Project Athena | Reviews

Captured Feelings! (Carmi)

Author: ButteryButteryFly5

Reviewer: Read-aholic2006

Genre: Poetry

This review is based on the first 20 available poems.

Although the poet makes use of eye rhyme (such as in her poem "And... But?") and free verse (such as in "Opportunity"), ABCB is her predominant rhyme scheme.

The writer easily incorporates various figures of speech in all of her poems. For example, in her first poem, the sunrise is being personified, described as both "virgin" and "cruel". Her second poem "Dew Drops" presents readers with vibrant metaphors: Nature is directly compared to Santa, as it provides the world with various blessings (one of which are dew drops) and dew drops are compared to jewels, pearls, tears, peace and love (although I don't quite understand how those last two comparisons relate to dew drops). Lastly, the recurring simile People are like gems appears in her poem "People".

The poet makes excellent use of repetition. In her poems "Dark" and "Dare", she starts each stanza with the words Dark and Dare, placing dramatic emphasis on the titles until the poem reaches its awaited climax. "Dusk" shares a similar structure to these two poems and also uses refrains.

The rhetorical questions throughout her poems "House" and "And... But?" enhance readers' engagement, prompting them to think about what's being asked.

Specific lines had struck me as powerful eye-openers: And sometimes we feel tempted to end it all at once.../But what about those on death bed/unsure to see tomorrow's sun? What a poetic way of saying that we should be more considerate and open-minded; sometimes we may lose our will to live, tired of waking up to a miserable reality—but there are those who are deathly ill, yearning for one last breath, a second chance.

Some of her poems are very uplifting. "Struggle" teaches us that hardships, although it may not seem so, are necessary to strengthen us and build perseverance. After all, a coal can only become a diamond when pressure is applied. "Neem Tree", on the other hand, is an educational poem that touches on the topic of deforestation. The speaker tells the story of how she had benefitted from this Neem Tree that stood in her neighbour's backyard, until one day—it was no more.

While other poems are written in italics, others aren't. I'm not sure if there is a reason for this inconsistent formatting, but personally, I think the poet should adhere to one formatting style unless it holds some sort of significance to the poem.

Many times the author omits the article "a" before a countable noun. I understand that this is mostly done to improve the rhythm of the poem, but it still counts as a grammatical error. For example, one of the lines in her poem "Birthday" read, Everyone has birthday, instead of Everyone has a birthday.

In the end, my personal favourites were "Happiness" and "Opportunity". I loved the way these poems had been worded and their overall messages.

These poems are both reflective and encouraging. Any disheartened person would find value in them. I rate this ongoing poetry collection 4 out of 5 stars.