[Shaun J. Russell]

I don't think it's a bad sonnet, though I don't think it's as great as some have made it out to be. I don't have many nits, per se, but I'm in the same boat as Petra in thinking there's not a lot of punch or creativity. And for some reason, I bristle at the word "pronto", especially given that it's an end rhyme (a near one, at that) and in such an important place in the poem. It seems like much too whimsical of a word. I suppose "ditto" is in the same league, but it doesn't bother me as much here.

Overall I don't mind this sonnet...I just don't think it's anything more than filler amidst the poet's undoubtedly considerable output.

[Susan McLean]

I like this one. The withering tone and colloquial rhythms are maintained throughout, and the clichés are re-invigorated by being adapted ("the dogs you've gone to") or taken literally: "thin is what it’s been." Adding the quote from Queen Elizabeth elevates the rant in a nicely ironic way and adds to the sense of the great height from which the speaker is speaking to the addressee. The slant rhymes at the end are useful in keeping the rhymes totally unexpected, which is part of the fun.

Susan

[R. Nemo Hill]

Well, it's certainly smooth and clever, the twist-and-stretch of cliche are expertly handled, the comic timing impeccable, the diction sprightly. It takes more than that to get me really excited about a poem, however.

I'd like to see more descriptive language in some of these sonnets, rather than just clever psychological dissection and structural wit.

Nemo

[Jesse Anger]

What Nemo said.

[Lance Levens]

This poet is skilled beyond measure. He/she is pretty much thinking aloud
and allowing us to listen. But Nemo has a point: fresh?

[Carol Taylor]

Clever and funny. I don't mind clichés all that much, particularly in light verse. I found the money line a bit of a non sequitur. Does it answer the posed question of whether N has somebody else in mind to replace her? If so, it seems to be overly abbreviated. If not, it would seem to be placed for rhyme.

Carol

[T.S. Kerrigan]

Volta, smolta! I loved its cleverness.

[Michael Cantor]

More skilled and clever than good. I read it, I admired it, it didn't stay with me. High marks for technique, lower grades for poeminess.

[David Mason]

I may be in the minority here, but I find the regularity of the meter monotonous, and somehow that undercuts the structural wit of the poem for me.

[Lance Levens]

Why are Sin and Sinner in caps? Has the Devil taken over the Chicago Manual of Style? Wait--this poet may have been bred on the 1662 Anglican prayer book.