It’s not that she was pure of heart
and this was crudely broken.
Nor was it that she played no part
in how rudely she was woken.
It wasn’t that her heart had died
through a lover’s cruel neglect.
Rarely were her thoughts applied
to a life she should respect.
This maiden in a sense secured
a self-imposed displacement.
With ravenous greed she so procured
a deal that bought debasement.
. Take not the heart inside – as would sell a strumpet.
. When virtue is commodified – sound the bell and trumpet.
© Tim Grace, (WS-Sonnet 66: line 6) 21 April 2011
To the reader: Virtue and grace are beautiful qualities; so easily tarnished. The corruption of beauty is mostly defiled by an external influence. An ugly and crude influence with no respect for nature’s dignified design. Occasionally, the corruption is an internal fester that sullies from within. Sadly, self-corruption destroys the heart and soul and most darkens the shine of inner-beauty.
To the poet: To be labelled a strumpet is no good thing. The word’s etymology describes a crude pedigree: a hussy, a harlot; in short a shameless prostitute. Seems the word travelled through time accruing a coterie of associated meanings. From its notion of crudeness came ‘to strum’. To strum, as in to play coarsely, ineptly, on a stringed instrument.
