JOHN JOLLY, “Why, Mortals, Complain” Boston Weekly Magazine, Devoted to Morality, Literature, Biography, History, the Fine Arts, Agriculture, &c &c, December 4, 1802

JOHN JOLLY, “Why, Mortals, Complain,” Boston Weekly Magazine, Devoted to Morality, Literature, Biography, History, the Fine Arts, Agriculture, &c &c, December 4, 1802

“John Jolly” seems to have believed that this trite 18-line poem was a sonnet. Alas, this is far from true. Its short lines do not allow ideas to develop, and its half rhymes (mind/wind and heads/beads) do little to advance the meaning of the poem or complement its form—leaving the reader to ask why he wrote a “sonnet” at all. Would not a different structure have served Jolly’s aims better? More alarmingly, despite his frequent deviations from classical form, his message is familiar, unoriginal, and insipid: Carpe Diem and be quick about it because this poem is definitely a turkey.

Boston Public Library, Rare Books & Manuscripts

Recitation: “Why, Mortals...”

JOHN JOLLY, “Why, Mortals, Complain,” Boston Weekly Magazine, Devoted to Morality, Literature, Biography, History, the Fine Arts, Agriculture, &c &c, December 4, 1802

       SONNET.

     WHY, Mortals, complain,
         Each day’s full of pain,
And each lonely night spent in grief:
    T’ your folly you owe,
     Each heart piercing woe,
And from sighs, in vain seek relief.

      Since L***** is mine,
      Cares, go to the wind,
I smile at anxiety’s thorn;
     No sorrow I’ll taste,
     Life’s day will soon waste,
Blithe joy every hour shall adorn.

      Come, care-crazy heads,
     Cease counting your beads,
Join innocent merriments throng;
     The moment of sorrow  
     Put off ‘till to-morrow,
Today’s for mild mirth’s cheering song.

                                JOHN JOLLY.

Boston Weekly Magazine, Dec 4, 1802