Pages

Monday, November 26, 2007

Monday Poetry Stretch - Sonnet (Italian Form)

Gulp. Yes, you read that right. Sonnet.

I did this really crazy thing last week. When Liz Garton Scanlon wrote to ask if I wanted to participate in writing a crown sonnet with a group of Poetry Friday bloggers, I said YES! I am thrilled (and more than a bit intimated) about joining these amazing writers for this project.
Now that I'm committed, I need to practice. So, this week's stretch takes the form of the sonnet. Since we will be using the Italian form for our crown sonnet, that's the form I propose we stretch with.

Here are the basic guidelines to follow.
  • A sonnet is composed of 14 lines written in iambic pentameter.
  • The Italian sonnet is divided into an octave (8 lines), followed by a sestet (6 lines).
  • The rhyme pattern for the octave is a-b-b-a, a-b-b-a. For the sestet the pattern can be c-d-e-c-d-e or c-d-c-c-d-c.
You can read more on sonnets in this great post by Kelly Fineman.

If you could see me now, you'd see a serious "deer in the headlights" look on my face. Are you with me? What kind of sonnet will you write? Give it a whirl and then leave me a comment about your poem. Later this week I'll post the results.

7 comments:

  1. Don't worry, Tricia. The form holds you up---it really does. I think I'm going to blog about my experience writing my first sonnet; it was incredibly fun. So, yeah, really...believe me, you'll love it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have been here a couple of times, and I'm always quite impressed. Not sure if you have heard or have any interest, but there is a poetry contest that has a top prize of $10,000 and other prizes. Just click my name for the site. Whatever you do, just keep writing...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, crazy shmazy...
    It's gonna be awesome!
    (Now we'll see who's crazy -- oops, I mean -- gutsy enough to take you up on the stretch :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. You'll do awesome! I cannot wait to read this crown sonnet!

    ReplyDelete
  5. OK, I gave it a try. God. That was scary. My poem's up at http://laurasalas.livejournal.com/21846.html. Thank you for prompting me to practice, though. I, too, have that deer in headlights look. I love forms but can't remember the last time I attempted a sonnet.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Here's mine - I've only written a few sonnets (mostly English form), but I'm getting a bit better at them.

    http://havingwrit.blogspot.com/2007/11/butterfly-patience.html

    or click
    Butterfly Patience

    ReplyDelete
  7. I Lordy do I need the practice on this one! I'll be working on it but don't think I'll post one this week.

    ReplyDelete