Poetry Challenge #311-Another Dark & Stormy Please!
The book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley was written in response to a challenge one evening around a fire.
The group, including Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Mary Shelley as well as others, entertained each other during a rainy vacation by reading ghost stories and poems to each other. After several were read, the group challenged each other to write something better—and scarier—than what they had read.
Mary Shelley was born Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin on August 30, 1797, in London. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft was a “famed feminist” and author.
Alas, Shelley’s mother died just after her birth, leaving her with her father and half-sister. Daddy soon remarried—another Mary—Mary Jane Clairmont. The proverbial wicked stepmother, Mary Jane saw no reason to educate Shelley, but wanted her gone, so sent her off to boarding school.
In 1814, Mary began a scandalous relationship with poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. (Mary was 17; Percy was one of her father’s students.) Percy and Mary, with Mary’s stepsister, Jane, in tow, ran away to England together. From England, Mary and Percy traveled through Europe. That December Mary and Percy were married. Mary wrote all about it in History of a Six Weeks' Tour, published in 1817.
"As a child, I scribbled; and my favourite pastime, during the hours given me for recreation, was to 'write stories.’”- The Life and Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft.
Back to that night, that fire, that challenge:
Percy Shelley, known as one of the major British romantic poets, promptly forgot the challenge.
Lord Byron wrote a long, rambling poem.
And Mary Shelley, at age 19, wrote Frankenstein.
BTW: In 1818 when Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus debuted it was published anonymously. Many thought Percy Bysshe Shelley had written it since he penned its introduction.
Poetry Challenge #311
Another Dark & Storm Please!
In honor of Mary Shelley’s birthday, write a scary poem.
First, think of your audience. Think of what scares them—real or imagined.
Write scary! Boo!
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, Write It!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2600+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
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