Two Sonnets
                             I

I HATE, detest, and ever have despised

False beauty turned to shame by cringing lust;

Nor shall my name be wrongly criticized

And I charged with  called doing what it 'y' least could trust --

Because I have not ceased to mock desire,

And that I find all naked from divine,

And shameless honesty a cleansing fire,

Your thoughts have found their evil taint in mine.

 

Youth sickens me when 'tis a growth I know

Corporeal, 'goors', and been lust to pursue,

Yet 'loveling' nature makes one half not so

But loveing high-aspiring, and  most time;

        Then let this witness what in vain I swear

        The loving is my joy, the lust my fear

 

                                                                          May 21st 1927

 

 

 

                                II

I SHALL PROTEST against thy martyrdom

For Heaven is Hell if you would make it so,

And my fair state to lower state may come

If in men's eyes my beauty fall so low;

All men are creatures of vicinity,

And to their neighbors' thoughts, react or mould --

To fiery thoughts my mind is turned by thee

Even now, which in my breast long lain cold

 

But if it cease to strike burn my heart shall say; --

  "Condemned to Hell, sin is there thine only pleasure,

And that sweet thing is lawfully thrown thy way

Now thou are found within this evil measure"

         And so I'd fall, because to sin is better

        Than be called sinnering, dobeing no such matter. *

 

                                                                                   May 22nd 1927

 

*This line revised reads "Than be called sinning, doing no such matter."

 

 

 

I attempted to recreate this work as I saw it in the text including his editing marks. My single quotes around something indicate it being hard to read what was originally written. He writes in black ink, but edits in blue ink. When he is writing in the blue ink, it is the same style but a much smaller script. My favorite line is "For Heaven is Hell if you would make it so." This piece and this line reflect his mood and thoughts through this piece as well as an interesting outlook on life. The pieces subscribe to the general rules of a sonnets with fourteen lines and a turn.

The book was interesting in and of itself. The different watermarks and the imprint of "Vidalon" on the inner side of the front cover. There is an ink spill on page 57 which is one of the water marks of Vidalon. The drawing on the second page was in the blue editing ink and the letters ENF are written in large capitol letters in the picture.