a poetic inquiry into the daunting choice between using one's talents to pursue beauty as it seems vs Beauty as It (He) Is

You who have written this, hear, then, and take note:
Void of all these graces,
How have you dared to write such things?
How do you not shudder to expound them?
Have you not heard what Uzzah suffered
When he tried to stop God's ark from falling?
Do not think that I speak as one who teaches:
I speak as one whose words condemn himself,
Knowing the rewards awaiting those who strive,
Knowing my utter fruitlessness.

— Theophanis the Monk, "The Ladder of Divine Graces which experience has made known to those inspired by God" - The Philokalia, Vol. 3

1. A whitewashed tomb hiding corruption's store,

2. With honeyed poison coating every word,

3. Where empty rhetoric is all that's heard,

4. Like Alcibiades—charming, none more.

5. I've walked his path: all gain, no love on shore,

6. While gifts meant for Your Kingdom lie deferred,

7. Spent serving self—all higher good obscured,

8. Enslaved yet numb, while feeling free before

9. True Beauty willingly wore the worst form:

10. A Wound without all beauty, crucified,

11. Who chose death, that i might enjoy True Life.

12. Lord ~ free me from this pride's deceptive storm—

13. Grant Grace to see Your Cross and not abide

14. In surfaces. Teach me to seek, to give.

please reference the "Inspirations (Line-By-Line)" for verses and excerpts that particularly spoke to me (line 10 hits me the hardest!)

Woe to you—scribes and Pharisees—hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs {that} outwardly appear beautiful but, within, are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So, you also outwardly appear righteous to men; but, within, you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

— Matthew 23:27-28 (RSV)

Because they have caused my people to err, saying, Peace; and there is no peace; and one builds a wall, and they plaster it, —it shall fall. Say to them that plaster , It shall fall; and there shall be a flooding rain; and I will send great stones upon their joinings, and they shall fall; and there shall be a sweeping wind, and it shall be broken. And lo! the wall has fallen; and will they not say to you, Where is your plaster wherewith ye plastered ?

— Ezekiel 13:10-11 (LXX)

Son ~ attend to my wisdom, and apply thine ear to my words; that thou mayest keep good understanding, and the discretion of my lips gives thee a charge. Give no heed to a worthless woman; for honey drops from the lips of a harlot, who for a season pleases thy palate: but afterwards thou wilt find her more bitter than gall, and sharper than a two-edged sword.

— Proverbs 5:1-4 (LXX)

See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For, in Him, The Whole Fulness of Deity dwells bodily; and, you have come to Fulness of Life in Him Who is The Head of All Rule and Authority.

— Colossians 2:8-10 (RSV)

What! is there any reason in vain words? or what will hinder thee from answering?

— Job 16:3 (LXX)

Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion; desiring to be teachers of the law without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make assertions.

— 1 Timothy 1:6-7 (RSV)

Alcibiades, who is described as a very young man, is about to enter on public life, having an inordinate opinion of himself, and an extravagant ambition.

— Plato, First Alcibiades, Introduction

As regards the beauty of Alcibiades, it is perhaps unnecessary to say aught, except that it flowered out with each successive season of his bodily growth, and made him, alike in boyhood, youth and manhood, lovely and pleasant. The saying of Euripides, that "beauty's autumn, too, is beautiful," is not always true. But it was certainly the case with Alcibiades, as with few besides, because of his excellent natural parts. Even the lisp that he had became his speech, they say, and made his talk persuasive and full of charm.

— Plutarch, Parallel Lives, Alcibiades, Section I

It was not long before many men of high birth clustered about him and paid him their attentions. Most of them were plainly smitten with his brilliant youthful beauty and fondly courted him. But it was the love which Socrates had for him that bore strong testimony to the boy's native excellence and good parts. These Socrates saw radiant!! manifest in his outward person, and, fearful of the influence upon him of wealth and rank and the throng of citizens, foreigners and allies who sought to preempt his affections by flattery and favour, he was fain to protect him, and not suffer such a fair flowering plant to cast its native fruit to perdition. For there is no man whom Fortune so envelops and compasses about with the so-called good things of life that he cannot be reached by the bold and caustic reasonings of philosophy, and pierced to the heart. And so it was that Alcibiades, although he was pampered from the very first, and was prevented by the companions who sought only to please him from giving ear to one who would instruct and train him, nevertheless, through the goodness of his parts, at last saw all that was in Socrates, and clave to him, putting away his rich and famous lovers. And speedily, from choosing such an associate, and giving ear to the words of a lover who was in the chase for no unmanly pleasures, and begged no kisses and embraces, but sought to expose the weakness of his soul and rebuke his vain and foolish pride:

He crouched, though warrior bird, like slave, with drooping wings.

