BEYOND THE DAM

Beyond the Dam is a collection of sonnets and poems from Allan’s own experiences through the years. Included are sections on Personal Reflections, Inspirational Ideas, Personal Spiritual Growth, Bible and Christianity References, History References, True stories, Literature References, and Nature. This title has two very significant meanings. First and foremost is the higher meaning as it focuses on raising thought beyond any limits as do many of these sonnets and poems. The title is also based on a personal experience when Allan and his brother Leonard went down the Penobscot River on a handmade wooden raft one summer vacation during their high school years. What an unforgettable adventure! There are four versions of the sonnet that sparked the title going from before to beyond the dam: Before the Dam, then a humorous one titled Penobscot Perversed followed by Before and Beyond the Dam and the fourth, Beyond the Dam. There are sonnets, poems, and haiku with many reflections from Allan’s personal experiences through the years, as well as literary and historical references and many experiences within nature. Also included are his personal adventures with his wife during camping trips and searching through used bookstores in New England during summer vacations from school. Allan was an English teacher in a high school and then after earning his doctorate, a college professor in three universities, one in Maine, one in Maryland, and one in New Hampshire. During this time, they went on another adventure of a lifetime and traveled across the Atlantic camping for a month in Germany, France, Switzerland, and Italy and then a second month in England, Wales, and Scotland. They rented a Ford Anglia in Belgium with a tent that folded out from the roof rack. What an another unforgettable experience! The purpose of this volume is to give pleasure – both inspirational and intellectual, both humorous and serious, both joyous and contemplative. And wrapped up with this pleasure is the author’s concern and love for people and their search for purpose or identity. One of the greatest joys is seeing others happier or better off for something you yourself have done for them. With this in mind, giving joy through poetry quite parallels Tennyson’s concept of loving others from In Memorium ‘Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all.' Allan writes in his “Thesis” for this book … what the poet is trying to say – also has to do with meaning. Robert Frost once wrote about what he called “the figure a poem makes.” He elucidated by saying “it begins in delight and ends in wisdom.” Obviously, the abstractions must be controlled and the element of truth blend in with, become the natural outgrowth of, become at-one with the delight or beauty in the poem. No earthshaking truth needs to be expounded – only some kind of clarification. And using Keats’ concept of equating beauty and truth, we can find this wisdom or thesis in a simple illustration or description beautifully expressed so that its significance – as minute as it might be – adds another expansion or a new dimension to thought. The Sonnet This book, being mostly sonnets, needs some introduction to the art of the sonnet. Allan’s wife Lynn (who has put this volume together) especially greatly admires the musicality of the sonnet form. Besides the meaning within a sonnet, one of the main pleasures comes from the rhythm patterns and the music it creates. Along with the understanding of an idea, the oral beauty of the sonnet strengthens its meaning. Much has been written about the difficulty of writing a sonnet and the respect for anyone who can write in such an elevated manner. It has been said that sonnets can be one of the most difficult, yet satisfying, types of poems to compose. Sonnets are incredibly complex, utilizing a strict rhyme scheme and poetic rhythm. The sonnet is a difficult poem to master, but when it's done right, it can be beautiful and profound. A traditional sonnet is three quatrains of four-line stanzas concluding with a rhyming couplet. Iambic pentameter is always used, each line with ten syllables, alternating stressed and unstressed. Allan’s preferred rhyme scheme is Shakespearean with alternate lines rhyming. Although Allan wrote many sonnets and poems included here he spent most of his life with a focus on higher thought beyond limits referred to in the title. You can see from these sonnets and poems that God and spiritual ideas were very important to him. This is also shown in his two books, Breakthrough Analysis of Daniel’s Prophecies (more than fifty years of research, writing, and editing) and Championing Womanhood Through a Higher Concept of God where he goes through the centuries of misconceptions of women influenced by Aristotle and others. This book concludes with a chapter including many literature and history references that help us to understand God as Mother as well as Father, and Divine Mind, Eternal Life, Infinite Spirit, Absolute Truth, Divine Love, Eternal Soul, and Infinite Principle. Allan writes in his Conclusion: "Reading, including not only non-fiction and fiction, but also poetry, is the closest thing to true magic that humans possess. It allows us to enter the mind of another person, to see what they see, experience what they feel, and understand their very personal perception of life. And along with this magical experience comes another fanciful and otherwise impossible idea: time travel. Reading can take us back into the thoughts of people who lived millennia ago or a few years ago, be it ancient Greece or the life of a lobster fisherman in Maine, we’re transported to worlds beyond our own, that come alive with the help of our imagination."