Musings of a Devoted Cynic

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

A poetry archive from the author of 'Oathbound; The Suffering of Others'. Leans towards the nihilistic but with some hopeful notes scattered here and there.

No chronological order, just pick a poem who's title appeals or binge the lot.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2023
Author: David Giles

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.8/ 5.0
Followers: 8
Views: 49,590

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(10)

The Reading WandererRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I've not seen many people on the internet take a crack at writing poetry, but damn, this is incredible. The author evokes a sense of melancholic sadness, his works pointing out the depressing reasons the world feels so on fire. His writing is expressive and imaginitive, displaying a true talent for writing. While I have not yet read all of it, I fully intend to, as I have little doubt his work will remain as stellar as it has been so far.
kanundraRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I'm going to struggle to meet the word count here for these pieces of poetry.
But I'll try.
Overall score, would have to be 11 out of ten. I'm not one for reading things like this usually, mostly because I know nothing about what makes a good poem and how they're supposed to be technically written. But here I am emotionally thinking nad feeling about the words each one entails.
Story - They do indeed tell their own short stories, the words are expertly chosen themselves in making that imapct in your mind and heart.
Gramamr - I know nothing at all about how these things are supposed to come together, but as far as I am concerned they're very well written, and do exactly as they're mean to.
Character - yes there's something in here to be said on this, they each seem to feel so vastly different.
Take - An Unremembered tale.
To stand alone amongst friends as they faced the beast. This is perfect word choice from the persepctive of this person. It shows to me how much they still feel on the inside even if they're with friends. Very thought provoking and sad :(
The next poem goes straight into friends, and they're characters, which is just beautifually driven from this one.
There's just nothing I don't like about them, and yes, it's taking me a little time to get through them, but that's because they deserve to be cherished for every word really does mean something.
You truly can't put a score on emotion on words that hit you so hard you feel it in your soul.
Beautiful words, truly.
Thank you
neriractorRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A heartfelt look into the author's inner cauldron of emotions and thought, Cynicism colours the piece as you'd expect, with the occasional spice of hope interspersed at seemingly the right time, every time.
A few favourite pieces are The Death of Beauty, Listen to the Quiet, Best Friends’ Foibles and The Enemy From My Bed. Though that's just personal taste and the lot of them are worth reading.
HirambeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It's funny how reading poems made me wanna review to a level of personal and deeper thoughts.
"Musings of a Devoted Cynic" penned by David Giles
Through verse, Giles echoes his disillusionment with human folly, a recurring chord that lends a symphonic coherence to his collection. Themes reverberate like a chorus, underscoring his commentary on humanity's estrangement from the natural world.
The beauty of this collection is its unpredictability. Style shifts from line to line, like a river carving its own path. It's a gamble, a shot in the dark – and every piece is a hit or a near miss.
This anthology is a venture through uncharted landscapes of thought, where each poem blossoms as a self-contained universe of sentiment. The poetry's strength lies in its inherent unpredictability, the ever-shifting styles like currents carving paths through the reader's mind.
"Musings of a Devoted Cynic" beckons with its title, unveiling fragments of contemplation shared between author and audience. Its concise, polished prose serves as both a mirror and a magnifying glass, urging readers to partake in introspection. In this poetic expedition, drawbacks are scarce, a testament to the collection's caliber.
In summation, Giles' collection summons the inquisitive to navigate the labyrinthine corridors of introspection. It's an eloquent tapestry woven with threads of cynicism and introspection, offering an enticing narrative even to those less versed in poetry's nuances.
Wish you the best David!
Kitten2020Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I should warn I am somewhat biased as some of the poems are about me and I've never really written a review before but I will try to be fair and stick to the facts.
Most of the poems are classic four line verses with a simple rhyming scheming but come across as heartfelt with the occasional piece of prose.
As there aren't really characters I can't talk about them, so have just given a flat 5 stars rather than penalize it unfairly, though the few times it is clearly told from a character perspective there is a clear individual voice separate from the authors.
The grammar is really good as far as I can tell though it can be a little bit word and old fashioned, and though it doesn't always stick to grammar rules this seems to be deliberate.