— Plutarch, Parallel Lives, Alcibiades, Section IV

Well, it wasn't long before they could hear Alcibiades shouting in the courtyard, evidently very drunk, and demanding where Agathon was, because he must see Agathon at once. So the flute girl and some of his other followers helped him stagger in, and there he stood in the doorway, with a mass of ribbons and an enormous wreath of ivy and violets sprouting on his head, and addressed the company.

Good evening, gentlemen, he said. I'm pretty well bottled already, so if you'd rather I didn't join the party, only say the word and I'Il go away, as soon as I've hung this wreath on Agathon's head—which is what I really came for. I couldn't get along yesterday, so here I am tonight, with a bunch of ribbons on my head, all ready to take them off and put them on the head of the cleverest, the most attractive, and, I may say—well, anyway, I'm going to crown him. And now I suppose you're laughing at me, just because I'm drunk. Go on, have your laugh out, don't mind me. I'm not so drunk that I don't know what I'm saying, and you can't deny it's true. Well, what do you say, gentlemen? Can I come in on that footing? And shall we all have a drink together, or shan't we?

— Plato, Symposium, 212d-213a

They all look after their own interests not Those of Jesus Christ.

— Philippians 2:21 (RSV)

And whatever mine eyes desired, I withheld not from them, I withheld not my heart from all my mirth: for my heart rejoiced in all my labour; and this was my portion of all my labour. And I looked on all my works which my hands had wrought, and on my labour which I laboured to perform: and behold, all was vanity and waywardness of spirit, and there is no advantage under the sun.

— Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 (LXX)

He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, "Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours." But his master answered him, "You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth."

— Matthew 23:27-28 (RSV)

Is it time for you to dwell in your ceiled houses, whereas our house is desolate?

— Haggai 1:4 (LXX)

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves; let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to edify him. For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached thee fell on me.”

— Romans 15:1-3 (RSV)

All ye beasts of the field, come, devour, all ye beasts of the forest. See how they are all blinded: they have not known; dumb dogs will not bark; dreaming of rest, loving to slumber. Yea, they are insatiable dogs, that know not what it is to be filled, and they are wicked, having no understanding: all have followed their own ways, each according to his {own gain}.

— Isaiah 56:9-11 (LXX)

Do you not know: if you yield yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey: either of sin, which leads to death; or, of Obedience, which leads to Righteousness? But, thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to The Standard of Teaching to Which you were committed; and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

— Romans 6:16-18 (RSV)

For the ways of a man are before the eyes of God, and he looks on all his paths. Iniquities ensnare a man, and every one is bound in the chains of his own sins. Such a man dies with the uninstructed; and he is cast forth from the abundance of his own substance, and has perished through folly.

— Proverbs 5:21-23 (LXX)

Behold, my servant shall understand, and be exalted, and glorified exceedingly. As many shall be amazed at thee, so shall thy face be without glory from men, and thy glory by the sons of men. Thus shall many nations wonder at him; and kings shall keep their mouths shut: for they to whom no report was brought concerning him, shall see; and they who have not heard, shall consider.

— Isaiah 52:13-15 (LXX)

O Lord, who has believed our report? and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? We brought a report as a child before him; as a root in a thirsty land: he has no form nor comeliness; and we saw him, but he had no form nor beauty. But his form was ignoble, and inferior to that of the children of men; a man in suffering, and acquainted with the bearing of sickness, for his face is turned from : he was dishonoured, and not esteemed. He bears our sins, and is pained for us: yet we accounted him to be in trouble, and in suffering, and in affliction. But he was wounded on account of our sins, and was bruised because of our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; by his bruises we were healed. All we as sheep have gone astray; every one has gone astray in his way; and the Lord gave him up for our sins. And he, because of his affliction, opens not his mouth: he was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is dumb, so he opens not his mouth. In humiliation his judgment was taken away: who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken away from the earth: because of the iniquities of my people he was led to death. And I will give the wicked for his burial, and the rich for his death; for he practised no iniquity, nor craft with his mouth. The Lord also is pleased to purge him from his stroke. If ye can give an offering for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived seed: the Lord also is pleased to take away from the travail of his soul, to shew him light, and to form with understanding; to justify the just one who serves many well; and he shall bear their sins. Therefore he shall inherit many, and he shall divide the spoils of the mighty; because his soul was delivered to death: and he was numbered among the transgressors; and he bore the sins of many, and was delivered because of their iniquities.

