For my daughter Hannah, for Christmas, 2008, from Dad:*


"Hannah is a Goddess, yet in her mind"

Hannah is a goddess, yet in her mind

Dwells a genius that lingers not on looks.

This brilliant angel, gracious and kind,

Brought to Earth a sureness not found in books.

She writes storied essays with wisdom and wit,

And could be an author if she so chose -

Or a poet - and fail the heights not a bit -

But she speaks without words greater than those:

Her elevés, arabesques, and invisible

Intents sing louder than sounds could ever

Express: She pliés to conquer, sensible

Of love; each essence is hers forever.

Hannah is a dancer: complex, sublime;

She makes lyric movement hug all time.

*Charles Knouse 2008 All Rights Reserved.

A few notes:

You are welcome to adapt this poem for a child (the above was written for a teenager about to become an adult), if you wish. T.S. Elliot said: "Good poets imitate. Great poets steal." (Picasso said the same thing as it applied to fine art.) If you can use this poem, in your own way, to help support a child's (or adult's, for that matter) own aspirations and interests - it is important that the aspirations are theirs, not your own! - by all means steal it - or the idea of it, which is what T. S. Elliot, and Picasso, really meant. All I ask is that if you publish it anywhere, including posting it on the web, in a form where the original is still recognizable, that you acknowledge who gave it to you...me. That's not much to ask, and I gladly give it to you if it will help someone grow into or accept who they are as much more than they thought they could be.

Regarding language and word/concept choice: I believe, when writing a sonnet for someone, in going to the heart of the matter, their essential character and most cherished aspirations. A sonnet, to me, should be written in elevated language, should include beauty, beautiful words, and the awe of life, and the subject of the sonnet should also be elevated to the essential perfection that exists in the person, ignoring any petty human foibles that, after all, are a part of each and everyone of us (although more in some than others, admittedly, but in the case of Hannah, fortuitously not a significant issue).

For me, also, it is not religious - that is, confined to any religion - to include concepts of Heaven and God and Angels - nor is it pagan; rather, it is my poetic expression of my personal conviction that humans have the obligation and privilege of creating Heaven on Earth - that is what I believe Jesus was talking about when he said, "Heaven and Earth are One", and "As it is in Heaven, so shall it be on Earth": what we set in the Heavens - shared belief - so shall it manifest in the Earth - our lives and forms. A child, even a young adult, needs a parent or, lacking that, a mentor, who will share a belief in their ability to achieve fulfillment. I'm not talking about fame or fortune, I'm not even talking about selfish desires, I'm talking about a child excelling in whatever they are on Earth to do, whatever it is, so long as it in some way contributes to the wholeness of humanity. Presidents of Ignorance, Vice Presidents of Torture and Wall Street crooks need not apply.

For addressing children, especially, although I believe the same for addressing adults - it's just that adults can better weather a well-intentioned but misguided critique - but for children, even teenagers nearing adulthood, I believe in paying attention only to the positive, the uplifting, the best aspirations or qualities each one has. Nobody wants a poem that points out they have a messy room, choose bad friends or can't do math. This was something my wife taught me, but it came quite naturally to me once I understood the idea: that by giving attention to the best in a child, the best is encouraged to grow and express. By the same token, the praise must be rooted in what is really there, or it has a deflating effect - this means careful and close observation, perhaps casual conversation, to find out what is actually harbored in the person's heart or best displayed in their actions. In someone who has been abused, you might have to look for the tiniest clue first, for they will likely hide away very deeply what is most sacred to them.

Have you ever heard the saying, "It ain't boastin' if yuh done it"? Well, I can tell you that our four children are absolute marvels, and they have turned out so well in no small part because we were careful to observe what mattered most to each one and to give solid, but unobtrusive, support. This is not spoiling, for those of you who, like me, grew up with an abusive and criticizing parent, and might still carry those misconceptions about parenting modeled so thoroughly by a confused father or mother.

Finally, I generally like sonnets in iambic pentameter, ten syllables to the line, but often nine or eleven work just fine. The rhymes should be good words, not "hut" with "butt", and I try not to stretch for an artificial rhyme. For example, in Hannah's sonnet I had rhymed "invisible" with "a sybil", which was awfully clever and deliciously archaic, but, first, it didn't read out loud well - not an easy rhyme for the ear to catch on the fly - and second, while the archaic meaning of sybil is prophetess, the modern meaning that would be inferred by most would be that of "Sybil", the fractured personality - so I changed it. In those lines, "invisible" now rhymes with "sensible"; it reads nicely, catches the ear, and even though the meaning for "sensible" that I intend is somewhat archaic, the context helps the reader understand I mean the older meaning of "being sensitive to", not "practical".

