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A War of Love: 2Nd Edition
Paperback
ISBN13: 9781796013436
Publisher: Xlibris Corp
Published: Feb 1 2019
Pages: 302
Weight: 0.98
Height: 0.68 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
reviewed by Mihir Shah
Some say you need a gun to fight
Instead you need your God above
with Him there is your might.
In A War of Love, William T. Elliott seeks a therapeutic reprieve from nagging panic attacks, but instead ends up capturing the essence of the human spirit through a series of timeless, evergreen poems revolving around prayer, philosophy, nature, and animals. With no clear structure or rhythm, A War of Love won't be mistaken for an Edgar Allen Poe or Sylvia Path piece; however, the stream of conscious style that Elliott exudes in his work has a genuine, heartfelt aura that will likely resonate with individuals of all ages.
Although the poems are split into six sections, including the compilation's namesake, Elliott's observations on animals remain consistent throughout. Four consecutive poems, THE BEAGLE, A CAT, THE CHICKADEE, and THE DEER, grace the opening of the collection and establish a romanticization of everyday animals. What makes these poems sparkle is the elimination of age appeal. In A CAT, young or old can reminisce fondly on the memorable temperament of a cat that, gives me not a nod at all, unless it is feeding time. In THE HAWK AND THE BLACKBIRD, like in the poems above, there is unique energy in the author's writing style and pace that matches the animals' love of life that Elliott successfully portrays. Perhaps the most intriguing poem, appearing in Additional Poems, is THE BUTTERFLY. In a matter of five quatrains, the poet injects the reader with childhood nostalgia. The poem itself is emblematic of coming of age: Children are in their own cocoon, and when they become adults, they too, like a butterfly, fly away.
Elliott adds a distinctly personal touch to his words by including personal photographs, none more riveting than the picturesque landscapes of Angostura Reservoir and Coldbrook Dam in South Dakota. This ode to nature is in full form in THE MISSOURI and THE SNOWFLAKE, both poems that use mother nature and imagery of all five senses to reinvigorate the human spirit and help readers remember what it really means to be alive, be it hearing the waves that wash upon the sand, or the feel of flakes past chilly ears. While Elliott appears to be focused more on evoking a particular emotion from the reader rather than spectacular structure, his poem, THE SNOWFLAKE, exhibits an abundance of strong structure, repetition, and simile that allows the readers to conjure the image of snowflakes falling like cotton tuffs in the day and dandruff's spite in the night.
As the poetry progresses, so does Elliott's depth of observation. While the poems on animals and nature dwell on what is apparent to the eye, his thought-provoking philosophy poems touch on many of the world's elephant in the room topics that most try to avoid. Poems like Loneliness, Frustration, and Hope, discuss the struggle man faces throughout life's journey, while Pipe Dreams seeks to keep readers grounded and avoid the sometimes inevitable delusions of grandeur that find ways into one's thoughts. DEATH OF A THOUGHT, however, stands on its own and represents the metaphysical element of time, inciting a debate of whether one should wait for the right moment to act or simply seize the moment.
Directly or indirectly, A War of Love seeks to infuse the reader with lif
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