Return of the Sonnet

Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!

What else can be said about a sonnet? Again, there are many, many different types of sonnets. I would like to discuss rhyme scheme a bit, but also break down a specific type of sonnet. A famous type of sonnet, the Shakespearean sonnet.

So we begin with the man. Billy Shakespeare. I also want us to begin with feelings. Sometimes, people check out when reading these crusty old sonnets or hop into analyze mode. It also helps to read this aloud. It helps make Elizabethan come alive.


"Sonnet XXIX"

When in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least,
Yet in these thoughts my self almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
(Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate,
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings,
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.


I hope we can actually relate to and feel inspired by the meaning of this poem. Now you should be able to analyze these based upon the metre. Iambic pentameter is classic for Shakespeare, so that can be expected.

One of the things that differs strongly between the different types of sonnet is their rhyme scheme. Elizabethan sonnets normally fall strongly into this pattern,

abab
cdcd
efef
gg

So the poem is split into four quatrains and a rhyming couplet at the end. Let us break it down for this poem.

eyes - a
state - b
cries - a
fate - b

hope - c
possessed - d
scope - c
least - e

despising - f
state - g
arising - f
gate - g

brings - h
kings - h

So he broke it! Why did he do it? Could Shakespeare not come up with something that rhymes with possessed? Probably not. My first inkling is that he must be trying to draw our attention to this.

Since this line breaks the rhyme scheme, Shakespeare would say that it is the least of lines. This is meta. He wants the line about being the least to be the least line his poem. He is not employing the rhyme scheme, he is also playing with the rhyme scheme.

Rhyme schemes can be tools to create meaning, just like the rhythm of the metre can create meaning, or the shape of the poem with quatrains or sestets can create meaning.

That is the conclusion of the sonnet. There is still lots more to talk about. People have dedicated their lives to sonnets. I just wanted to briefly equip you to discuss them more in depth.

Have a great weekend and keep on, keeping on.