As per rhyme scheme, I usually follow the Shakespearean, which has been argued should instead be named after Daniel, who set the example for Shakespeare, but in any case it is as follows: abab cdcd efef gg. The final couplet, by the way, is also known as a Heroic couplet, and in one sonnet I vary the rhyme scheme to make the third quatrain (the third four-line stanza) out of same-rhymed heroic couplets: eeee, so that sonnet's rhymes follow the scheme: abab cdcd eeee ff. Someday I plan to write one that is: aaaa bbbb cccc dd. I understand fully that the Shakespearean form usually has the best overall effect, the sustained suspense of the alternatively rhymed lines of the quatrains culminating in the satisfying rhymed couplet at the end, but sometimes the content calls for a different progression, as it did in the sonnet for Cameron.

For my son Cameron, for Christmas, 2008, from Dad:*

"Cameron is just a wonderful boy"

Cameron is just a wonderful boy.

The kind of boy who makes you wonder:

What if all the world's boys could shine such joy?

What if all men-to-be came out from under

This seemingly eternal lust for strife

And instead spread love like Heaven's balm?

For the manliest need is to cherish life,

The manliest song is compassion's psalm.

Cameron is soon a man grown tall.

He walks with ease and befriends large and small.

Would he had been Adam before the Fall,

We would live there still, in nature's thrall.

For if all Earth's men would Cameron be,

Love would light all Earth and illume the Sea.

*Charles Knouse 2008 All Rights Reserved.

A few notes:

You are welcome to adapt this poem for a child (the above was written for a teenager about to become an adult), if you wish. T.S. Elliot said: "Good poets imitate. Great poets steal." (Picasso said the same thing as it applied to fine art.) If you can use this poem, in your own way, to help support a child's (or adult's, for that matter) own aspirations and interests - it is important that the aspirations are theirs, not your own! - by all means steal it - or the idea of it, which is what T. S. Elliot, and Picasso, really meant. All I ask is that if you publish it anywhere, including posting it on the web, in a form where the original is still recognizable, that you acknowledge who gave it to you...me. That's not much to ask, and I gladly give it to you if it will help someone grow into or accept who they are as much more than they thought they could be.

Regarding language and word/concept choice: I believe, when writing a sonnet for someone, in going to the heart of the matter, their essential character and most cherished aspirations. A sonnet, to me, should be written in elevated language, should include beauty, beautiful words, and the awe of life, and the subject of the sonnet should also be elevated to the essential perfection that exists in the person, ignoring any petty human foibles that, after all, are a part of each and everyone of us (although more in some than others, admittedly, but in the case of Cameron, fortuitously not a significant issue).

For me, also, it is not religious - that is, confined to any religion - to include concepts of Heaven and God and Angels - nor is it pagan; rather, it is my poetic expression of my personal conviction that humans have the obligation and privilege of creating Heaven on Earth - that is what I believe Jesus was talking about when he said, "Heaven and Earth are One", and "As it is in Heaven, so shall it be on Earth": what we set in the Heavens - shared belief - so shall it manifest in the Earth - our lives and forms. A child, even a young adult, needs a parent or, lacking that, a mentor, who will share a belief in their ability to achieve fulfillment. I'm not talking about fame or fortune, I'm not even talking about selfish desires, I'm talking about a child excelling in whatever they are on Earth to do, whatever it is, so long as it in some way contributes to the wholeness of humanity. Presidents of Ignorance, Vice Presidents of Torture and Wall Street crooks need not apply.

For addressing a child with a poem, especially with a sonnet - although I believe the same for addressing adults - it's just that adults can better weather a well-intentioned but misguided critique - but for children, even teenagers, even adults! - I believe in paying attention only to the positive, the uplifting, the best aspirations or qualities each one has. Nobody wants a poem that points out they have a messy room, choose bad friends or can't do math. This was something my wife taught me, but it came quite naturally to me once I understood the idea: that by giving attention to the best in a child, the best is encouraged to grow and express. By the same token, the praise must be rooted in what is really there, or it has a deflating effect - this means careful and close observation, perhaps casual conversation, to find out what is actually harbored in the person's heart or best displayed in their actions. In someone who has been abused, you might have to look for the tiniest clue first, for they will likely hide away very deeply what is most sacred to them.

