On Sonnets
Okay, so you're thinking of writing a sonnet. You tried a limerick, and it sort of worked. And 14 lines is one less line than it would take to make three limericks. So how bad can it be?
Speakers are told never to begin with an apology. So I make no apologies for the fact that I'm a terrible sonneteer. But as they say, "those who can't, teach." So here's a brief introduction to the astonishing art of sonnets. We'll first cover the Elizabethan (Shakespearean) sonnet, then examine the Italian form.
Shakespeare was a prolific sonneteer. He embedded them in his plays, he wrote them for friends. He is generally regarded as being the greatest English-language sonnet writer of all time. So how did he do it? I have no idea. But I can tell you of the structure he used.
The Elizabethan Sonnet
A Shakespearean sonnet consists of fourteen lines grouped into four sections. The first three sections (called quatrains) have four lines each, while the fourth section (called a couplet) has two lines. The theme (subject) of the poem is generally developed in the three quatrains, then cleverly encapsulated or wittily demolished in the final couplet. The three quatrains will sometimes build one on another like a story; other times they will restate the same idea from three slightly different points of view. A great strategy is to introduce a subject in the first quatrain, complicate it in the second, make it even worse in the third, then cleverly resolve it in the final couplet. Any subject, however elevated or banal, is a legitimate target for a sonnet. And sonnets may be humorous or caustic as well as serious. But the "classic" Elizabethan sonnet often deals with some aspect of love.
So you've got a theme, and a rough idea of how you want to develop it through three sections of description and a final summary. The next step is to choose words that will work with the Shakespearean rhyming scheme. In a Shakespearean sonnet, the first and third lines of each four-line quatrain rhyme. The second and fourth lines likewise rhyme. And the two lines of the final couplet rhyme with each other. There is no need to carry the rhyming scheme from one quatrain to another, though you may do so if you wish. So the rhyming scheme of the 14-line sonnet is usually summarized as "ABAB CDCD EFEF GG". The two lines marked "A", for example, must rhyme. Same goes for the two lines marked "B", and so forth.
We're almost there. The final ingredient for a Shakespearean sonnet deals with the length of each line and the way the syllables in the words are stressed. Perhaps you've heard of "iambic pentameter". It's a couple of big words hiding a very simple concept. "Iambic pentameter" means there are 5 sets of double rhythm in each line. Imagine you're going to take ten steps. Start with your right foot and step lightly. Then stomp your left foot down. Repeat this pattern 5 times, and you have the rhythm of an iambic pentameter line. So it would go like this: ta TUM ta TUM ta TUM ta TUM ta TUM. A "classic" or "perfect" iambic pentameter line would have ten syllables, with the accent falling on the even-numbered syllables. Of course rules are made to be broken, and this is the one that always gets at least creatively stretched. The most important thing is to keep five major stress points, and keep your lines feeling musical. Shakespeare even makes great fun of poems that jolt you too hard when in Midsummer Night's Dream his clowns put on a play with some really awful, dreadfully pounding rhymes.
Let's look at the way the Master put together all the elements. Here is Shakespeare's Sonnet 18. I chose it in tribute to Steve, who used it to escape a couple of assignments in our high school English class. Mrs. Story never could resist a good Shakespearean sonnet artfully presented!
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven
shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest.
So long as men can breathe or eyes can
see,
So long lives this; and this gives life to thee.
Note the ten beats in each line, with the even-numbered beats stronger. Look at the rhyming scheme in each section. Notice how the subject is presented in the first quatrain. One half of the comparison (nature) is then presented in the second quatrain, and the other half (the beloved) presented in the third. And the final couplet illuminates the promise of "eternal summer" presented in the third quatrain by specifying the beloved will live forever in the words of the poet.
There are a few examples of Shakespearean sonnets contained in the works assembled here on Crystal Oak. They are:
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Love's Bane by Katy Argyle |
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A Thanksgiving Sonnet by Steve Argyle |
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A Thanksgiving Sonnet by Dale Neibaur |
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Mountain Biking at the Turn of the Season by Dale Neibaur |
The Italian Sonnet
All sonnets share the common element of 14 lines arranged in a predetermined rhyming pattern. But Italian sonnets contain only two sections. The first section is called an octave; it has 8 lines. The second section, containing the final 6 lines, is called a sestet. The rhyming scheme among the lines varies more than in an Elizabethan sonnet. Two favored rhyming schemes for the octave are "ABBAABBA" and "ABBACDDC". "ABABABAB" may also be used, or you may create some other rhyme pattern using two to four sounds. The sestet will have also have a rhyming pattern of its own: typical patterns include "XYZXYZ", "XYXYZZ", and "XXZYYZ". Again, any pattern of two or three sounds may be used.
In an Italian sonnet the octave is used to present the body of the theme or argument. The first line of the sestet (line 9 of the sonnet) is then used to "turn" the poem to a new direction, and the sestet answers the question or illuminates the issue raised by the octave. The final couplet of the sestet may be used to turn the poem again to an unexpected or insightful conclusion.
Italian sonnets are also usually written in iambic pentameter. Indeed, many poets, scholars and critics contend that without iambic pentameter a poem may not be called a sonnet. I tend to be a bit more liberal in my views on both the number of feet and the precision of rhyme required to make something a 'sonnet'. Particularly if you are a poet instead of a scholar, fixating on an exact definition may miss the point. Find a subject you care about, then find a way to speak your passion elegantly. Sonnets are a most contradictory space: limitless freedom of expression within very strict formal confines.
Below is one of my favorite Italian sonnets. It consists of fourteen lines arranged in the classic Italian rhyming pattern; the octave and sestet are clearly visible. This particular sonnet has only one beat per line, so many folks wouldn't call it a sonnet at all (see above). But I like it. Sorry I can't properly attribute it to its author; I memorized it years ago and can't remember who wrote it. And a 10-second effort on Google didn't turn it up.
I
through
blue
sky
fly
to
you.
Why?
Sweet
love,
feet
move
too
slow.
Congratulations! You're now graduates of the Crystal Oak school of sonnet technique. For further information on sonnets, you might consider checking http://www.sonnets.org/advice.htm. Or dust off your old collection of the bard's poetry. After all, he is still considered the best ever.
[Special thanks to Michelle, who inspired us to give sonnets another try, and who sent over the link to sonnets.org. She says she wants us to try sestinas for Christmas!]