— Isaiah 53 (LXX)

But I am a worm, and not a man; a reproach of men, and scorn of the people. All that saw me mocked me: they spoke with [their] lips, they shook the head, [saying], He hoped in the Lord: let him deliver him, let him save him, because he takes pleasure in him. For thou art he that drew me out of the womb; my hope from my mother’s breasts. I was cast on thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly. Stand not aloof from me; for affliction is near; for there is no helper. Many bullocks have compassed me: fat bulls have beset me round. They have opened their mouth against me, as a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are loosened: my heart in the midst of my belly is become like melting wax. My strength is dried up, like a potsherd; and my tongue is glued to my throat; and thou hast brought me down to the dust of death. For many dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked doers has beset me round: they pierced my hands and my feet. They counted all my bones; and they observed and looked upon me. They parted my garments [among] themselves, and cast lots upon my raiment.

— Psalm 21:7-19 (LXX)

Tragically—but, most importantly—God also punished sin in The Person of Jesus Christ so severely that every aforementioned punishment pales in comparison. So infinitely evil is sin that Our Sweetest Lord Jesus Christ endured incomprehensible punishments to destroy it. The Creator—The Most Innocent One, The Most Holy-One, The Only-Begotten Son Of God—bore the punishment of all of His Creatures; for, to destroy sin, The Son had to suffer extreme—not light—torments to please His Heavenly Father. Truly, a single light wound in The Person of Jesus Christ from a single thorn on His Crown or a single one of His Scourges overwhelms every other punishment—even, if God destroyed all of Creation and cast men, angels, archangels and every other creature into the hellfire. Even, if you forgot everything else—your name, your family, your friends, your neighbors—never forget how much Jesus suffers because of your sin!

Specifically, His Disciples deny Him; the son of perdition betrays him; and, those in power slander, mock and drag Him through the courts like a criminal. Their buffets and blows wound His Eyes, and they spit all over His Face. Their slaps bruise His Cheeks. Thirst afflicts His Throat, but the gall embitters His Lips. The rigid thorns pierce His Head, and The Weight of The Cross breaks His Shoulders. Sharp nails pierce His Hands and His Feet, and the spear pierces His Side. All of His Veins lack any of His Blood, and The Extreme Tension of The Cross distends all of His Joints. Hanging upon the rigid nails, He gives up His Spirit. His Body becomes a Great Wound without form or human beauty.

Furthermore, from His Body, pass your mind to His Soul's Innermost Part to perceive how His Soul suffered incomparably more than His Body. Jesus endured such extreme interior sufferings for men that, in this present life, no one can comprehend it. Think about how much He grieves that the very sinners He came to save disregard His Majesty and His Sufferings when they sin and offend Him. Nevertheless, on Judgment Day, every single person will understand His Suffering, for The Lord will reveal It for all men to see; and, reprobate sinners will be shamed.

— St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite, Exomologetarion, Post-Confession Precautions, "knowledge of sin according to its punishment in The Person of Jesus Christ"

Do nothing from selfishness or conceit; but, in humility, count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is Yours in Christ, Jesus, who—though He was in The Form of God—did not count Equality with God a Thing to Be Grasped; but, emptied himself, taking the form of a {slave}—being born in the likeness of men. And, being found in human form, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death—even, death on a cross.

— Philippians 2:3-8 (RSV)

For our sake, He made Him Who knew no sin to be sin so that, in Him, we might become The Righteousness of God.

— 2 Corinthians 5:21 (RSV)

The Lord resists the proud; but he gives grace to the humble.

— Proverbs 3:34 (LXX)

Pride goes before destruction, and folly before a fall. Better is a meek-spirited with lowliness, than one who divides spoils with the proud. skillful in business finds good: but he that trusts in God is most blessed.

— Proverbs 16:18-20 (LXX)

For, The Word of The Cross is folly to those who are perishing; but, to us who are being saved, It is The Power of God.

— 1 Corinthians 1:18 (RSV)

But, far be it from me to glory except in The Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Which the world has been crucified to me; and, I, to the world.

— Galatians 6:14 (RSV)

But, seek, first, His Kingdom and His Righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.

— Matthew 6:33 (RSV)

In all things, I have shown you: by so toiling, one must help the weak, remembering The Words of The Lord Jesus, how He said: It is more blessed to give than to receive.

— Acts 20:35 (RSV)

Will the Lord accept thousands of rams, or ten thousands of fat goats? should I give my first-born for ungodliness, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? Has it been told thee, O man, what good? or what does the Lord require of thee, but to do justice, and love mercy, and be ready to walk with the Lord thy God?

— Micah 6:7-8 (LXX)

Enjambments occur when a sentence or clause runs past the end of a poetic line without pause and continues onto the next line. They create forward momentum, pulling the reader through line breaks and generating urgency or complexity.

