| Author | Message | ||
| karen
Member Username: trig Post Number: 51 Registered: 09-2005 |
I have to at least attempt a form piece, either a sonnet, sestina or villanelle for a poetry folio. Ive decided on a sonnet. Ive read a number of them, looked up 'da rules' and tried to get a general feel for them. I have read some modern sonnets  lovely. what I know: usually about love can really let go with the language 14 lines usually three diff types italian shakespearian and i forget the other one different rhyming schemes as per type of sonnet now can i do the following and still be considered a sonnet vary the syllable count per line? can i write about love/hate for an atttribute ie candour can i use repetition what little things make a poem look like a sonnet but technically its not a sonnet | ||
| Denis M. Garrison
Advanced Member Username: denismgarrison Post Number: 653 Registered: 01-2005 |
Karen, Must be 14 lines to be a sonnet. Lines can be iambic pentameter, but may be varied. Sonnets now can be on any subject. A great deal of variation is now acceptable, but if the poem is not 14 lines, it is not a sonnet. Keeping to one of the traditional structures will bring an experimental sonnet closer to form. So, try for an octet followed by a sestet, or three quatrains followed by a couplet. Here is a link to a page at my site, a PDF file, re: sonnet construction. Good luck. http://www.dmgar.com/poetry/forms/sonnetstructuralconsiderations.pdf bw, Denis Personal website - dmgar.com - Haiku Unchained Blog - Haiku Harvest magazine - My Lulu.com bookstore | ||
| Joshua Johnston
New member Username: silverfire Post Number: 21 Registered: 06-2005 |
I have Lewis Turco's New Book of Forms, and in his definition of a sonnet, he mentions that it also usually has a turn near the end. A shifting of meaning or nuance. For example, the poem may be talking about love lost, then the poet may express a realization of the freedom gained in the last quatrain and couplet. The turn is probably my favorite aspect of sonnets. Good luck with your efforts. | ||
| karen
Member Username: trig Post Number: 57 Registered: 09-2005 |
thankyou for your replies Ive finished a draft and I love my idea, I love the melodrama in it, I love the use of the same metaphor throughout the sonnet I just feel very uncomfortable about the poem itself, the words, yet that was what I was trying to convey, to make the reader squirm... also I dont like how it flows but I dont want to change the jolting bits i suppose its another workshop piece... |
