Signal boost: The Sisters' Coronet

Now there's something you don't see every day (he said understatedly): a double heroic crown.

What's that, you ask? Well, first you write a sonnet (a 14-line poem with tight metrical and rhyme requirements). Then you write 13 more sonnets expanding on the same theme. Then you take the first line of each one, string them together, and furiously edit your poems until that's also a proper sonnet [1], and you've got a heroic crown. THEN, to double it, you take the last line of each one, string those together, and fiddle with your poems until THAT'S a proper sonnet too.

If you think that sounds like a ridiculous amount of work for 2,000 ponywords, you're beginning to understand.

Fable Scroll is, I'm almost certain, the fandom's first poet ambitious enough to tackle such a task, and The Sisters' Coronet is the result. The poems' topic is also a sly nod to the form — the double crown is used for a meditation on the story of Equestria's co-rulers.

"But horizon," you cry, "how's the poetry?" Solid rhyming and scansion; literate, but the words flow well. If you have a low tolerance for abstract language and metaphor, then be warned going in that the poems are heavy on them — they're very meditative, snapshots of moods and moments; there's no sequential progressing plot. Despite that, the series creates some provocative images. My favorites are Luna as a stage actress, the sensory deprivation of Nightmare Moon, and Celestia's solar light as a forge for weaponry.

Anyhoo: The Sisters' Coronet.

--
[1] Of course, if you're smart, you'll do it the other way around; I'm sure Fable Scroll was smart about it, but it's still a remarkable amount of work.

Comments

[Super Trampoline]

That sounds like an insane amount of work.

I did once write a sonnet where the first letter of each word also spelled out a message. It was a cheesy love poem to a crush. Fortunately, I never sent it.

[djthomp]

I'll have to give it a look, that's a fic that looks like it needs far more attention than it managed to get.

[PresentPerfect]

this sounds like more poetry than any one person can handle

[AugieDog]

I--:

I've never even heard of a "crown of sonnets" till right now. I'm definitely gonna hafta look into this!

Mike

[MSPiper]

Wow. I'm not usually one for poetry, but this sounds absolutely worth a look as soon as I have enough time. (Yes, it's not that long, but I suspect I'll have to do some poetry research to fully appreciate it....)

[Lurks-no-More]

I'm beginning to think that pony fans are responsible for a noticeable percentage of English-language metered poetry being written in the present day.

[ambion]

I once caught a fish sonnet thiiiiiiiiis big!

And The Sisters' Coronet happens to be it Definitely mightily read.

[Starlight_Flight]

Thanks for the rec. Forwarded to a poet of my acquaintance who's always looking for new poetic forms!