Conversely, end-stopped lines conclude with a natural syntactic pause that punctuation (e.g., periods, commas, semicolons, etc.) typically mark. They create measured and formal pacing, while offering closure at the conclusion of each line.

The choice between enjambments and end-stopped lines dictates the poem's temporal flow and determines which words receive emphasis because line-final and line-initial positions naturally draw heightened attention.

Iambic pentameter is a metrical pattern consisting of 5 iambic "feet" per line. Each "foot" contains 1 unstressed syllable before 1 stressed syllable (da-DUM). Therefore, each line features 10 syllables with alternating stress. For example:

But SOFT, what LIGHT through YONder WINdow BREAKS.

This meter dominates English poetry and drama because it approximates the rhythm of natural English speech. Although regular rhythm results from strict adherence, skilled poets—a genus of genius among which i am certainly not!—maintain the underlying iambic expectation yet emphatically avoid monotony through introducing metrical substitutions.

Rhyme schemes describe the pattern of a poem's end rhymes. Typically, letters indicate which lines share rhyme sounds. For example: in an ABBAABBA rhyme scheme, the letter A represents one rhyme sound appearing in lines 1, 4, 5 and 8. Moreover, the letter B represents another rhyme sound in lines 2, 3, 6 and 7.

Italian sonnets only require 4-5 distinct rhyme sounds across 14 lines (2 in the octave and 2-3 in the sestet), constraining English more than Italian in which words predominantly end in vowels and naturally generate abundant rhyme pairs.

Interestingly, some linguists affectionately refer to Telugu—the language of my father's friends spoken where the remains of my grandfather (i.e., him after whom my parents named me) rest as 'The Italian of The East' because of its "mellifluous nature." Therefore, after i learn Telugu, i shall write a Telugu sonnet because...duh

Typically written in iambic pentameter, sonnets are fixed poetic forms that consist of 14 lines. The form originated in 13th century Italy, and multiple literary traditions have adapted it. Their compact structure creates a concentrated space for exploring a single thought, emotion or argument.

Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnets and English (or Shakespearean) sonnets dominate Western poetry, and rhyme scheme as well as internal architecture distinguish them.

Giacomo da Lentini invented Italian sonnets in the Sicilian court during the 1220s, and they formally dominated Renaissance Italian lyric poetry. Francesco Petrarca perfected the form, so they're also called Petrarchan sonnets.

The form divides 14 lines into 2 distinct structural units: an 8-line octave before a 6-line sestet. This bipartite division create a natural argumentative structure in which the octave typically presents a problem, question or emotional state and in which the sestet provides resolution, answer or reflection.

Octaves comprise the first 8 lines of Italian sonnets. They establish the poem's central tension, observation or question. The sestet will either build upon or turn against this foundation. They follow a fixed rhyme scheme (i.e., ABBAABBA) known as an enclosed or envelope rhyme pattern to create two interlocking quatrains that function as a unified conceptual block. This tight rhyme reinforces the octave's role as a single argumentative unit, distinguishing it from the English sonnet's 3 independent quatrains.

Sestets contain the final 6 lines of an Italian sonnet. They respond to the octave's proposition and provide an answer, counter-argument, synthesis or deepened reflection on the initial material.

Although they permit greater rhyme scheme flexibility than octaves, traditional patterns include among other variations: CDECDE (i.e., interlocking tercets), CDCDCD (i.e., alternating couplets) and CDDCCD. Strict Petrarchan form prohibits ending sestets with a couple, which would fragment organic 6-line units into a quatrain plus a couplet and dilute the form's characteristically gradual resolution.

Voltas—Italian for "turn"—mark the crucial pivot point between octaves and sestets. They typically occur between lines 8 and 9. This structural hinge represents the poem's dramatic and intellectual climax: the moment when the mode of thinking shifts or the emotional register transforms. According to Paul Fussell, voltas are where "the intellectual or emotional method of release first becomes clear and possible." Although voltas may occur subtly, common rhetorical markers that signal the turn include: "but," "yet," "thus," and "and yet." Without an effective volta, a 14-line poem may have the sonnet's shape lack its essential dynamic movement.

Enjambed voltas occur when the syntactic unit that begins in the octave runs past line eight into line nine to create not a sharp but a fluid pivot between the sonnet's 2 structural divisions. Although traditional Italian sonnets often feature an end-stopped line 8 before a clearly marked turn at line 9, poets like Milton pioneered the method of flowing the octave into the sestet when needed. This technique creates more subtle, complex relationships between the sound structure (i.e., the octave-sestet division) and the meaning structure (i.e., where the argument actually pivots). Enjambed voltas sacrifices architectural clarity for organic development, making the turn feel less like a rhetorical maneuver and more like a natural evolution of thought.

a poetic inquiry into the daunting choice between using one's talents to pursue beauty as it seems vs Beauty as It (He) Is

You who have written this, hear, then, and take note:
Void of all these graces,
How have you dared to write such things?
How do you not shudder to expound them?
Have you not heard what Uzzah suffered
When he tried to stop God's ark from falling?
Do not think that I speak as one who teaches:
I speak as one whose words condemn himself,
Knowing the rewards awaiting those who strive,
Knowing my utter fruitlessness.

