{"id":134383375,"date":"2023-07-11T22:42:56","date_gmt":"2023-07-11T22:42:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/the-sonnet\/"},"modified":"2024-08-26T09:58:10","modified_gmt":"2024-08-26T14:58:10","slug":"the-sonnet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/the-sonnet\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sonnet: a Deceptively Simple “Little Song”"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The Sonnet<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Today, I want to talk about sonnets. Whatever you prefer to read or to write, I think there\u2019s value in learning to write poetry using fixed forms. It\u2019s like hanging your hat and coat on a rack, rather than tossing them artfully across the sofa like a decorative throw. It\u2019s a discipline that requires you to think imaginatively within strict constraints.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cTo have something to say ; to say it under pretty strict limits of form and very strict ones of space ; to say it forcibly ; to say it beautifully ; these are the four great requirements of the poet in general ; but they are never set so clearly, so imperatively, so urgently before any variety of poet as before the sonneteer.\u201d [A History Of English Prosody Vol. 1 : Saintsbury George : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive<\/a>]<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I used to say that writing a grammatically correct, properly punctuated Tweet in exactly 280 characters was an excellent exercise in writing tight, chopping off every unnecessary character. Writing formal verse is similar, in that respect; every word must pack a punch and land it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The rules of the form are deceptively simple. Two major sonnet forms are the Shakespearean, or English, sonnet and the Petrarchan, or Italian, sonnet. These are the basis for all variations:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n