Have you ever heard the saying, "It ain't boastin' if yuh done it"? Well, I can tell you that our four children are absolute marvels, and they have turned out so well in no small part because we were careful to observe what mattered most to each one and to give solid, but unobtrusive, support. This is not spoiling, for those of you who, like me, grew up with an abusive and criticizing parent, and might still carry those misconceptions about parenting modeled so thoroughly by a confused father or mother.

Finally, I generally like sonnets in iambic pentameter, ten syllables to the line, but often nine or eleven work just fine. The rhymes should be good words, not "hut" with "butt", and I try not to stretch for an artificial rhyme. For example, in Hannah's sonnet I had rhymed "invisible" with "a sybil", which was awfully clever and deliciously archaic, but, first, it didn't read out loud well - not an easy rhyme for the ear to catch on the fly - second, while the archaic meaning of sybil is prophetess, the modern meaning that would be inferred by most would be that of "Sybil", the fractured personality - so I changed it. In those lines, "invisible" now rhymes with "sensible"; it reads nicely, catches the ear, and even though the meaning for "sensible" that I intend is somewhat archaic, the context helps the reader understand I mean the older meaning of "being sensitive to", not "practical". As per rhyme scheme, I usually follow the Shakespearean, which has been argued should instead be named after Daniel, who set the example for Shakespeare, but in any case it is as follows: abab cdcd efef gg. The final couplet, by the way, is also known as a Heroic couplet, and in the sonnet above I vary the rhyme scheme to make the third quatrain (the third four-line stanza) out of same-rhymed heroic couplets: eeee, so that sonnet's rhymes follow: abab cdcd eeee ff. Someday I plan to write one that is: aaaa bbbb cccc dd. I understand fully that the Shakespearean form usually has the best overall effect, the sustained suspense of the alternatively rhymed lines of the quatrains culminating in the satisfying rhymed couplet at the end, but sometimes the content calls for a different progression, as it did in the sonnet for Cameron.

For my son Max, for Christmas, 2008, from Dad:*


"Max: Out of the Just boy has grown the man"

Max: Out of the Just boy has grown the man.

He walks plain straight, but, bending, smiles with notes,

When human hearts have to revelry ran,

And plays to make dance the starry motes.

He has talent, vast, but far more than that

Is his gentle justice to refinéd song,

Fine judgement from a jazz cool kat

Who lightens moods with melodies strong.

He can swing high, he can swing low, lead them all

In a sweet tip-toe. At dusk, light the dawn,

At dawn, dark the night, and then, for love, call

God's muses to choir Heaven upon.

Max is a musician with perfect grace,

A man with rapture for the human race.

*Charles Knouse 2008 All Rights Reserved.

A few notes:

You are welcome to adapt this poem for a child (the above was written for a teenager about to become an adult), if you wish. T.S. Elliot said: "Good poets imitate. Great poets steal." (Picasso said the same thing as it applied to fine art.) If you can use this poem, in your own way, to help support a child's (or adult's, for that matter) own aspirations and interests - it is important that the aspirations are theirs, not your own! - by all means steal it - or the idea of it, which is what T. S. Elliot, and Picasso, really meant. (For example, there is, in the above sonnet for Max, a bold allusion to Sir Philip Sydney's finest sonnet, To Stella.) All I ask is that if you publish it anywhere, including posting it on the web, in a form where the original is still recognizable, that you acknowledge who gave it to you...me. That's not much to ask, and I gladly give it to you if it will help someone grow into or accept who they are as much more than they thought they could be.

Regarding language and word/concept choice: I believe, when writing a sonnet for someone, in going to the heart of the matter, their essential character and most cherished aspirations. A sonnet, to me, should be written in elevated language, should include beauty, beautiful words, and the awe of life, and the subject of the sonnet should also be elevated to the essential perfection that exists in the person, ignoring any petty human foibles that, after all, are a part of each and everyone of us (although more in some than others, admittedly, but in the case of Max, fortuitously not a significant issue).