— Theophanis the Monk, "The Ladder of Divine Graces which experience has made known to those inspired by God" - The Philokalia, Vol. 3

1. A whitewashed tomb hiding corruption's store,

2. With honeyed poison coating every word,

3. Where empty rhetoric is all that's heard,

4. Like Alcibiades—charming, none more.

5. I've walked his path: all gain, no love on shore,

6. While gifts meant for Your Kingdom lie deferred,

7. Spent serving self—all higher good obscured,

8. Enslaved yet numb, while feeling free before

9. True Beauty willingly wore the worst form:

10. A Wound without all beauty, crucified,

11. Who chose death, that i might enjoy True Life.

12. Lord ~ free me from this pride's deceptive storm—

13. Grant Grace to see Your Cross and not abide

14. In surfaces. Teach me to seek, to give.

please reference the "Inspirations (Line-By-Line)" for verses and excerpts that particularly spoke to me (line 10 hits me the hardest!)

Woe to you—scribes and Pharisees—hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs {that} outwardly appear beautiful but, within, are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So, you also outwardly appear righteous to men; but, within, you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

— Matthew 23:27-28 (RSV)

Because they have caused my people to err, saying, Peace; and there is no peace; and one builds a wall, and they plaster it, —it shall fall. Say to them that plaster , It shall fall; and there shall be a flooding rain; and I will send great stones upon their joinings, and they shall fall; and there shall be a sweeping wind, and it shall be broken. And lo! the wall has fallen; and will they not say to you, Where is your plaster wherewith ye plastered ?

— Ezekiel 13:10-11 (LXX)

Son ~ attend to my wisdom, and apply thine ear to my words; that thou mayest keep good understanding, and the discretion of my lips gives thee a charge. Give no heed to a worthless woman; for honey drops from the lips of a harlot, who for a season pleases thy palate: but afterwards thou wilt find her more bitter than gall, and sharper than a two-edged sword.

— Proverbs 5:1-4 (LXX)

See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For, in Him, The Whole Fulness of Deity dwells bodily; and, you have come to Fulness of Life in Him Who is The Head of All Rule and Authority.

— Colossians 2:8-10 (RSV)

What! is there any reason in vain words? or what will hinder thee from answering?

— Job 16:3 (LXX)

Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion; desiring to be teachers of the law without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make assertions.

— 1 Timothy 1:6-7 (RSV)

Alcibiades, who is described as a very young man, is about to enter on public life, having an inordinate opinion of himself, and an extravagant ambition.

— Plato, First Alcibiades, Introduction

As regards the beauty of Alcibiades, it is perhaps unnecessary to say aught, except that it flowered out with each successive season of his bodily growth, and made him, alike in boyhood, youth and manhood, lovely and pleasant. The saying of Euripides, that "beauty's autumn, too, is beautiful," is not always true. But it was certainly the case with Alcibiades, as with few besides, because of his excellent natural parts. Even the lisp that he had became his speech, they say, and made his talk persuasive and full of charm.

— Plutarch, Parallel Lives, Alcibiades, Section I

It was not long before many men of high birth clustered about him and paid him their attentions. Most of them were plainly smitten with his brilliant youthful beauty and fondly courted him. But it was the love which Socrates had for him that bore strong testimony to the boy's native excellence and good parts. These Socrates saw radiant!! manifest in his outward person, and, fearful of the influence upon him of wealth and rank and the throng of citizens, foreigners and allies who sought to preempt his affections by flattery and favour, he was fain to protect him, and not suffer such a fair flowering plant to cast its native fruit to perdition. For there is no man whom Fortune so envelops and compasses about with the so-called good things of life that he cannot be reached by the bold and caustic reasonings of philosophy, and pierced to the heart. And so it was that Alcibiades, although he was pampered from the very first, and was prevented by the companions who sought only to please him from giving ear to one who would instruct and train him, nevertheless, through the goodness of his parts, at last saw all that was in Socrates, and clave to him, putting away his rich and famous lovers. And speedily, from choosing such an associate, and giving ear to the words of a lover who was in the chase for no unmanly pleasures, and begged no kisses and embraces, but sought to expose the weakness of his soul and rebuke his vain and foolish pride:

He crouched, though warrior bird, like slave, with drooping wings.

