A tainted soul

Workshop

A tainted soul

​

forgiveness,

our time has come;

say goodbye

there is only sorrow

gone with the wind

a flash, a day

​

A tainted soul

​

you once promised me for eternity

for when the time comes,

darkness descends

you once promised me for eternity

to forever wander

​

A tainted soul

​

Forgiveness,

a dying rose on the table, a scarlet heart

not but a smile

a child, and so I pray

​

A tainted soul

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May the inferno come upon us

gone with the wind

a minute, a second

blood stained

a flash, an instant

parted from the flesh

​

A tainted soul

​

this will be the last you hear from me,

tear stained, tormented

you once promised me forever

to forever fall

​

A tainted soul

​

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/wkr2sx/title_they_who_silenced_me/

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/wkrij8/drawn/

Posted Aug 10, 2022, 9:46 AM UTC

65
steel-potato•

The style is quite strong with consistently short, staccato statements creating a rhythmic tone. Repetitive use of 'a tainted soul', probably referring to that of the speaker who has lost a love. The language is quite grandiose with metaphorical imperatives: 'may the inferno come upon us', which indicates to me the distraught emotional state of the speaker. Some questions to ask yourself...who is this addressed to? If it is addressed to the lost lover, what are you trying to make them feel, or what is the motivation behind addressing this to them? Cheers.

2
BreadFuelOP•

Thank you very much for this lovely feedback! I appreciate it!

1
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1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
Feck_Quickfoot•

Hey OP,

I really love the repetition used here! It’s effective as it’s not just rhythmically interesting but also you manage to adjust the context of “a tainted soul” with each stanza!

In terms of feedback I think the biggest thing to work on in this poem is reducing abstractions. You have some amazing images in here like “a dying rose on a table, a scarlet heart / not but a smile / a child”. But others are simply statements of abstract feelings, such as “ there is only sorrow / gone with the wind”. Here instead of the reader feeling it they simply understand the feeling which creates a distance and lessons the impact of the piece.

Consider instead a way to convey sorrow instead of telling us. Maybe show us something else torn and flying past in the wind, the speaker tossing something away, just some ideas.

I think this has a lot of potential and your sense of meter and rhythm are great wand make the poem really flow :) Hope some of the feedback helped, keep writing!

1
BreadFuelOP•

Wow, thank you very much for this great feedback! This is my first poem, so I appreciate everything you tell me I should work on, and I will take it into account when I write another poem.

​

Again, thank you very much!

1