The first eight lines of a sonnet are traditionally reserved for a morbid mood while the last six lines express joy, or at least some type of resolution to sorrows. I find sonnets to be an excellent form of catharsis, a way of purging yourself of your woes.
There are two types of sonnets (at least that I know of). The first kind is the Italian sonnet. This is what the rhyme scheme looks like this:
a
b
b
a
a
b
b
a
Those are the first eight lines of the sonnet. For the last six, you can follow one of three different rhyme schemes. But don't mix the schemes!
| Scheme 1:
| Scheme 2:
| Scheme 3:
|
| c
| c
| c
|
| d
| d
| d
|
| c
| e
| e
|
| d
| e
| c
|
| c
| d
| d
|
| d
| c
| e
|
Here is an example of an Italian sonnet:
When night has fell I'm sure that love has failed
And watching others don in white does sting
To see the hands that bear the golden rings
To gaze at ones who live in fairy tales
It feels as if my heart has been impaled
To think of happiness that love could bring
And be a queen and fin'lly find my king
But loneliness has kept me locked in jail
But now I see the light through prison bars
And see the night has cleared for rising dawn
A friendly hand extends to give me aid
A hope returns that I once thought was gone
The one to bring the hope was never far
Friends' love can reign and let depression fade
|
| ~ Kellyanne Lynch, 7/5/98 |
Another type of sonnet is the Shakespearean sonnet. I have not written one of these yet, but you may want to try it out. The rhyme scheme looks like this:
a
b
a
b
c
d
c
d
e
f
e
f
g
g
If you have read Shakespeare before, you may realise that he ends important soliliques and every scene with a couplet, two lines in iambic pentametre that rhyme. The last line of a Shakespearean sonnet is a couplet.
So what are you waiting for? Try your hand at sonnet writing!
Iambic Pentametre: a set of five unstressed and stressed syllables. In total, there are ten syllables in the line. The first syllable is unstressed, the second stressed, the third unstressed, the fourth stressed, etc.
example: (from the first line of my sonnet)
- / ' / - / ' / - / ' / - / ' / - / '
When night has fell I'm sure that love has failed
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