Poetry Prompt 9 – Sonnet
Let's Write an English-style Sonnet!
There are fundamentally two types of Sonnets: English and Italian. The English Sonnet has about the easiest definition of any poetic form. It's 3 quatrains and a couplet; that's it. But, oh what magic can flow from that combination, for it's like Goethe said, "Mastery appears in limitation of form, and order alone can give us freedom."
The history of the Sonnet stretches back to roots in Medieval France, but later Italian poets made it well known throughout Europe. In the 16th century, English writers began to experiment with how the older form was constructed, and by Shakespeare's time, the new shape was perfected.
So, as easy as the form actually is, the freedom for the poet lies in using the quatrains to establish and then develop a theme. The couplet comes in at the end to verify, refute, celebrate, or destroy the message of the poem. It's all up to the sonneteer, and it all comes down to a 'pivot point.'
Think of it like listening to a piece of music. If the composition were all happy and breezy, the music might fail to connect with the listener. However, if the composer introduces a change in tempo, a slip into a minor key, then the happy-go-lucky original theme is suddenly placed in context, and the hearer knows there is depth to the composition.
With the Sonnet, this 'change of key' (the pivot point) usually happens with one of the quatrains.[1] Let's look at an example in summary form. Shakespeare's Sonnet 44 breaks down like this:
- 1st quatrain: If thoughts were flesh, nothing would keep us apart.
- 2nd quatrain: Then neither land nor sea would stop me from being with you.
(pivot point)
- 3rd quatrain: BUT, thought is thought and elements are elements.
- couplet: So I must pay tribute to my flesh as the earth, and my tears as the water; both keep us apart.
Or, here's the same type of breakdown for number 58:
- 1st quatrain: God forbid I tell you what to do.
(pivot point)
- 2nd quatrain: SO, let me suffer without blaming you for who's trying to kiss you.
- 3rd quatrain: I have faith in your character; you'll do no wrong by me.
- couplet: Waiting may be hell, but not as much hell as accusing you.
In Sonnet 55, he waited until the end for the break:
- 1st quatrain: You'll outlive history and monuments in my poetry.
- 2nd quatrain: Not war, nor rebellions, nor coup d'état shall burn your memory.
- 3rd quatrain: There will be room for you in the future despite all the death and hate in the world.
(pivot point)
- couplet: SO, until judgment day comes, you will live here, in lovers' eyes.
I hope you can come to see how much potential and flexibility the Sonnet offers; the possibilities seem endless for capturing emotions in a narrative style.
You have all the tools to write your own Sonnet: you've practiced with the quatrain (a 4-lined sentence of verse, rhymed a-b-a-b, and having 10 syllables per line), and the couplet (a 2-lined sentence of verse, rhymed a-a, and having 10 syllables per line), so feel empowered to try your own. Do not be intimidated by the useless notions that Sonnets must be difficult, or that they are antiques, for the form can easily accommodate any modern notion or vocabulary. It's just a structure, so start building on it, and have fun.
The prompt: write one English Sonnet about your first love. Remember, we are looking for the pivot point, so if the love ended sadly, contrast that with a moment of brightness; if it was joyous, contrast it with a moment of doubt that it might not last, etc., etc. You get the idea.
(As an aid, I have written a small piece on basic rhyming technique. It can be found here: https://www.gayauthors.org/forums/blog/513/entry-15424-rhyming-is-fundamental/ )
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[1] The shift can happen at the start of any of the quatrains, or be delayed until the couplet for maximum effect.