Today, napowrimo.net has decided to go out with a bang by asking us to write a cento. A cento is a poem that is made up entirely of lines taken from other poems. This was a really challenging one to write, although it’s a pretty short one.
I want to thank my best friends, Kittu’s Modern Mixtape, and Amour Infini for doing this season of NaPoWriMo with me, once again. They are incredibly supportive and fun to write with, and they inspire me so much! Also, big shoutout to @literarychills for hosting a NaPoWriMo challenge where we got to meet a lot of new writers. This really has been a wonderful NaPoWriMo season.
Now, I hope you enjoy reading my last poem for a while! Xx
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,
Continuous as the stars that shine,
With tender gladness, thus to look at thee,
A heart whose love is innocent,
Bare Winter was suddenly changed to Spring.
Thy thunder, conscious of the new command,
Till I could not bear to look at light,
Like some grave mighty thought threading a dream,
And a clearer one was never seen;
Then steal away, give little warning.
Upon some vacant sunny day,
Life passes on more rudely fleet,
The high meridian of the day is past,
As I’ve imagined this to be,
Then life and all shall cease,
Even such is thy deep song, that seems a part,
From truth and nature shall we wildly stray;
I love your eyes when the lovelight lies,
Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime,
You are like me, you will die too, but not today.
~© Shubhangi Srinivasan.
This version is the fully annotated version of the poem above. I thought it would be a good idea to mention where the lines were taken from, for this cento:
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,
[William Blake, “Auguries of Innocence”]
Continuous as the stars that shine
[Wiliam Wordsworth, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”]
With tender gladness, thus to look at thee,
[Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Frost at Midnight”]
A heart whose love is innocent,
[Lord Byron, “She Walks in Beauty”]
Bare Winter was suddenly changed to Spring.
[Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Question”]
Thy thunder, conscious of the new command,
[John Keats, “Hyperion”]
Till I could not bear to look at light,
[John Clare, “I Hid My Love”]
Like some grave mighty thought threading a dream,
[Leigh Hunt, “A Thought of the Nile”]
And a clearer one was never seen;
[Robert Southey, “The Wall of St. Keyne”]
Then steal away, give little warning.
[Anna Lætitia Barbauld, “Life”]
Upon some vacant sunny day,
[Dorothy Wordsworth, “Floating Island”]
Life passes on more rudely fleet,
[Walter Savage Landor, “Mild is the Parting Year”]
The high meridian of the day is past,
[Charlotte Smith, from “Beachy Head”]
As I’ve imagined this to be,
[Mary Lamb, “Envy”]
Then life and all shall cease,
[Charles Lamb, “Parental Recollections”]
Even such is thy deep song, that seems a part,
[Felicia Dorothea Hemans, “To Wordsworth”]
From truth and nature shall we wildly stray;
[George Crabbe, “The Village: Book I”]
I love your eyes when the lovelight lies,
[Ella Wheeler Wilcox, “I Love You”]
Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime,
[John Donne, “The Sun Rising”]
You are like me, you will die too, but not today.
[Reginald Shepherd, “You, Therefore”]
Featured Image by Ussama Azam on Unsplash
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