than Richard. It is "Describe Adonis", inspired by Shakespeare's Sonnet 53 - neatly carrying on the theme from last month (Review no. 18, February 2003). In the sonnet Describe Adonis, our Richard steps into a "virtual time machine" and presents us with a tale about "Daniel Devonshire Esq.", a friend of William Shakespeare, who often enjoyed a pipe (tobacco being such a novelty in those days), along with good Elizabethan food, at the bard's house in Stratford-upon-Avon. William probably had many such friends, although of course this one is a character created by a bard of this century. For Richard Vallance, with this sonnet, spins a dream that so many of us have - to have been able to meet Shakespeare - and perhaps even to have inspired one of his sonnets, through a light-hearted conversation at his house in Stratford-upon-Avon, England... THE SONNET Describe Adonis     [1] For William Shakespeare, From his loyal Friend, Daniel Devonshire, Esq. Dared he, "Describe Adonis, if thou will… " On my tobacco pipe I dared one puff. One dusted beam of light that touched his quill Had latticed us! “Thou hast to call his bluff!” I quipped, "Describe Adonis, if thou dare!" Would he? "What Muse," I mused, my pint of ale Full quaffed, "has eyes so bright?" as so to stare On hazelled apple cores & bones of quail? "Perchance, as Venus to Adonis were," The lips assayed; he raised his shaded brow, "Would she, fair Helen, Paris so allure?" "Frail counterfeits, they countervail [2] somehow..." At that, his thoughts on parchment fairly played Tales Arcadian Urns had never portrayed.     [3] © by Richard Vallance, 2001, 2003 Setting The Scene: In the first two lines, Richard, in the guise of Daniel Devonshire, paints a picture of the two friends sitting in a front living room in a haze of pipe tobacco smoke. Then, in the last two lines of the first quatrain, a little more of the scene is revealed, we get the light through the latticed window: One dusted beam of light that touched his quill Had latticed us! “Thou hast to call his bluff!” As well as being vivid in terms of what the poet shares with us visually, the (or Richard’s) sonnet sonnet gives us a lively fictitious tale of a crucial, inspirational moment in the life of William Shakespeare: when Daniel throws an interesting poetic challenge before his friend - to describe Adonis, one of the most beautiful faces of history or legend. Whereon the bard, hoping that Daniel may inspire him further, throws the challenge back, saying "Describe Adonis, if thou dare!" But then, as William begins to think about it, taking a generous swig of ale, he begins to explore the possibilities, thinking of such beauty as Venus, Helen of Troy... and almost before he realises it, he has reached for his pen and begun to write the immortal lines of Sonnet 53 - in "Tales Arcadian Urns had never portrayed", as the last line says [see note [3] in References and Notes at the end of this review for web links on this genre of art]. THE SESTET The last six lines, or sestet, of a sonnet, are usually the most crucial part, bringing you to a conclusion, a shattering revelation or a punch-line of some kind, and this sonnet is no exception. Richard, at this point, cleverly begins to introduce further elements of sonnet 53, bringing in the word "counterfeit" in a snappy, rhythmical alliteration with "countervail": "Perchance, as Venus to Adonis were," The lips assayed; he raised his shaded brow, "Would she, fair Helen, Paris so allure?" "Frail counterfeits, they countervail somehow..." At that, his thoughts on parchment fairly played Tales Arcadian Urns had never portrayed. ...Then the last two lines give you the moment when Shakespeare begins to write his sonnet, having found his spark of inspiration. This is where the story begins, rather than ends, for that is when Sonnet 53 is born. Which leads me to mention.... THE SONNET WHICH INSPIRED "DESCRIBE ADONIS"... ...And inspired Richard's family of poetry groups on Yahoo. That is of course Shakespeare's Sonnet 53,     [4] which so lyrically expounds on the subject of legendary beauty: William Shakespeare Sonnet 53 What is your substance, whereof are you made, That millions of strange shadows on you tend, Since every one hath, every one, one shade, And you, but one, can every shadow lend? Describe Adonis, and the counterfeit Is poorly imitated after you; On Helen's cheek all art of beauty set, And you in Grecian tires are painted new; Speak of the spring and foison * of the year: The one doth shadow of your beauty show, The other as your bounty doth appear, And you in every blessed shape we know. In all external grace you have some part, But you like none, none you, for constant heart. * Renaissance French for: "harvest" In the first quatrain, we see that Shakespeare is beguiled by the way the shadows "attend" on this remarkable face, giving such an exquisite, symetrical arrangement of light and shade on the perfect features. Instead of simply using a word such as "charisma", he chooses to use the idea of shadows to convey the mysterious allure of the face. In fact, as the sonnet progresses, so lovely is this person that even the spring is only a mere shadow of its beauty, while the foison, or harvest, is a reminder of this person's lush "bounty", as in the pleasing curve of an arm, a shoulder, or the fullness of the lips, or the ripe, apple-like curve of a woman's breast. The word "bounty" is enough to bring all of these things to mind, along with the bountiful bestowing of kisses or embraces, which also may be implied here. So besotted is Shakespeare that he even goes so far as to say: "in all external grace you have some part" which almost deifies the subject of this sonnet. But the last line reveals that, despite almost seeming spoiled by being so beautiful, this lover is faithful and true. It is interesting that Shakespeare also implies with "you like none, none you, for constant heart" - that he may possibly have been hurt or let down by previous loves. AND BACK TO RICHARD IN MARCH 2003.... Richard's sonnet elegantly takes the ideas which Shakespeare began and speculates about what actually inspired Shakespeare, or perhaps who. We see sharply through the eyes of his friend Daniel Devonshire, who knows Shakespeare's other friends, and may well be aware of a beautiful lover who is occupying Shakespeare's thoughts, as he writes Sonnet 53. It is a light-hearted sojourn into Elizabethan times, with some interesting imagery of those days, and of the Bard of Avon himself. I thank Richard for giving me this opportunity to review it. I should also mention here that this is a special occasion: February 28th., 2003 is the second anniversary of the founding of Richard Vallance's first Yahoo poetry group, DESCRIBE ADONIS, which is devoted to the sonnet. © Sara L. Russell, February 28th, 2003 REFERENCES & NOTES: [1] Previously published in SONNETTO POESIA, Vol. 1, no. 1, Spring/ le printemps, 2002. "Contemporary sonnets contemporains" (Scroll down past Sondra Ball's sonnet.) [2] coun·ter·vail: To act as an equalizing weight or force to: balance, compensate, counteract, counterbalance, counterpoise, make up, offset, set off. See ORDER. 2. To make up for: balance, compensate, counterbalance, counterpoise, neutralize, offset, outweigh, redeem, set off. See SUBSTITUTE. Visit this Online Thesaurus for more details and more fun words like these... [3] Click here for a commercial gallery showing beautiful Pre-Raphaelite paintings on typical themes of Arcadian legend. [4] Click here for a simplified analysis of some of the expressions used in Shakespeare's Sonnet 53. The website is run by Lawrence Gerald.