Definition: A type of formed poetry with 14 lines, a set rhyme scheme, and an optional meter.
Number of Lines: 14
Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
Meter (optional): each line consists of 10 syllables in iambic pentameter
Origins: Europe, Italian for “little song”
Best Known Author: William Shakespeare (1564-1616). He wrote 154 sonnets.
Note: There are other kinds of Sonnets such as, Petrarchen Sonnets, Occitan Sonnets, Spenserian Sonnet, Modern Sonnet, et cetera. They each vary just a bit (a slightly different rhyme scheme, different number of lines, or a different meter.)
*****Example*****
I'll Sing Your Drowning Song
By Aubrie Anne (2008)
1. Gone is the melody that made my heart sing (A)
2. Lost is the memory of the final notes (B)
3. I feel the emptiness in my every being (A)
4. It fe1l into the water, I hope it floats (B)
5. In the water swims my CD player (C)
6. Can the fish hear it die? (D)
7. Call the doctor, my mother, the mayor (C)
8. For I can do nothing but cry (D)
9. It‘s probably drowned, rested in a watery grave (E)
10. The fish have gathered there for long (F)
11. Goodbye my tune, I will be brave (E)
12. I will sing your drowning song (F)
13. Someday I’ll move on, you will see (G)
14. I heard about this thing called an MP3 (G)*****Questions*****
Have you ever written sonnets before?
Please share some with us if you have. If not, give it a go and then share it with us!
Did you find them difficult, like you had to force the words?
What kind of emotion to you feel your sonnets project?
Have you ever written another kind of sonnet besides Shakesperean?
Funny poem Aubrie! ;) Not sure I can enter todays sonnet challenge. Don't think I've written one, and doubt I have time to write one today. Thanks for your visit to my blog earlier. Glad you liked my rhyming poems. ;) X
ReplyDeleteLearned something today.
ReplyDeleteNewest follow on GFC, Follow back at http://www.closertolucy.blogspot.com/
We wish you a Merry Chrisrmas and Happy New Year 2011.
ReplyDeleteBest Wishes and Happiness.
Nan
http://theblogfrog.com/1233755
http://beonefineday.blogspot.com
I just wrote this - my first sonnet. Needs work me thinks but I had a go. ;) What do you think?
ReplyDeletehttp://wordsinsync.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-first-sonnet-for-day-two-of-aubries.html
Shah...I know you mentioned at first that you didn't have time, but I am so happy that you found some! I just shot over to look at your poem and was very pleased. The form was right (Yeah!), you had different kind of rhymes (Yeah!), and it read very well.
ReplyDeleteVivian and Nan...I always welcome new followers so welcome! Please join in on the discussion when you get the chance. Looking forward to seeing you around more. I will come and look at your own blogs later on today. :)
Why do poems have to be so complicated?
ReplyDeleteHow I see it is...once you know it, you know it. Does that make sense? It may seem complicated when reading it all and trying to digest the "criteria" but you do it once, it makes sense, and then it just gets easier.
ReplyDeleteThe greatest of lovers usually act as fools are wont to do, and the unrequited yet unswerving lover is doomed to always plays the greatest, most compelling fool of all. So, to write a proper sonnet, the poet must himself become a fool.
ReplyDelete"A Wanderer's Lament"
By Patrick Tocci (2010)
'Tis my doom to forever row.
But if I flew, I would swiftly soar
To be with you by yon lighthouses' glow.
Oh hear me, lover! I seethe and roar.
I break upon reaching yon fair shores,
Cursed to ne'er long there remain.
Oh! if my soul were a wave no more,
I would not swim here in vain.
But in vain is my one endeavor!
And for naught my heart's one desire.
For as the land does not flood forever
So soon must the waters retire.
And I ebb soon in wrathful tides,
See my bolts fall silent from above.
Clouds break and wind subsides,
As I lay still, sighing for my love.
Salt tears, will thou yet mine eyes shun
Before the clouds and I are one?
New follower from The Love of Blogs. I really enjoyed visiting your page. I plan to come back and read more. I love Shakespeare and always felt I was the odd one in high school. I love books. Everything about them. Especially old ones with that wonderful old leather smell. I read a lot when I am not busy with school.
ReplyDeleteI have written sonnets in the past. Mostly for classes. Never could get one to come out very good. I am no good with writing traditional style poetry.
Enjoy reading yours :)
Patrick...There certainly is a part of shakespeare and his history that has stuck with you. Your poem reminds me of all that with the old words and phrasing. It's really quite interesting. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteChrstal...Hello! Thanks for following and commenting. I never used to like Shakespeare, then I had to take Shakespeare as a class to get my English degree (mind a nearly failed) but I loved it (It's an odd feeling). Mostly, I didn't like the teacher and felt I was doing a lot of the interpreting and growing in the field on my own. There was no proof in my grade, but I knew i was getting it. I just couldn't translate it in an essay or the professor was psychotic. (For the record, I prefer to think the latter.) Anyway, I like Shakespeare now and am even taking another class (with a different professor) purely for the sake of proving the old professor completely and utterly WRONG!
If you get the chance, share some of your work with us. I think we always feel it's way worse than it actually is. :)
Do you have a blog as well. I'd be happy to check it out. Either way, I am looking forward to having you around. We can talk more about old books!
I've never written a sonnet, or much poetry at all, other than Zombie Haikus. ('Cause that's just how I roll LOL) I bow down to those who can tackle this type of stuff--you all do such a great job of it!
ReplyDeleteAngela @ The Bookshelf Muse
Angela...Thank you. Actually, I am planning on doing Haikus and Tankas very soon here, possibly even tomorrow. I would love to here your zombie Haikus! I LOVE zombies and I LOVE Haikus so it sounds like the perfect combination :)
ReplyDeleteGood lord! I meant "hear" and not "here."
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine on MyBoomerPlace.com writes only sonnets... she is very good at them... I have been writing as my heart and soul see fit... structure is not something I'm good at, but I am learning...
ReplyDeleteThank you for such interesting writes...
Sharonlee...I think sonnets are lovely, but when I write them myself, they just turn out funny. I have yet to pull off a serious sonnet.
ReplyDeleteI am happy to hear that you follow your heart and soul though. I too tend to lean towards freeverse, but every now and then rhymes just start to speak to me and I let them out.