The Love Sonnets of a Hoodlum

audiobook

The Love Sonnets of a Hoodlum

by Wallace Irwin

EN·~24 minutes·3 chapters

Chapters

3 total

With an Introduction by Gelett Burgess

0:10

Introduction

8:39

An Inside Con to Refined Guys

15:11

Description

A bold, tongue‑in‑cheek celebration of the sonnet arrives with a swagger that feels both classic and freshly street‑wise. The narrator frames the form as an elegant crystal goblet, then deliberately tips it over, letting slang spill into each fourteen‑line stanza. Listeners will hear the clash of Renaissance reverence with the snap of modern colloquialisms, as the poet treats love, vanity and fate with both lofty metaphor and gritty, off‑beat phrasing.

The collection feels like a literary duel between polished poetry and its rebellious sister, slang, each line striving to make two words bloom where one once stood. References to Shakespeare, Petrarch and Victorian verse mingle with punchy turns of phrase like “You’re the real tan bark!” and “O Fate, thou art a lobster!” offering a fresh, playful lens on timeless emotions. Expect a witty, rhythm‑rich journey that honors tradition while joyfully subverting it.

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Details

Language

en

Duration

~24 minutes (23K characters)

Publisher of text edition

Project Gutenberg

Credits

Produced by David A. Schwan. HTML version by Al Haines.

Release date

Dec 1, 2003

Rights

Public domain in the USA.

About the author

Wallace Irwin

Wallace Irwin

1876–1959

A witty American man of letters, he moved easily from newspaper humor and light verse to novels, screenwriting, and stage lyrics. His work has a playful, satirical spirit that helped make him a familiar name in early 20th-century popular writing.

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