It is this world of ours in which we live
There is darkness around every corner,
Evil does lurk there…it does not forgive…
Should we overlook it as if not there?
Pretend it does not exist on this world
Walk around and just give it a blind eye
Is that what we should do…live imperil…
Heads in the sand never look at the sky?
There is no question that evil does exist,
It walks upon this world with us each day
Trying to draw us in…we must resist,
Know it is there…always stand in its way
Give evil no peace and no time to rest
We must always strive to be at our best
What is a Sonnet…
The sonnet…I find the sonnet to be an excellent form when trying to write about emotions that are difficult to articulate…I will sometimes write something out in sonnet form then use that and mix it in with my own style of writing or other forms to create a poem…but what is a sonnet? A sonnet is a lyric poem of fourteen lines following one of several set rhyme schemes. There are varying classifications, but for all essential purposes I will discuss the two main forms of sonnets…the Petrarchan or Italian sonnet and the Shakespearean or English sonnet.
Structure…
The Italian sonnet has two stanzas. The first stanza containing eight lines of rhyming verse in the form abbaabba this is called the octave. The second stanza contains six lines of rhyming verse in one of the following forms cdecde, cdccdc or cdedce this is called the sestet.
I have found that Charles Gayley explained best how a sonnet works when he said, "The octave bears the burden; a doubt, a problem, a reflection, a query, an historical statement, a cry of indignation or desire, a vision of the idea. The sestet eases the load, resolves the problem or doubt, answers the query, solaces the yearning, realizes the vision." In other words the octave presents the narrative, states a proposition or question while the sestet makes a comment, applies the proposition or solves the problem.
The English sonnet is different from the Italian sonnet. Instead of the octave and sestet there are three quatrains and a couplet typically in the abab cdcd efef gg form. In the English sonnet the problem is posed in the first quatrain and is expanded upon in the second quatrain. In the third quatrain the problem is noted and somewhat answered then a definite answer is stated in the couplet.
I will briefly mention the Spenserian sonnet, which is one I put into some of my poems. It combines the Italian and English sonnets by using the English format but has linking rhymes between the quatrains in the form of abab bcbc cdcd ee.
Now that we know how the poem should flow…what about the metrics? As I stated in the previous installment of this series it is my own personal opinion that flow is of more importance BUT a sonnet has strict guidelines. As stated above a sonnet consists of fourteen lines of verse. Now I will tell you that each of those lines of verse MUST be in five foot iambic verse (iambic pentameter)…now you ask…what the hell is that…a single iambic foot is best described as a short syllable followed by a long syllable such as diverge (di-verge) or avoid (a-void) another example (the swell)…now what would an iambic pentameter look like…(to be or not to be that is the question) or (the swell it brushed along the ragged shore) both are examples of iambic pentameter. You may have noticed that each example of iambic pentameter contains ten syllables.
New Terms (maybe some old one as well)…
Octave – Eight lines of verse.
Sestet – Six lines of verse
Couplet – Two lines of verse
Iambic foot – A foot is a term used in measuring verse. One Iambic foot is a short syllable followed by a long syllable such as in the word “a-void”. Iambic means that it is a short (unaccented or unstressed) syllable followed by a long (accented or stressed) syllable. This makes up one Iambic foot.
Iambic Pentameter – Five Iambic feet (ten syllables total).
Now a little history…
The sonnet as a form first developed in thirteenth century Italy and during the fourteenth century Francesco Petrarch brought the sonnet to its height of perfection at that time and probably anytime. Since English readers and listeners (for those who could not read) were most familiar with his sonnets hence the Italian sonnet being known as a Petrarchan sonnet and that is similar to how the English sonnet is also known as a Shakespearian sonnet. While Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard the Earl of Surrey are credited with bringing the Italian sonnet to England in the fourteenth century and for some of the early modifications to the English form it was Shakespeare who brought it to prominence.
Another interesting note about sonnets is the sonnet sequences…were sonnets are linked together and all dealing with a single or related subject…Shakespeare was good at this.
