A sonnet.

[RIvaL]

A sonnet is usually a short romantic piece with a rigidly defined rhyme structure, yes? When I was assigned to write one a few years back I decided that I wanted to write something... different. I wanted to keep the rhyme structure but write something as far from romantic as I possibly could. I wanted to write something dark, gritty and original which would stand out against and contrast all the other pieces being submitted. The result was this. The first and only sonnet I have ever written.

 

 

Welcome to my world of shadows

suffering the eternal night

this life in the gallows

suits me right

 

Welcome to my world of darkness

I wander forever lost

I writhe in madness

my punishment is just

 

Welcome to my world of despair

I hear the damned voices

gasping, choking, "I need air!"

grinning, smirking, indulge my vices

 

Flames are bright, I'm burning

Cant see the light, I'm laughing.

[Gwaihir]

I don't think Sonnets have to have any particular necessary subject, but I like yours a lot .

[Archaneus]

Wow! A lot of really good poems today, but I guess that's to be expected, this is the pen. Lol. I like it a lot. Great job.

[Vlad]

I like this, perhaps because it appeals to my thoughts on life.

Just a quick note though: Sonnets are written in lines of ten syllables, with every other syllable stressed. Or I may be completely off...

[HopperWolf]

he's right actually, or at least so I was taught, that a sonnet is a love poem. though rhyme and metre aren't rigid there are certain generalisations.

 

RIval: I had the same thought as you I wanted to write the anti-sonnet. *g* I called it Tennos hehe. It's structurally based on a pretty famous sonnet.

 

 

How do you love me? Let me count the ways.

You love me in the sorrow, dispair and strife

Your soul can feel, when feeling in your sight,

For the comfort used and thrown away.

You love me to the limit of keeping hopes

Necessity, by hand and pitiful.

You love me partly, divided by all;

You love me barely, nothing below.

You love me with no passion, that I use

In my new griefs, and lose my childish needs.

You love me with a love that seems untrue;

An after-thought - when I give all of me;

You, the hope of all my life, and you choose

To doubt all that I lay for you to see.

[RIvaL]

Thank you all for the nice comments. If I remember well my highschool days then most sonnets are usually romantic in nature. I dont recall if there were also rules for the lines themselves, but if there were any then they werent taken into account during the grading of the assignment since I managed to get top marks.

 

Tennos eh? Such an interesting concept. I recognize the concept on which it is based but I cannot recall the name of the author right now. Care to enlighten me?

 

Once again, thanks for the nice comments. They are greatly appreciated.

[HopperWolf]

hehe, it's called Sonnets from the portugese XLIII by Elizabeth Barret Browning

 

it's a bit long winded eh? but a good sonnet hence my choice.

[Rune]

I already spoke with Rival about this via AIM. But I'll echo my comments here for public record.

 

I think the contrast is what really makes it interesting. A sonnet devoted to something other than love. Good job. *huggles*

[Alaeha]

Ok, here's my understanding as to the structure of a sonnet.

 

A sonnet is written with the rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, or three quatrains and a couplet. It's written in Iambic Pentameter. (Five two syllable "feet" per line, with stress on the second syllable of the foot. Or if you prefer you may think of it as a ten syllable line with stress on the second, fourth, sixth, eighth and tenth syllables)

 

As to the question of love as the subject... It doesn't have to be a love poem stating that you love another person. Shakespeare, Lord of the Sonnet and Master of Iambic Pentameter, used a sonnet at the beginning of his plays to summarize what the play would be about in much the same manner that people put little teasers on the back of a book or do trailers of a movie. In fact, for it to be a sonnet, it doesn't have to be romantic at all. My English Teacher has assigned that we write sonnets that are, in essence, letters from one character to another within the play Antigone. For those who've read that, it should go without saying that a letter from Antigone to Creon would be anything but romantic.

 

It is a good poem though. Certainly, the idea of writing the unsonnet is appealing.

[HopperWolf]

actually, sonnets are not necessarily written in iambic pentameter... neother strictly have to apply. I bow to you on the case of topic though. I will say that it is generally accepted that all three are usually the case, however. That is why those such as Shakespeare can so cleverly do the opposite. He took a basic sonnet and turned it round to suit his purpose. Defying the standard though npt straying so far as to make it unrecognisable as a sonnet.

 

The point being that a sonnet is not confined to many particular rules, but there are accepted generalisations. and when the poet strays from those it is usually to make a statement. As with mine and Rival's own examples. The idea was to emphasise the passion of the opposite. Using sarcasm in a pretty obvious way. Had I had the guts i might have even tried satire, but I rarely pull it off in poetry.

 

Still, the general guidelines for a sonnet are so truthful [right word?] that straying from them bares a very rec ognisable significance. Just as it did for Shakespeare.