After a comment I made on plucky's blog, I felt it necessary to expound on my geekiness and perhap elaborate on the different types of form poetry. In a way, it is also a challenge for me to try each of these again, since it's been a while since I've written a poem in form.
Tonight's lesson will cover the Petrarchan sonnet, also known as the Italian sonnet. This is the first of three different types of sonnets. All sonnets are fourteen lines. In a Petrarchan sonnet, the lines are divided into an octet (or eight line stanza) and a sestet (or six line stanza) with a rhyme pattern of a-b-b-a-a-b-b-a then c-d-e-c-d-e. Traditionally, all sonnets are written in iambic pentameter, or 10 syllable lines broken down into five pairs of stressed/unstressed syllables. However, contemporary sonnets stray from the iambic pentameter, and also tend not to be as strict about the number of syllables per line. Below is my quickly written example of/attempt at a Petrarchan sonnet. It's a bit rough, but the basics are there...
Forgetting You
I have been released from the burden of
your half-hearted attempts to keep me near.
My heart no longer trembles with the fear
that I will never find my one true love--
for now I know My Only lives above
and He alone knows what my soul holds dear,
because he's the One who can always hear
my prayers. He'll push me on (or sometimes shove!)
He knows me better than you ever could
and shows me more love in a single hour
than you could give if you spent all your days
pouring out your life to someone who would
do the same for you. And He gives me power
to move on, and when I break down, He prays.
5 comments:
Wow! I haven't heard any of the poetry rules since I was in high school. Now I know that the condiments poem I wrote was totally violating every rule of good poetry-writing (unlike yours). :)
that was a very good sonnet. is that right, it's a sonnet right?? if not i don't make a very good student of poetry.
i thought it was creative, too, gc.
Georgia, your condiment poem was great. I really liked it... Nobody said that every poem had to be a sonnet! :)
When I write poetry I tend to make up my own rules, so be gentle with me, you poetry stud you.
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