The form was introduced into England by Thomas Wyatt, who translated Petrarchan sonnets and left over thirty examples of his own in English. Surrey, an associate, shares with Wyatt the credit for introducing the form to England and is important as an early modifier of the Italian form. Gradually the Italian sonnet pattern was changed and since Shakespeare attained fame for the greatest poems of this modified type his name has often been given to the English form.
Among the most famous sonneteers in English have been Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth, and D. G. Rossetti. Longfellow, Jones Very, G. H. Boker, and E. A. Robinson are generally credited with writing some of the best sonnets in America. With the interest in this poetic form, certain poets following the example of Petrarch have written a series of sonnets linked one to the other and dealing with some unified subject. Such series are called sonnet sequences.
Edit #1 Fixed the split infinitive in the last line which I meant to do before i posted it...but forgot
Edit #2 added type of poem in the subject line
Edit #3 removed poll
Edit #4 added terms section
Last edited by Eiregirl on Sat Jul 22, 2006 5:42 am; edited 4 times in total
Fri Feb 10, 2006 6:18 am
Tas_Passion_Godess
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
Posts: 578
Location: Kingston, Jamaica
Is amazed with the talent that you hold, your great eire, wonderful, i cant wait for more.
Wuv you,
Tas _________________ My future is planted in the past, though my life is changing fast, who i am is who i want to be.
Life is not the amount of breath you take. It is the moments that take your breath away.
Joined: 29 Mar 2005
Posts: 3381
Location: Inner Sanctum
Eire,
Awwwwwww you a wrote a poem about me! Thank you! lol
All kidding aside, its an excellent write. There are so many forms of poetry that it amazes even me. Some of it makes me wonder if the person who created the form was in a strait jacket! Other forms are so beautiful you wonder what type of person created it.
I am a huge fan of Rimaud who changed poetry from its once strict form. As a free form writer, I appreciate the freedom he has given me.
Thank you evil one...your reply is very much appreciated.
By the way...which of the forms would you like to see as the next in the series?
kyrielle
Limerick
Mirrored Refrain
Acrostic
Fri Feb 10, 2006 7:00 pm
maryj
Joined: 04 Oct 2005
Posts: 315
a great poem
again i really like how you are giving all the information on how to write the poem
as to which one next i don't care just do more
what you said in the poem is true
Wed Feb 15, 2006 8:34 am
Mairi bheag
Joined: 04 Mar 2005
Posts: 5094
Location: Scotland
Wow - an English sonnet! It's a lovely form. I'm ok with the half-rhyme of "world" and "imperil", less happy with the split infinitive in the last line. But, Oh my! An English sonnet...
Just blowing my own trumpet for a moment... I have written one or two myself, one of which was posted recently in the love section, and some of which can be found at the bottom link of my "signature" here. The mistress of the erotic English sonnet is HappierBlue - alas away from the site at present, but her old stuff is there if you dig for it.
Well done, Eire - keep it up.
Mb
xx
_________________ all posted material (c) Marie Marshall, unless otherwise stated.
quote:Originally posted by Mairi bheag:
*
is totally happy with imperil
*
At the end of the day, Eire, the poem's the thing - if it works it works!
Mb
xx
Hugs you tight...I like your criticism though...would you do it more often for me?
I would post more in "Request Feedback" but nobody bothers to look there very often...I think that section should be moved up and placed just below emotional poetry...but that is just my opinion.
Hugs,
Evee
Wed Feb 15, 2006 6:59 pm
Mairi bheag
Joined: 04 Mar 2005
Posts: 5094
Location: Scotland
[quote="Eiregirl...I like your criticism though...would you do it more often for me?[/quote]
Aye, but I can be bloody ruthless!
Mb
xx
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Wed Feb 15, 2006 7:03 pm
desert-fish
Joined: 13 Apr 2006
Posts: 2777
Location: deleted
pale tries again and has a question
deleted
Last edited by desert-fish on Sat Nov 24, 2012 7:51 pm; edited 2 times in total
Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:20 pm
Mairi bheag
Joined: 04 Mar 2005
Posts: 5094
Location: Scotland
The most famous split infinitive in the world came in William Shatner's little prologue at the beginning of
Star Trek
: "
To
boldly
go
where no man has gone before."
