If you attended a school in an English speaking country, you read plenty of Shakespearean Sonnets. I decided to start my study of the Sonnet with the Shakespearean Sonnet since it’s so familiar. However, there are other Sonnet forms, but that’s for another blog post.
First element of a sonnet – Iambic Pentameter. I covered that in a previous blog, but you can probably find better explanations elsewhere.
Second element of a sonnet – Couplets. I wrote a blog about couplets and said they were essential. Here’s a good case for that.
Third element of a Sonnet – rhyme scheme. Writing a Shakespearean Sonnet is simple if you look at the rhyme scheme and think in terms of couplets. You’ll write fourteen lines or seven couplets. The final couplet delivers the punch to your poem, so think about it as its own unit: ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG
Let your anger feed the hate,
and hear the roar of doom prevail.
Scream and froth, and be the bait.
Passions smash and doom the gale.
Yet be the river running deep
That bends and curves ever coursing
In silent depths of grace to creep
Forward moving gently forcing.
Be the beginning and the end.
Let the tides of change replace
In loving grace and heartfelt wend
Breathing life and in that fluid place
Blissful quiescent
Peace effervescent
Good one. And timely.