These sonnets began as an experiment with a new style of rhyme scheme, an interwoven one where each set of rhymes bleeds into the other: ABABCBCDCDEDEE. In practice, it reads fairly awkardly, and I don't think I'll work with it again.

    To try it out, I wrote a sequence of three poems, telling the story of a man whose beloved dies a premature death, only to return as a vampire, and he must do his moral duty to put a stake through her heart. It's a tribute to Poe, "The Horror of Dracula,"and the poems of Robert Herrick. (Those who are familiar with Herrick will recognize from where I took the titles, as well as Julia's name.)

    The Night-Death of Julia
    Upon Julia's Corpse
    Whenas for Blood My Julia Goes