"iambic" means made up of "di-DAH" syllables. It doesn't have to be heavy handed, it just has to ripple underneath. Using words which have natural stresses in the wrong places doesn't work. Let's take a couple of lines from your poem and analyse them that way, to see if they do work:
"
It
was
so
ea
sy
for
the
Eng
lish
bard
And
in
Ma
ry's
head...
son
nets
seem
to thrive
"
You lose it a little in the second line there. Also further on you end the line with an "-ing" word, which never works (unless you do one of my Marshalline sonnets ). And you managed to leave us with thirteen lines. But, y'know what, you're doing really well!
There was also a philosophical structure to the pure English sonnet. The first two quatrains usually posed a question, or made a point to ponder. The third quatrain hinted at the answer, and the final couplet gave that answer. There is no need to tie yourself down to this, however.
Mb
xx
_________________ all posted material (c) Marie Marshall, unless otherwise stated.
You have to have ten syllables a line
verse form called iambic pentameter
on top of this a certain kind of rhyme
these being the basic parameters
It was so easy for the English bard
And in Mary's head... sonnets seem to thrive
But doing this is really kind of hard
Without your poem seeming too contrived
I battle to constrain my thoughts to form
-you might just ask me why I keep (on) trying
I'll tell the truth...there's no sense in lying
The structure in these words has this appeal:
An order and a neatness I can feel...
It's probably full of mistakes...
nevertheless trying this has made me ask some questions:
if you have a vowel sound with an inflection in it....doing, trying, poem, iambic...do you count one or two syllables?????
am going to try again so correct me while you can
what's a split infinitive?
Pale,
An infinitive is the word “to” followed by a verb such as the word “wait” or some other verb.
A split infinitive is when something else is inserted between “to” and the verb.
Now is there really anything wrong with splitting and infinitive?
Not really…well you would not want to do it in your English class if you want a good grade.
In poetry the only rules are the rules of the poem you are writing and even then the rules are broken more often than not.
The Sonnet for example…there are numerous variations of the sonnet…why? Because someone broke the rules of how a sonnet is written.
In the 1907 edition of The King's English, the Fowler brothers wrote:
"The 'split' infinitive has taken such hold upon the consciences of journalists that, instead of warning the novice against splitting his infinitives, we must warn him against the curious superstition that the splitting or not splitting makes the difference between a good and a bad writer."
You asked about counting syllables with words such as “doing” and “trying”…well in my opinion the simple answer is if the word has two syllables then you count two syllables. But is this what you were really asking…or were you referring to the stresses of a word? The answer to that can be a little ambiguous because stress has to do with how a word is spoken and different people especially those of different cultural backgrounds speak differently. Even people that speak the same language can accentuate words differently. There are even languages where there is no stress at all. But to answer this question I will say this…when a word or a syllable within a word is spoken louder or more pronounced then that is the syllable that has stress.
Your poem seems to be missing a line and it looks like a couple of stresses may be out of place…so we will call it a Pale Sonnet (hehe). But you are doing fine…just keep writing them and if you are having problems working out the stresses then don’t worry to much about stresses at the moment just get use to the other structure and keep writing them and working on the stresses as you continue to write and sooner or later it will all work out.
Hugs,
Eiregirl _________________ All poems and stories posted by Eiregirl are
Copyright 2005 - 2008 Aoibhegréine
These literary works are my property under copyright. If you wish to use my work for any purpose please ASK FIRST.
Tue Oct 24, 2006 4:52 am
Mairi bheag
Joined: 04 Mar 2005
Posts: 5094
Location: Scotland
*
keeps forgetting this is not her thread
* Sorry - I am so into sonnets I keep grabbing the ball and running with it! I'll butt out.
Mb
xx
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). And you managed to leave us with thirteen lines. But, y'know what, you're doing really well!