For me, also, it is not religious - that is, confined to any religion - to include concepts of Heaven and God and Angels - nor is it pagan; rather, it is my poetic expression of my personal conviction that humans have the obligation and privilege of creating Heaven on Earth - that is what I believe Jesus was talking about when he said, "Heaven and Earth are One", and "As it is in Heaven, so shall it be on Earth": what we set in the Heavens - shared belief - so shall it manifest in the Earth - our lives and forms. A child, even a young adult, needs a parent or, lacking that, a mentor, who will share a belief in their ability to achieve fulfillment. I'm not talking about fame or fortune, I'm not even talking about selfish desires, I'm talking about a child excelling in whatever they are on Earth to do, whatever it is, so long as it in some way contributes to the wholeness of humanity. Presidents of Ignorance, Vice Presidents of Torture and Wall Street crooks need not apply.

For addressing children, especially, although I believe the same for addressing adults - it's just that adults can better weather a well-intentioned but misguided critique - but for children, even teenagers, I believe in paying attention only to the positive, the uplifting, the best aspirations or qualities each one has. Nobody wants a poem that points out they have a messy room, choose bad friends or can't do math. This was something my wife taught me, but it came quite naturally to me once I understood the idea: that by giving attention to the best in a child, the best is encouraged to grow and express. By the same token, the praise must be rooted in what is really there, or it has a deflating effect - this means careful and close observation, perhaps casual conversation, to find out what is actually harbored in the person's heart or best displayed in their actions. In someone who has been abused, you might have to look for the tiniest clue first, for they will likely hide away very deeply what is most sacred to them.

Have you ever heard the saying, "It ain't boastin' if yuh done it"? Well, I can tell you that our four children are absolute marvels, and they have turned out so well in no small part because we were careful to observe what mattered most to each one and to give solid, but unobtrusive, support. This is not spoiling, for those of you who, like me, grew up with an abusive and criticizing parent, and might still carry those misconceptions about parenting modeled so thoroughly by a confused father or mother.

Finally, I generally like sonnets in iambic pentameter, ten syllables to the line, but often nine or eleven work just fine. The rhymes should be good words, not "hut" with "butt", and I try not to stretch for an artificial rhyme. For example, in Hannah's sonnet I had rhymed "invisible" with "a sybil", which was awfully clever and deliciously archaic, but, first, it didn't read out loud well - not an easy rhyme for the ear to catch on the fly - second, while the archaic meaning of sybil is prophetess, the modern meaning that would be inferred by most would be that of "Sybil", the fractured personality - so I changed it. In those lines, "invisible" now rhymes with "sensible"; it reads nicely, catches the ear, and even though the meaning for "sensible" that I intend is somewhat archaic, the context helps the reader understand I mean the older meaning of "being sensitive to", not "practical".

As per rhyme scheme, I usually follow the Shakespearean, which has been argued should instead be named after Daniel, who set the example for Shakespeare, but in any case it is as follows: abab cdcd efef gg. The final couplet, by the way, is also known as a Heroic couplet, and in the sonnet above I vary the rhyme scheme to make the third quatrain (the third four-line stanza) out of same-rhymed heroic couplets: eeee, so that sonnet's rhymes follow: abab cdcd eeee ff. Someday I plan to write one that is: aaaa bbbb cccc dd. I understand fully that the Shakespearean form usually has the best overall effect, the sustained suspense of the alternatively rhymed lines of the quatrains culminating in the satisfying rhymed couplet at the end, but sometimes the content calls for a different progression, as it did in the sonnet for Cameron.

For my son Andrew, for Christmas, 2008, from Dad:*


"Andrew is an artist, fierce, free and wild"

Andrew is an artist, fierce, free and wild,

He could throw dirt at cats, and once they've fled,

There would remain, astonishing, an earth-fleshed child,

Cat-like, feral, but out of a human bed.

He paints with essence, peanut-butter, pears,

With gouts of blood from his opened chest,

With rays of blue and yellow thrown down stairs,

And sprinkled with gemstones from a starry nest.

View works of Andrew and you gaze at God,

Playing with light like drumsticks on prism'd glass,

Careless of frowns, splashing paint with feet unshod,

He laughs at clouds and to canvas breathes mass.

Andrew is a painter with molten gold,

Untarnished visions all Heaven wants told.

*Charles Knouse 2008 All Rights Reserved.

A few notes:

You are welcome to adapt this poem for a child (the above was written for a teenager about to become an adult), if you wish. T.S. Elliot said: "Good poets imitate. Great poets steal." (Picasso said the same thing as it applied to fine art.) If you can use this poem, in your own way, to help support a child's (or adult's, for that matter) own aspirations and interests - it is important that the aspirations are theirs, not your own! - by all means steal it - or the idea of it, which is what T. S. Elliot, and Picasso, really meant. (There is a bold allusion to Wallace Steven's Sunday Morning in the above sonnet, for those of you who know Stevens.) All I ask is that if you publish it anywhere, including posting it on the web, in a form where the original is still recognizable, that you acknowledge who gave it to you...me. That's not much to ask, and I gladly give it to you if it will help someone grow into or accept who they are as much more than they thought they could be.

