Title/Subtitle: "A Sonnet For Helen" is the title of this poem. What a lovely tribute to a girl you grew to love when going to school. Of course, this wasn't your first emotion at first. When someone gets teased and bullied everyday, a person tends to shy away in fear of getting teased also. I give Helen lots of credit, for her strength and endurance to ride this hate shown her. Some children cave and commit suicide in today's bullying, of course, there's now facebook where you bullied also. There's so safe haven and it's sad when these bullies take pleasure in being the cause of these suicides.

The description underneath reads, "Thinking of a High School Romance. Helen, if my family hadn't moved that Summer..."

Message/Theme: The message is loud and clear, there are bullies out there that want to embarrass you or do you harm. Why do they do this? Are they insecure themselves and prey on others to make themselves feel better? Who knows, but Helen is a good example of inner strength, each day, standing up to this harassment. I always wondered why some children are liked immediately while others are looked down on and fall prey to bullying. What can be so different between the two? Oh, the peer pressure! Of course, with Helen, it is the guys and not the girls that are teasing and calling her names. But still, in my eyes, it is still bullying. At least she had girl friends which I'm sure helped her through these trying times.

The theme of this poem: Could it be about your first love? ~or~ Calling attention to bullying that's still a big problem today?

Narrative/Style: The narrative is information on what you were feeling as a young school boy. Helen stood out in your mind and you still think about her today. I find that charming. Yes, there is some guilt there in these versus, but there's also a undercurrent of feelings of wanting to help her. You also seemed shy to me as I was reading this. Shy people don't want to call attention to themselves, so you did nothing to help Helen, but feeling guilty about it afterwards.

The style is Romance/Love, Experience, and Drama.

Form/Flow: The form is a Sonnet, six versus.

The flow is smooth, but fast as the story flows with all the information about Helen, what she had to endure and did so very well.

         Tone: The tone is direct but affectionate, respectful but also sympathetic, and appreciative and tender about this young girl named Helen.

         Mood: The mood contemplative, liberating, and sentimental when looking back and remembering.

Imagery/Pace: The imagery paints a picture of this young girl, apparently not beautiful enough for these popular boys taste. The name Helen is Greek, derived from Venus, Goddess of Love. The agriculture trip, on riding the bus together is where your true feelings are felt for Helen.

The pace is fast but detailing what happened to Helen, and your hidden feelings for her.

Suggestions & Typos: I didn't find any errors.

Overall Thoughts & Rating: It's amazing that bulling is still going on, we talk about it, but nothing gets done about solving this ever-growing problem in our schools.

I love this sonnet, it so open and honest — it brought tears to my eyes. I give this poem 's.

FAVORITE LINE:

When we listen to the crowd as they tease;
We lose a gem we'd love someday to please.


I can see that you have some regrets about your feeling for Helen and how you handled her situation. Being Irish, I feel her strength brought her through this trying time. Yes, she was a gem to put up with this silliness, and I can picture her today successful and happy because what she had to endure has made her a stronger person today.


Take care now, keep on writing, I’ll keep on reading,
Shadow Stalker🕷️ Jeannie




My review has been submitted for consideration in "Good Deeds Get CASH!" .