We recently received a message from Sylvia, a reader of our blog, who made kind remarks about our poetry. One of our members immediately began quoting Shakespeare's "Who is Silvia?" (see below), and others of us almost as immediately began riffing on Shakespeare's verses (see even farther below). We don't know Sylvia personally, but we thank her for her inspiration.
Who is Silvia? what is she,
That all
our swains commend her?
Holy, fair, and wise is she;
The
heaven such grace did lend her,
That she might admirèd be.
Is she kind as she is fair?
For
beauty lives with kindness.
Love doth to her eyes repair,
To help
him of his blindness,
And, being helped, inhabits there.
Then to Silvia let us sing,
That
Silvia is excelling;
She excels each mortal thing
Upon the
dull earth dwelling:
To her let us garlands bring.
--William Shakespeare
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Sylvia, the Catalyst"
Who is Sylvia? What is she,
That all
our hearts commend her?
Holy, fair, and wise is she!
To say
our poems mend her
And we admiréd of her be.
('Though none of us has met her.)
Is she kind and she is fair?
For
beauty lives with kindness.
Do spectacles her eyes repair,
To help her with near-sighted-ness?
Or contact lenses her eyes inhabit?
(She reads our stuff, regardless.)
Although we know her not, we dare
To hope
she likes our verses.
We'll write, we'll post, we'll blog them here
For
Sylvia, best and worstest.
Then to Sylvia let us sing,
It's
Sylvia we're extolling;
She excels each mortal thing
Upon the
dull earth dwelling!
To her let us our poems bring
(But first, let's check our spelling.)
--Agatha
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Where is Sylvia?"
Who is Sylvia? Where is she
that all we poets seek her?
Mysterious, anonymous
is our poetry peeker.
--Zazu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A Love Poem for the Mysterious Sylvia"
You come
without memories,
no chains of hope
trailing behind
You are
wonder
All your unspoken words
are ripe
with promise
every stilled gesture,
graceful
and meaningful glances
dance
in your closed eyes.
--Sappho
