In this post I am going to discuss how to write a sonnet. My style of poetry only follows structure and rhyme scheme loosely. I think getting a sentiment across is more important than adhering strictly to a structure. As you will see by my example, I only have two quatrains in my sonnets as opposed to the traditional three. This is because I want to get my point across briefly, so once I feel I’ve communicated enough, I end my poem. This is only my style, and many successful poets adhere strictly to structure, so if you like to follow structure more strictly than I do, please by all means do so!
Example
The following is an example of a sonnet I’ve written from my poetry chapbook, Amethyst: Collected Poems. In Amethyst, I have a series of sonnets about emotional abuse and recovering from abuse. I chose sonnets for this series because sonnets are traditionally about love, and the most famous sonnets are Shakespeare’s love sonnets. I wanted to turn this tradition on its head. This poem is about grieving after a relationship ends and how grief pops up in many places, from the home you shared to
Monsters
My monsters don’t hide under the bed. I patrol because I don’t want to dream. I’m hiding my monsters from myself In that shoe box on the shelf unseen. But still, they crawl out to pollute my home, I find their bite marks on your favorite song, The bed we shared, and payments for that loan. They rest until our anniversary each autumn.
These monsters are not welcome here. I only need to get them clear.
Structure
There are a few rules to follow when writing a sonnet. The first rule is that it follows iambic pentameter, which you may remember from studying Shakespeare in school. Iambic pentameter means that each line has ten syllables, and that the syllables alternate emphasis. Following this rule, the fifth line of the poem would be read emphasising the capitalized parts as follows:
But STILL, they CRAWL out TO pulLUTE my HOME
As I mentioned before, I use structure in poetry as more of a guideline than a rule, so some lines in this poem only have nine syllables.
The second thing to consider is that sonnets generally consist of fourteen lines divided up into three quatrains and one couplet. My example above only has two quatrains. The rhyme scheme in a traditional Shakespearean sonnet looks like this:
A B A B
C D C D
E F E F
G G
In my sonnet, I simply removed the third quatrain from the rhyme scheme. Playing around with structure and making a form of poetry your own is one of the most interesting things about poetry. The important thing is to know the rules before you break them.
Do you enjoy following the rules or breaking them when you write poetry? Comment below and let me know!