3 out of 4 stars
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Poetic Ramblings of a Disenchanted Soul by Danny Warren is a collection of poetry loosely linked by the theme of disenchantment. Many of the poems are loaded with dark imagery, referencing death (or eternal sleep), the afterlife, aging, the passage of time, lost love, longing, and regret. There are also poems on lighter topics interspersed throughout the collection, including poems about dreams, the concept of love, and the search for meaning in the mundane everyday moments. Some of the poetry references memorable world events, such as 9/11, and other poems include commentary on politics, elections, and social issues. A handful of the poems also document the author’s struggle with his faith, exploring the concepts of original sin, freedom of choice, and the promise of eternity.
One of the author’s strengths in assembling this collection was in providing the reader with a good range of different styles of poetry. The collection includes poems that vary in length, some written in a verbose prose style and others written following a handful of different rhyming patterns. Personally, I was surprised to find that I enjoyed the rhyming poems more than the abstract ones in this collection, as that is typically not the case for me. However, I found that the poems written without following a particular rhythm structure were generally very flowery and ornate, and sometimes the sentences became difficult to decipher. Often in those abstract poems, the meaning was lost underneath the descriptive language.
On the other hand, most of the rhyming poems were simple yet cleverly written, and the language did not feel like it was forced into rhyming scheme. Instead, the ideas flowed surprisingly well from one line to another – this remained true even though the author used several different rhyming styles.
I noticed that the font and formatting changed several times throughout the collection and I am not sure if this was intentional or not. In certain poems, one line was written in a different font than the rest – it was not clear to me if this was done for emphasis, or simply was the unintended result of the author adding a line during a round of editing. Similarly, there were a handful of instances where the author used made-up words (like “missingness” and “sharingness”), and it is not clear whether this was done with intention.
Generally this is a strong collection of poetry, written in a myriad of interesting styles, and referencing a wide range of topics. However, as I had a hard time connecting with (or even truly understanding) many of the non-rhyming poems, I can only rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I really enjoyed many of the rhyming poems, and was impressed by the clever way certain words and phrases were arranged… I just wish I felt the same kind of interest in the free-form pieces. Readers who would enjoy this collection are those who appreciate poetry in a variety of styles, and are not dissuaded by the general undercurrent of frustration and disenchantment that runs throughout the works. The collection may speak to those who are seeking for a deeper interpretation of everyday life events, and who may identify with one man’s journey in questioning his own reality.
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Poetic Ramblings of a Disenchanted Soul.
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