— Plutarch, Parallel Lives, Alcibiades, Section IV

Well, it wasn't long before they could hear Alcibiades shouting in the courtyard, evidently very drunk, and demanding where Agathon was, because he must see Agathon at once. So the flute girl and some of his other followers helped him stagger in, and there he stood in the doorway, with a mass of ribbons and an enormous wreath of ivy and violets sprouting on his head, and addressed the company.

Good evening, gentlemen, he said. I'm pretty well bottled already, so if you'd rather I didn't join the party, only say the word and I'Il go away, as soon as I've hung this wreath on Agathon's head—which is what I really came for. I couldn't get along yesterday, so here I am tonight, with a bunch of ribbons on my head, all ready to take them off and put them on the head of the cleverest, the most attractive, and, I may say—well, anyway, I'm going to crown him. And now I suppose you're laughing at me, just because I'm drunk. Go on, have your laugh out, don't mind me. I'm not so drunk that I don't know what I'm saying, and you can't deny it's true. Well, what do you say, gentlemen? Can I come in on that footing? And shall we all have a drink together, or shan't we?

— Plato, Symposium, 212d-213a

They all look after their own interests not Those of Jesus Christ.

— Philippians 2:21 (RSV)

And whatever mine eyes desired, I withheld not from them, I withheld not my heart from all my mirth: for my heart rejoiced in all my labour; and this was my portion of all my labour. And I looked on all my works which my hands had wrought, and on my labour which I laboured to perform: and behold, all was vanity and waywardness of spirit, and there is no advantage under the sun.

— Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 (LXX)

He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, "Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours." But his master answered him, "You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth."

— Matthew 23:27-28 (RSV)

Is it time for you to dwell in your ceiled houses, whereas our house is desolate?

— Haggai 1:4 (LXX)

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves; let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to edify him. For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached thee fell on me.”

— Romans 15:1-3 (RSV)

All ye beasts of the field, come, devour, all ye beasts of the forest. See how they are all blinded: they have not known; dumb dogs will not bark; dreaming of rest, loving to slumber. Yea, they are insatiable dogs, that know not what it is to be filled, and they are wicked, having no understanding: all have followed their own ways, each according to his {own gain}.

— Isaiah 56:9-11 (LXX)

Do you not know: if you yield yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey: either of sin, which leads to death; or, of Obedience, which leads to Righteousness? But, thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to The Standard of Teaching to Which you were committed; and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

— Romans 6:16-18 (RSV)

For the ways of a man are before the eyes of God, and he looks on all his paths. Iniquities ensnare a man, and every one is bound in the chains of his own sins. Such a man dies with the uninstructed; and he is cast forth from the abundance of his own substance, and has perished through folly.

— Proverbs 5:21-23 (LXX)

Behold, my servant shall understand, and be exalted, and glorified exceedingly. As many shall be amazed at thee, so shall thy face be without glory from men, and thy glory by the sons of men. Thus shall many nations wonder at him; and kings shall keep their mouths shut: for they to whom no report was brought concerning him, shall see; and they who have not heard, shall consider.

— Isaiah 52:13-15 (LXX)

O Lord, who has believed our report? and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? We brought a report as a child before him; as a root in a thirsty land: he has no form nor comeliness; and we saw him, but he had no form nor beauty. But his form was ignoble, and inferior to that of the children of men; a man in suffering, and acquainted with the bearing of sickness, for his face is turned from : he was dishonoured, and not esteemed. He bears our sins, and is pained for us: yet we accounted him to be in trouble, and in suffering, and in affliction. But he was wounded on account of our sins, and was bruised because of our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; by his bruises we were healed. All we as sheep have gone astray; every one has gone astray in his way; and the Lord gave him up for our sins. And he, because of his affliction, opens not his mouth: he was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is dumb, so he opens not his mouth. In humiliation his judgment was taken away: who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken away from the earth: because of the iniquities of my people he was led to death. And I will give the wicked for his burial, and the rich for his death; for he practised no iniquity, nor craft with his mouth. The Lord also is pleased to purge him from his stroke. If ye can give an offering for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived seed: the Lord also is pleased to take away from the travail of his soul, to shew him light, and to form with understanding; to justify the just one who serves many well; and he shall bear their sins. Therefore he shall inherit many, and he shall divide the spoils of the mighty; because his soul was delivered to death: and he was numbered among the transgressors; and he bore the sins of many, and was delivered because of their iniquities.

