I found myself in communion with Mr. Leach's poem. The piece, in well crafted rhyming sextets, invites the reader into the universal bond and musical aura of a contemporary pastoral which is well rooted in tradition. This is a fine poem that easily could have been sung to soothe Polyphemus, Galataea and their brethren.
“Late Summer” is another wondrously timeless and transcendent poem by Daniel Leach. In reading this poem, one thing that stands out to me is Leach’s great skill with rhyme and meter. Although he consistently uses “perfect rhymes” throughout this piece, the lines possess great musicality without sounding “sing-songy.” I have found that many so-called “classical” and “new formalist” poets are such slaves to all the rules of prosody and yet are so lacking in any real skill that everything they come up with sounds like a bad stilted nursery rhyme. It puts one in mind of the Pharisees of Biblical times who blindly worshipped the letter of the law but were unable to discern the true spirit of it. This is not so with Daniel Leach and other poets of his caliber.
I found myself in communion with Mr. Leach's poem. The piece, in well crafted rhyming sextets, invites the reader into the universal bond and musical aura of a contemporary pastoral which is well rooted in tradition. This is a fine poem that easily could have been sung to soothe Polyphemus, Galataea and their brethren.
“Late Summer” is another wondrously timeless and transcendent poem by Daniel Leach. In reading this poem, one thing that stands out to me is Leach’s great skill with rhyme and meter. Although he consistently uses “perfect rhymes” throughout this piece, the lines possess great musicality without sounding “sing-songy.” I have found that many so-called “classical” and “new formalist” poets are such slaves to all the rules of prosody and yet are so lacking in any real skill that everything they come up with sounds like a bad stilted nursery rhyme. It puts one in mind of the Pharisees of Biblical times who blindly worshipped the letter of the law but were unable to discern the true spirit of it. This is not so with Daniel Leach and other poets of his caliber.