In the story section I will discuss the poems content, the author (my boyfriend) has a romantic view of the world I was not really aware of before reading and speaks to his ongoing battle with depression which I know he still struggles with as well as his general world weariness and contempt for politics in general, and in the UK in particular.
CaptainChaosRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The overall quality of the poems is high with a few genuinely outstanding ones, particularly A Pebble of Perspective, Dichotomy and Gaia's Agony.
Although the poems all stand alone on their own some of the themes repeat a lot as the author expresses their frustration at the foolishness of humanity and their own frustration with it. The poems give great insight into the disassociation of humanity from its home planet.
SpookyspacklesRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I will pop a disclaimer - I'm not a poet
This poem has a crispy clear flow with a thoughtfully sad undertone.
As far as my limited poetry structure knowledge goes, it looks like its following all of the rules, and keeping to a nice calming four season, four line pattern.
I like the melancholy the composition gives off. It's very nice reading about a passage of time that isn't an encroaching project deadline. And it's quite clear that a lot of thought went into composing this.
I wanted to check one piece I saw:
Heady is a word, but I just wanted to check, in line 2, did you mean heavy?
All good if not!
I would vote, it's a good piece of poetry!
LacunyktRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
[This review was spurred by a forum post.]
First of all, I'll start off by saying that I don't consider myself particularly qualified to judge poetry. I've written many poems of my own, and I've studied countless works of poetry in university, both in form and content, but it's such a fluid thing that makes it difficult to truly judge. It's a lot more like art than prose! I respect the author a lot for publishing their poetry here – not only is it rare on RR, but poetry is also often very personal and emotional in nature. Kudos!
Anyway, I liked what I read, though I didn't make much of a dent in the greater collection. A lot of poets stick to a particular style, or a handful of stylistic elements, and don't stray much. The author of Musings of a Devoted Cynic does the opposite. That's not easy to do – at least successfully. There were still consistencies throughout the pieces I read, so the author definitely has a certain je-ne-sais-quoi touch woven into everything they write, but it was nice to see such variety across the collection. The structure changes, the form changes, the verse length changes, the topic changes... Something for everybody! Also, most if not all of the poems rhyme, which is, in my opinion, pretty hard to do without sacrificing payoff. Respect.
In terms of content, I didn't pick up on any obvious grammar/spelling/syntax issues, although poetry is usually not as strict about those conventions. In general, everything was well-written and well-thought-out. I didn't read anything positively groundbreaking, and I thought some of the poems were a tad surface-level, but far from bad. The moments where the content touched upon a more profound topic/theme/concept were my favourites.
If you're still debating whether or not to read it, just do it. You're bound to find something that resonates with you.
HippioScipioRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
As someone who does not consider themselves a 'cynic' per se, I guess the only reason I don't rate this collection 5 stars is because some of the poems didn't really hit home for me personally.
Though, that being said, many did. Especially 'Dreams of Destiny' and 'The Betrayed Idealist'. Though I'm not really a cynic, I can relate to the frustration one feels when everyone seems perfectly content to do nothing as the future of humanity disappears.
The metaphors throughout the collection were nice, and I felt the themes were maturely handled.
In terms of the tone of the collection, it is obviously melancholic, but not offensively so.
So yeah, overall, great stuff.
JonHRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This is a collection of poetry, and while I'm not formally educated on rhyme and meter, I found the style of this to be overall pleasing, and it was never difficult to read through. Some poetry, in my experience, can be very dense and difficult to follow. That is not this poetry-- this poetry is smooth, easy, and quick. I never felt like I was bored, nor did I feel like I was overwhelmed. It all landed just right.
Subject matter ranged from love to environmentalism, and the language used is reminiscent of Victorian poetry. There is a consistent atmosphere or mood to the overall collection, and it overall has an air of melancholy, which I enjoyed. As it is, this is a rare treat to find on RR. Very happy to have had the opportunity to read it, and will be enjoying it for days to come.
Some poems even warrant a re-read, and I can see myself revisiting them in the future. I'm also a sucker for "last lines" that hit hard, and these poems are chock full of bangers. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who likes poetry, or would like a good introduction to it! Great job author, glad to share the site with you.