[Quincy Lehr]

Write a sonnet--in iambic pentameter, rhymed, with fourteen lines--about the virtues of chastity. The winner (if we get around to picking one) doesn't get to have sex for a month!

[Maryann Corbett]

It's been done, though obliquely, by condemning sex rather than praising chastity. And done by somebody none of us will try to top.

Th' Expense Of Spirit In A Waste Of Shame
William Shakespeare

Th' expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action; and till action, lust
Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame,
Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust;
Enjoyed no sooner but despised straight:
Past reason hunted; and no sooner had,
Past reason hated, as a swallowed bait,
On purpose laid to make the taker mad:
Mad in pursuit, and in possession so;
Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme;
A bliss in proof, and proved, a very woe;
Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream.
All this the world well knows; yet none knows well
To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.

[Wendy Sloan]

Well, that's a sonnet about lust, Maryanne -- possibly a subject with more poetic potential than chastity ...

... I don't think we'll have to compete with Shakespeare in our chastity/sonnet contest...

[Maryann Corbett]

Point taken, Wendy. Folks should go ahead and have fun, since that's what this board is for.

It would be a pleasure, though, to see a serious sonnet on the subject some time, just because it's difficult for us modern folks to praise it.

Maryann

[RCL]

I like this better:

Unchaste

Chaste
Male
Tail
Cased.
Traced,
Tail
Male
Faced.

Tail
Nailed
Male.
Soiled,
Same
Came.




[This message has been edited by RCL (edited June 01, 2007).]

[Mary Meriam]

Wherein Quincy Questions The Virtues
Of Chastity And The Poet Answers

Well, Quincy, chastity gives lots of time
to get to know, accept, and bore yourself,
peruse the last book on your highest shelf,
become an artist of the slanted rhyme,
learn how to cook and serve a single dish,
think long and hard about your window view,
appreciate the hope of someone new,
someone who fits with you and is delish.

I’m something of an expert in the field,
although I still count decades on one hand.
My hands are busy doing other things.
Why waste my time pursuing worthless flings?
I don’t expect the world to understand,
but chastity is love without a shield.

~~
Janet -- I LOL'd at how you said yours took at least ten minutes.



[This message has been edited by Mary Meriam (edited May 24, 2007).]

[Janet Kenny]

Took me at least ten minutes.

Chastity


When I was a student I saw with clarity
that men preferred the girls who gave their all
to any man who asked for charity;
a posture then known as the urban sprawl.

Those were the days of women’s liberation
which men exploited to the maximum.
Nice girls would fear the social appellation
of a frigid prude who wouldn’t join the scrum.

Backyard abortion haunted till the pill
arrived along with any STD
that circulated. So it went until
quite a few women yearned for chastity.

What’s love got to do with it? men often said—
until they found another in her bed.



“scrum” is a rugby term when all the bodies are piled up together.



[This message has been edited by Janet Kenny (edited May 24, 2007).]

[Thomas Newton]

THE GRADUATION BALL

Now the Class of 2006 will leave for the battlefield -- and you will make history. Never falter, never quit. Bring honor to the uniform, and pride to your country. May God bless you, and the Class of 2006. --West Point Commencement Address, George W. Bush

You are so handsome in your uniform.
I have been waiting for you all my life.
Yes, I accept. I’ll wait while you perform
Your Duty there in foreign lands of strife.
Your gold engagement ring just fits my finger.
I wish you didn’t have to leave so soon.
Here is a picture for your wallet. Linger
A little while and dance. I hear our tune.
I wish I could stay in your arms forever,
Just form a time loop, just slow dancing round
And round. I’ll never, ever forget, never.
You’re shaking. Just hold me. Don’t make a sound.
We’ll write a letter every day to
Prove our devotion and to help us through.



[This message has been edited by Thomas Newton2 (edited May 23, 2007).]

[Michael Cantor]

The Ordeal of Chastity

With Cher as Mom, and Sonny as your Dad,
it's tough to lead a private, hidden life -
one has to sympathize with all the strife
that she endured, the secret that she had
to keep from every high school lass and lad
who thought her father and his sexy wife
assured her of pure bliss - that, like a knife
that lurked within a closet, drove her mad.

And then the great disgrace of being outed -
the rumors flew through Hollywood, denied
by none; her mother wept - but everyone
who winced at what the gossip pages spouted
pledged their support, stood firmly by her side,
as word leaked out that Sonny was Republican.



[This message has been edited by Michael Cantor (edited May 25, 2007).]

[Kevin Andrew Murphy]

Originally posted by Thomas Newton2:
THE GRADUATION BALL

Now the Class of 2006 will leave for the battlefield -- and you will make history. Never falter, never quit. Bring honor to the uniform, and pride to your country. May God bless you, and the Class of 2006. --West Point Commencement Address, George W. Bush

You are so handsome in your uniform.
I have been waiting for you all my life.
Yes, I accept. I’ll wait while you perform
Your Duty there in foreign lands of strife.
Your gold engagement ring just fits my finger.
I wish you didn’t have to leave so soon.
Here is a picture for your wallet. Linger
A little while and dance. I hear our tune.
I wish I could stay in your arms forever,
Just form a time loop, just slow dancing round
And round. I’ll never, ever forget, never.
You’re shaking. Just hold me. Don’t make a sound.
We’ll write a letter every day to
Prove our devotion and to help us through.

Is it just me or did anyone else start reading this as a gay marriage military sonnet, not expecting to see Thomas adopt a female persona for his narrator?

Of course the unintended inuendo from the line break in "while you perform
Your Duty there" implies that s/he doesn't expect the soldier to be entirely chaste....

Sorry, Thomas. This chastity is reading as frustrated lust.