Ode to Aphrodite

Written with love and care in honor of the multifaceted deity Aphrodite

A friend to all pure of heart

Patient lover of romance and art

Help me honored deity of romance

Reach new heights and to take a chance

Of all things love that makes me smile

Death only delays it for a little while

I thank you for the blessings both new and old

This tired practitioner in love you hold

Even before you met my soul

Reviews

[andrew mitchell]

Enjoyed the acrostic write and the subject matter. Greek Goddess

[Kane Hagwood]

Hey, thanks for stopping by and offering a review. Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed it.

[Chris Shaw]

An acrostic poem which is both lyrical and rhymed. A fine ode to Aphrodite. I enjoyed the read Kane.

Chris

[Kane Hagwood]

Thank you for stopping by for a review. It's nice knowing other folks enjoy what I put out there.

[AaronCZim]

This is a very warm poem. I like it!

I'm sorry, if this is a bit audacious, but I think your poem might benefit from some grammar notation. Is there a clever reason to avoid grammar? Maybe it's distracting or something?

One can log into ChatGPT for free with a google account or other options at chat.openai.com and ask what grammar to use for this poem. I got:

A friend to all, pure of heart,
Patient lover of romance and art.
Help me, honored deity of romance,
Reach new heights and to take a chance.
Of all things love, that makes me smile,
Death only delays it for a little while.
I thank you for the blessings, both new and old,
This tired practitioner in love, you hold.
Even before you met my soul.

"Even before you met my soul," applies to, "I thank you," but maybe it also gets applied to multiple topics. Since it is at the end, it could mean, "[All this] even before you met my soul." That especially because reaching new heights and taking a chance can be wrapped up in the activity of thanking and holding.

This is an acrostic poem worth remembering. Thanks for writing it!

[Kane Hagwood]

I think I'll pretend I had a clever reason for the lack of grammatical notation. The real reason was I wanted to keep it as simple as possible, and not take away from the intended effect I wanted. In some ways, the way I structured it feels a little more like a love note rather than just an ode.

Thank you for the advice. I have a few pending ideas about ChatGPT. It's great for some things, while severely lacking in other departments. I think I might have touched up on that in a review I left on one of your poems.

Either way, thank you for your time, kindness, and thoughtful review.

[.]

Yep, It’s an acrostic poem and not an ode. And acrostic’s require no punctuation, so the layout is correct. Taking advice from an AI user is the quick way to poetic death.

[Kane Hagwood]

They're technically both. By definition, this IS an ode. This poem can also be sung, so it checks that box too.

And you happened to miss a conversation with this reviewer and I. Pretty much told them the same thing about AI. I gave them a similar warning about how AI tends to make everything bland and brittle. So thank you for agreeing with me? I'm not sure about "poetic death" when the facts aren't all in yet. The problems with working with a incomplete deck of information is it leaves us to assume. I'm guilty of that too from time to time.

[.]

What was assumed? Nothing. An acrostic is an acrostic. Odes are written in verses and mean’t to be sung, yes. An acrostic ode is just a hybrid of nothing. You seem a very arrogant person with a chip on your shoulder. You are writing on a website with people with more than 50 years of experience. Judging by the depth of your writing submitted, I don’t think you know much about the craft at all. Good luck!

[Kane Hagwood]

I'm sorry you feel that way, and you have every right to feel any which way you do about my writing. Your entire profile is hidden, so I can't really compare. I will have to take what you say at face value.

By google definition, this is and ode. It also happens to be an acrostic. It was never my intention, and it just sort of happened. I don't see how it takes away from the poem I wrote. It was something different, from my own hands. I just wanted to share it with others. I wasn't looking to argue with anyone.

I don't believe I'm being arrogant, and it's unfortunate that you feel that way. I don't think there's anything I can do to change your mind.

You have a good night, sir.

[Stu. T.H.]

Quite a fabulous ode, author Kane Hagwood. Despite not favouring most Greek gods and goddesses, I still admire the essence of beauty that exists in the works that praise them by their admirers. Thank you for sharing your work.

[Kane Hagwood]

That's very understandable. My associations and assumptions regarding Aphrodite weren't always in a positive light. But over time, even barely scratching the surface of her mythology, I kinda feel like she was given a raw deal. Not to say mistakes weren't made. No, no one is perfect.

I consider this poem a sort of "thank you" to her. As for me, I prefer to see it as honoring rather than praising.

Thank you for the review :)

[Arundass TP]

Good work 😁. Loved reading 👍

[Kane Hagwood]

Thank you for the review and kind words :)