— Isaiah 53 (LXX)

But I am a worm, and not a man; a reproach of men, and scorn of the people. All that saw me mocked me: they spoke with [their] lips, they shook the head, [saying], He hoped in the Lord: let him deliver him, let him save him, because he takes pleasure in him. For thou art he that drew me out of the womb; my hope from my mother’s breasts. I was cast on thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly. Stand not aloof from me; for affliction is near; for there is no helper. Many bullocks have compassed me: fat bulls have beset me round. They have opened their mouth against me, as a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are loosened: my heart in the midst of my belly is become like melting wax. My strength is dried up, like a potsherd; and my tongue is glued to my throat; and thou hast brought me down to the dust of death. For many dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked doers has beset me round: they pierced my hands and my feet. They counted all my bones; and they observed and looked upon me. They parted my garments [among] themselves, and cast lots upon my raiment.

— Psalm 21:7-19 (LXX)

Tragically—but, most importantly—God also punished sin in The Person of Jesus Christ so severely that every aforementioned punishment pales in comparison. So infinitely evil is sin that Our Sweetest Lord Jesus Christ endured incomprehensible punishments to destroy it. The Creator—The Most Innocent One, The Most Holy-One, The Only-Begotten Son Of God—bore the punishment of all of His Creatures; for, to destroy sin, The Son had to suffer extreme—not light—torments to please His Heavenly Father. Truly, a single light wound in The Person of Jesus Christ from a single thorn on His Crown or a single one of His Scourges overwhelms every other punishment—even, if God destroyed all of Creation and cast men, angels, archangels and every other creature into the hellfire. Even, if you forgot everything else—your name, your family, your friends, your neighbors—never forget how much Jesus suffers because of your sin!

Specifically, His Disciples deny Him; the son of perdition betrays him; and, those in power slander, mock and drag Him through the courts like a criminal. Their buffets and blows wound His Eyes, and they spit all over His Face. Their slaps bruise His Cheeks. Thirst afflicts His Throat, but the gall embitters His Lips. The rigid thorns pierce His Head, and The Weight of The Cross breaks His Shoulders. Sharp nails pierce His Hands and His Feet, and the spear pierces His Side. All of His Veins lack any of His Blood, and The Extreme Tension of The Cross distends all of His Joints. Hanging upon the rigid nails, He gives up His Spirit. His Body becomes a Great Wound without form or human beauty.

Furthermore, from His Body, pass your mind to His Soul's Innermost Part to perceive how His Soul suffered incomparably more than His Body. Jesus endured such extreme interior sufferings for men that, in this present life, no one can comprehend it. Think about how much He grieves that the very sinners He came to save disregard His Majesty and His Sufferings when they sin and offend Him. Nevertheless, on Judgment Day, every single person will understand His Suffering, for The Lord will reveal It for all men to see; and, reprobate sinners will be shamed.

— St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite, Exomologetarion, Post-Confession Precautions, "knowledge of sin according to its punishment in The Person of Jesus Christ"

Do nothing from selfishness or conceit; but, in humility, count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is Yours in Christ, Jesus, who—though He was in The Form of God—did not count Equality with God a Thing to Be Grasped; but, emptied himself, taking the form of a {slave}—being born in the likeness of men. And, being found in human form, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death—even, death on a cross.

— Philippians 2:3-8 (RSV)

For our sake, He made Him Who knew no sin to be sin so that, in Him, we might become The Righteousness of God.

— 2 Corinthians 5:21 (RSV)

The Lord resists the proud; but he gives grace to the humble.

— Proverbs 3:34 (LXX)

Pride goes before destruction, and folly before a fall. Better is a meek-spirited with lowliness, than one who divides spoils with the proud. skillful in business finds good: but he that trusts in God is most blessed.

— Proverbs 16:18-20 (LXX)

For, The Word of The Cross is folly to those who are perishing; but, to us who are being saved, It is The Power of God.

— 1 Corinthians 1:18 (RSV)

But, far be it from me to glory except in The Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Which the world has been crucified to me; and, I, to the world.

— Galatians 6:14 (RSV)

But, seek, first, His Kingdom and His Righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.

— Matthew 6:33 (RSV)

In all things, I have shown you: by so toiling, one must help the weak, remembering The Words of The Lord Jesus, how He said: It is more blessed to give than to receive.

— Acts 20:35 (RSV)

Will the Lord accept thousands of rams, or ten thousands of fat goats? should I give my first-born for ungodliness, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? Has it been told thee, O man, what good? or what does the Lord require of thee, but to do justice, and love mercy, and be ready to walk with the Lord thy God?

— Micah 6:7-8 (LXX)

Enjambments occur when a sentence or clause runs past the end of a poetic line without pause and continues onto the next line. They create forward momentum, pulling the reader through line breaks and generating urgency or complexity.

