Brenna Kane (English ’20) shares two of her beautiful sonnets. The first, “Musing from the Grave(stone)” is an homage to pre-conquest poetry (particularly Dream of the Rood) as well as the early medieval propensity to make objects speak (such as in the Exeter Book riddles). The second, “A Reply,” speaks back to John Donne’s famous sonnet, “The Flea,” calling into question his oft-repeated conceit.
Musings from the Grave(stone)
From my face curvatures form vast ravines
Caverns upon which tears find fertile ground
From axe and epitaph I source my means
To this/their plot I am forever bound
My brothers speak of different tales than I
Their ears bend far to cater whimpered prayer
In truth, it is not ours to reason why
How loss is mine to hold but theirs to bare
To them I am the bones beneath the sod
Not self but more a player, mask adorned
Hold fast my face, lament with logic flawed
Hell hath no fury as a mortal scorned
Ash is to ash as are the bones to me
Thus from my captive state, souls wander free
A Reply
To liken love and lust I caution thee
Such mindless musings written as our fate
Take heed to conjure marriage in a flea
In young hearts words turn cradle, bearing weight
Fertile lands sought without harvest’s intent
An unskilled farmer, reckless seeds are sown
Not innocence-but patience I fear spent
What good is mingling blood to tend crops grown?
From window’s view, stone disposition rests
Yet drops of loose blood pool to tip the scale
In doubt’s harsh womb still yet awe manifests
Sweet nothings turning iron judgment frail
While my own temperate wisdom do I seek
I entreat you and these coy fates to speak
* * *
Brenna Kane is a senior English major graduating in May of 2020. Literature editor of Mosaic Undergraduate Magazine and member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, she hopes to pursue a career in literary publishing. Specializing in writing, rhetoric and literacy, Brenna hopes to bring literature into the world that reflects the diverse thoughts and experiences of its inhabitants. Her time at OSU has has been instrumental in the formation of that goal, as the access to higher education has truly shaped her worldview.