Regarding language and word/concept choice: I believe, when writing a sonnet for someone, in going to the heart of the matter, their essential character and most cherished aspirations. A sonnet, to me, should be written in elevated language, should include beauty, beautiful words, and the awe of life, and the subject of the sonnet should also be elevated to the essential perfection that exists in the person, ignoring any petty human foibles that, after all, are a part of each and everyone of us (although more in some than others, admittedly, but in the case of Andrew, fortuitously not a significant issue).

For me, also, it is not religious - that is, confined to any religion - to include concepts of Heaven and God and Angels - nor is it pagan; rather, it is my poetic expression of my personal conviction that humans have the obligation and privilege of creating Heaven on Earth - that is what I believe Jesus was talking about when he said, "Heaven and Earth are One", and "As it is in Heaven, so shall it be on Earth": what we set in the Heavens - shared belief - so shall it manifest in the Earth - our lives and forms. A child, even a young adult, needs a parent or, lacking that, a mentor, who will share a belief in their ability to achieve fulfillment. I'm not talking about fame or fortune, I'm not even talking about selfish desires, I'm talking about a child excelling in whatever they are on Earth to do, whatever it is, so long as it in some way contributes to the wholeness of humanity. Presidents of Ignorance, Vice Presidents of Torture and Wall Street crooks need not apply.

For addressing children, especially, although I believe the same for addressing adults - it's just that adults can better weather a well-intentioned but misguided critique - but for children, even teenagers nearing adulthood, I believe in paying attention only to the positive, the uplifting, the best aspirations or qualities each one has. Nobody wants a poem that points out they have a messy room, choose bad friends or can't do math. This was something my wife taught me, but it came quite naturally to me once I understood the idea: that by giving attention to the best in a child, the best is encouraged to grow and express. By the same token, the praise must be rooted in what is really there, or it has a deflating effect - this means careful and close observation, perhaps casual conversation, to find out what is actually harbored in the person's heart or best displayed in their actions. In someone who has been abused, you might have to look for the tiniest clue first, for they will likely hide away very deeply what is most sacred to them.

Have you ever heard the saying, "It ain't boastin' if yuh done it"? Well, I can tell you that our four children are absolute marvels, and they have turned out so well in no small part because we were careful to observe what mattered most to each one and to give solid, but unobtrusive, support. This is not spoiling, for those of you who, like me, grew up with an abusive and criticizing parent, and might still carry those misconceptions about parenting modeled so thoroughly by a confused father or mother.

Finally, I generally like sonnets in iambic pentameter, ten syllables to the line, but often nine or eleven work just fine. The rhymes should be good words, not "hut" with "butt", and I try not to stretch for an artificial rhyme. For example, in Hannah's sonnet I had rhymed "invisible" with "a sybil", which was awfully clever and deliciously archaic, but, first, it didn't read out loud well - not an easy rhyme for the ear to catch on the fly - and second, while the archaic meaning of sybil is prophetess, the modern meaning that would be inferred by most would be that of "Sybil", the fractured personality - so I changed it. In those lines, "invisible" now rhymes with "sensible"; it reads nicely, catches the ear, and even though the meaning for "sensible" that I intend is somewhat archaic, the context helps the reader understand I mean the older meaning of "being sensitive to", not "practical".

As per rhyme scheme, I usually follow the Shakespearean, which has been argued should instead be named after Daniel, who set the example for Shakespeare, but in any case it is as follows: abab cdcd efef gg. The final couplet, by the way, is also known as a Heroic couplet, and in one sonnet I vary the rhyme scheme to make the third quatrain (the third four-line stanza) out of same-rhymed heroic couplets: eeee, so that sonnet's rhymes follow the scheme: abab cdcd eeee ff. Someday I plan to write one that is: aaaa bbbb cccc dd. I understand fully that the Shakespearean form usually has the best overall effect, the sustained suspense of the alternatively rhymed lines of the quatrains culminating in the satisfying rhymed couplet at the end, but sometimes the content calls for a different progression, as it did in the sonnet for Cameron.