Conversely, end-stopped lines conclude with a natural syntactic pause that punctuation (e.g., periods, commas, semicolons, etc.) typically mark. They create measured and formal pacing, while offering closure at the conclusion of each line.

The choice between enjambments and end-stopped lines dictates the poem's temporal flow and determines which words receive emphasis because line-final and line-initial positions naturally draw heightened attention.

Iambic pentameter is a metrical pattern consisting of 5 iambic "feet" per line. Each "foot" contains 1 unstressed syllable before 1 stressed syllable (da-DUM). Therefore, each line features 10 syllables with alternating stress. For example:

But SOFT, what LIGHT through YONder WINdow BREAKS.

This meter dominates English poetry and drama because it approximates the rhythm of natural English speech. Although regular rhythm results from strict adherence, skilled poets—a genus of genius among which i am certainly not!—maintain the underlying iambic expectation yet emphatically avoid monotony through introducing metrical substitutions.

Rhyme schemes describe the pattern of a poem's end rhymes. Typically, letters indicate which lines share rhyme sounds. For example: in an ABBAABBA rhyme scheme, the letter A represents one rhyme sound appearing in lines 1, 4, 5 and 8. Moreover, the letter B represents another rhyme sound in lines 2, 3, 6 and 7.

Italian sonnets only require 4-5 distinct rhyme sounds across 14 lines (2 in the octave and 2-3 in the sestet), constraining English more than Italian in which words predominantly end in vowels and naturally generate abundant rhyme pairs.

Interestingly, some linguists affectionately refer to Telugu—the language of my father's friends spoken where the remains of my grandfather (i.e., him after whom my parents named me) rest as 'The Italian of The East' because of its "mellifluous nature." Therefore, after i learn Telugu, i shall write a Telugu sonnet because...duh

Typically written in iambic pentameter, sonnets are fixed poetic forms that consist of 14 lines. The form originated in 13th century Italy, and multiple literary traditions have adapted it. Their compact structure creates a concentrated space for exploring a single thought, emotion or argument.

Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnets and English (or Shakespearean) sonnets dominate Western poetry, and rhyme scheme as well as internal architecture distinguish them.

Giacomo da Lentini invented Italian sonnets in the Sicilian court during the 1220s, and they formally dominated Renaissance Italian lyric poetry. Francesco Petrarca perfected the form, so they're also called Petrarchan sonnets.

The form divides 14 lines into 2 distinct structural units: an 8-line octave before a 6-line sestet. This bipartite division create a natural argumentative structure in which the octave typically presents a problem, question or emotional state and in which the sestet provides resolution, answer or reflection.

Octaves comprise the first 8 lines of Italian sonnets. They establish the poem's central tension, observation or question. The sestet will either build upon or turn against this foundation. They follow a fixed rhyme scheme (i.e., ABBAABBA) known as an enclosed or envelope rhyme pattern to create two interlocking quatrains that function as a unified conceptual block. This tight rhyme reinforces the octave's role as a single argumentative unit, distinguishing it from the English sonnet's 3 independent quatrains.

Sestets contain the final 6 lines of an Italian sonnet. They respond to the octave's proposition and provide an answer, counter-argument, synthesis or deepened reflection on the initial material.

Although they permit greater rhyme scheme flexibility than octaves, traditional patterns include among other variations: CDECDE (i.e., interlocking tercets), CDCDCD (i.e., alternating couplets) and CDDCCD. Strict Petrarchan form prohibits ending sestets with a couple, which would fragment organic 6-line units into a quatrain plus a couplet and dilute the form's characteristically gradual resolution.

Voltas—Italian for "turn"—mark the crucial pivot point between octaves and sestets. They typically occur between lines 8 and 9. This structural hinge represents the poem's dramatic and intellectual climax: the moment when the mode of thinking shifts or the emotional register transforms. According to Paul Fussell, voltas are where "the intellectual or emotional method of release first becomes clear and possible." Although voltas may occur subtly, common rhetorical markers that signal the turn include: "but," "yet," "thus," and "and yet." Without an effective volta, a 14-line poem may have the sonnet's shape lack its essential dynamic movement.

Enjambed voltas occur when the syntactic unit that begins in the octave runs past line eight into line nine to create not a sharp but a fluid pivot between the sonnet's 2 structural divisions. Although traditional Italian sonnets often feature an end-stopped line 8 before a clearly marked turn at line 9, poets like Milton pioneered the method of flowing the octave into the sestet when needed. This technique creates more subtle, complex relationships between the sound structure (i.e., the octave-sestet division) and the meaning structure (i.e., where the argument actually pivots). Enjambed voltas sacrifices architectural clarity for organic development, making the turn feel less like a rhetorical maneuver and more like a natural evolution of thought.