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Child’s Laughter
It bubbles forth from deep inside his soul;
Joy twinkles brightly through his youthful eyes,
For any pain he knows, his laugh defies:
This shattered world has briefly been made whole.
It rings out clearer than choir bells toll,
And sings God’s promise out to hopeless lives.
Lives stripped of truth and beauty by the lies,
Anger, and pain that slowly damn the soul.
I listen to this sound unbound by grief,
And pray his laughter never grows broken.
But then I pray for courage, so that when
The darkest times arrive I’ll feel relief
By blindly heeding what God has spoken.
Oh Lord, make my faith as a child’s again.
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Jane Schulert is a high school student who currently resides in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Jane, this is a precious poem with sentiments that I applaud and adore. You have a bright future ahead of you as a classical poet. We all need to return to that childlike faith, and you have brought home that message to us beautifully.
You conveyed the feelings of lost innocence excellently, and all within the confines of a well-worked sonnet.
Thanks for the read, Jane.
This is a beautiful poem Jane, and touches sentiments so sensitive to who we now are, and what we yearn for through the grace of innocence with which we are born. Superb, and thank you
What strikes me about the poem is how so much is suggested by way of inference, rather than direct statement. You speak of the child defying “any pain he knows” through his laughter. You speak of this laughter briefly making a “shattered world” whole whole. Then you pray for courage for yourself in anticipation of the “darkest times ahead.” All this raises questions in my mind about this child and his circumstances, whether he is perhaps facing cancer or some other dread illness, the pain of which he is able to defy, thus far, through the joy that bubbles from within and twinkles in his eyes. Is the “shattered” world his own world and your world, or the world at world? The poem raises these questions in my mind, but leaves them unanswered. I agree with Roy that you seem gifted at writing poetry; I would encourage to continue.
This was very interesting for me to read, thank you for taking the time to critique. It’s inevitable that any person, adult or child, will face some sort of pain. Perhaps it is a disease, like cancer, or just a scrape on the knee. My point was that despite the fact that this child has experienced pain and lives in a “shattered” world, he is still able to truly laugh and feel joy. As for “When darkest times arrive I’ll feel relief”, you made an interesting argument, I hadn’t considered it from that angle. My poem can be taken in two ways,
A) When end times arrive I will be comforted
Or
B) When the darkest times in my personal life arrive I will be comforted
It applies to either situation. I wanted this poem to be specific enough to have actual meaning, but broad enough that the reader can relate. Thank you again for taking the time to analyze my poem, it was fascinating to read. I will keep in mind what you have said for future poetry.
I absolutely adore this poem! How simply yet beautifully you have conveyed a feeling that hides somewhere in the heart of every grown man. Thank you for this piece, Jane. I’ll return to it every now and then.
Jane, this is a fine sonnet, and you have already shown, in your comment about your intent, that you do your best to make your word artistry profound enough to suit varied interpretations. I also admire the use of iambic stress in the last line, where the accent falls on MY rather than on FAITH. You emphasize prayer that your own faith return to that of a child when deep needs arises.
I’d suggest you add a syllable to lines 10 and 13, because this will smooth out the reading while maintaining five iambic stresses per line. See what you think about these readings,
And pray his laughter never turns out broken
By blindly heeding what our God has spoken
You’ve probably learned to count 10 syllables per line, but you can afford 11 syllables when the last one is unaccented (in what is called “feminine rhyme”). Line 10 might add to the poem’s overall meaning if you say, “never grows up broken,” but that’s uncommon usage.
I have never heard about that construction, but I am excited to try it now! I am satisfied with the current version of this poem, but I have a new one in mind that would benefit from this.
Dear Jane, Thank you for this lovely poem. His defiant laughter in response to his pain reminds me of Psalm 2. Wouldn’t we all do well to have the bold laughter of the child you portray!
Congratulations, Jane, and well done!
I’m impressed by the perfect rhymes and your adherence to the Petrarchan sonnet structure. Missing a syllable or two if you’re going for strict iambic pentameter. Lovely theme. Reminds me of being at the bedside of my Aunt Helen as she was dying. My nephew came in with his young daughter. She was running around the room laughing. My nephew said, “That’s music to Aunt Helen’s ears.”
A lovely poem, Jane, remarkable for its technical aspects but also for its maturity. Thank you for it.
Thanks, Jane, for this lovely sonnet, which also nudged me into wondering about the essence of laughter. Babies laugh at 3 months. People seem to laugh as a form of connectiveness with companions, but people laugh alone, as well, as provocative thoughts traverse their minds. We don’t really understand too much about laughter. Now you’ve got me pondering the likelihood that laughter is an avenue of prayer, bestowed upon us long ago.