HOME | DD
tanzende-fee — Sonnet 06
Published: 2008-01-29 01:26:57 +0000 UTC; Views: 129; Favourites: 0; Downloads: 1
Redirect to original
Description
Could I transcribe vast sonnets to my loveIn Shakespeare’s flow’ry style, Sidney’s or Spence,
Extol his dashing charm to skies above
Would be my simple task from this time hence.
Or should I, as Tchaikovsky’s mind was wont,
Compose sweet ari’s of grand melody,
His virtue and gentility I’d flaunt;
With ease I’d signify his chivalry.
Or if like Leonardo I could paint
The picture of his great acuity,
Then all in heav’n and earth I would acquaint
With intellectual ability.
Alas I can but scribble words for you
And wish my pen could write your merit true.
Related content
Comments: 3
I hope you'll continue to try different forms. If you can do a sonnet, a villanelle would be a logical next step, or perhaps an ode. But just managing to compose in any fixed scheme of meter and rhyme, without sounding strained or losing track of the message you want your poem to deliver, is an accomplishment.
It isn't the word choice that makes it Shakespearean, Petrarchan, or other style, but the rhyme scheme. I tend to favor the Petrarchan, but one's as valid as another.
'Shall' is still an essential helping verb in modern English, distinguished from 'will' by nuances of intention versus prediction. The other words you mention would have to be regarded as affectations, but to me, that's one of the marks of a poet, that you take delight in words and look for opportunities to use them. I slip some 'thee' and 'thou' and such into some of my sonnets.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Nicely done. The meter is flawless, the rhymes far more interesting than most young poets manage. I think you could have done more with the volta, which seems absent except for the closing couplet.
Yes, sonnets do lend themselves well to distant or unrequited love, but I think they also serve well when the match is a happy and mutual one, and long-term relationships make for much more nuanced emotions, hence much more interesting poetry.
Anyway, just wanted to say it's nice to see a proper sonnet around here; there don't seem to be that many folks who have a real grasp of the form. BTW, have you done any of the other styles besides Shakespearean?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks for the commentary and praise. As I mentioned, I don't seem to write sonnets much anymore, but there was a period (my freshman year of college, I think) when I was deeply immersed in such things. I think I had more time then... Or at least, I made more time then.
I haven't really done other styles besides Shakespearean, though I've tried one or two of Spencer. I have this "funny" little habit of using words long out of style in every day speech (and research papers)--words like "shall", "betwixt", "anon", "must needs", etc--and I suppose subconsciously it turns my thoughts to Shakespeare. He's not even one of my favorites, though I hold him in esteem.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0