I before e except after c, avoid omitting serial commas, and never EVER let a participle dangle. Those who choose to write are perhaps too familiar with these specific rules. Some are tedious, some are almost impossible to remember, yet all help the author to create lucid writing so her point may be established. For poetry, the case is no different. There are various forms to choose from, versatile meters to pace the reader, and the ability to layer information to gradually make a point. Some forms can be generous in what they allow the author to do, and in William Wordsworth’s “Nuns Fret Not” the author admits that forms can be restricting in meter, rhyme, and length. That does not mean however that he’s immobile, Wordsworth is able to fine-tune the rules and by doing so, demonstrates his main statement: Limits don’t necessarily need to be viewed in a negative light; if used correctly, limits can be both challenging and provide comfort instead of misery. Wordsworth shows the possibility of finding freedom within his poem by choosing to write within the Italian sonnet’s rules. What makes an Italian sonnet unique is the division and pattern of its rhyme scheme. It is usually structured in an ABBA, ABBA, CDE, CDE pattern, and broken into two main parts, the octave (the first eight lines) and the sestet (the final six). The meter of “Nuns” can be labeled as iambic pentameter, yet along with the meter, the poem differs from the norm in two more ways. The first difference is in the rhyme scheme. In a typical Italian sonnet, the sestet follows a CDE, CDE pattern, in “Nuns” however, it follows the pattern CDD, CCD. It’s minute, but adds emphases to the 13th line, which contains the poem’s second anomaly. All the poem’s lines have an ... ... middle of paper ... ... share this somber mood, “for their needs must be”, to read this poem and see that it’s indeed possible to live within restrictions (line 12). The author’s been able to handle the sonnet’s rules, and on top of that he notes that it isn’t all that bad. The rules add guidance to what he’s able to communicate to the reader, as well as give his language an acuteness that only a sonnet can provide. Without this structure the poem wouldn’t be as adroit, and the solace he’s trying to offer the reader wouldn’t be possible. By concurring to the Italian sonnet’s rules and exploiting the room he was left to utilize, not only does Wordsworth create a poem that is both coherent and clever, he leaves the reader with a sense of communion, that he isn’t alone in the world. A brief moment of solace is sometimes all one asks for, and “Nuns Fret Not” has shown us how it’s obtained.
“The Roman Baths at Nimes,” a sonnet, has a unique modified structure which resembeles the main purpose of the poem. Originally, a sonnet was structured as “one strong opening statement of eight lines, followed by a resolution to the emotional or intellectual question of the first part of the poem” (Strand 56). The contemporary sonnet comes in two forms, the Petrarchan and the Shakespearian. Both have fourteen lines but they differ in their rhyme scheme. Cole combines the elements from the original and Shakespearean sonnets to form a unique structure for his poem. He uses a modified rhyme scheme of aabcbcdedefghh, which very closely resembles the contemporary form of the Shakespearean sonnet (because of the final couplet rhyme hh) but not exactly. He incorporates the features of the antique sonnet by presenting his internal struggle in the first ten lines of the poem and in the final sentence, resolving the conflict.
McKay’s poem, “Harlem Dancer” is a sonnet, as well as Rossetti’s poem, “In an Artist’s Studio”. Both McKay and Rossetti’s sonnets follow an identical structure, containing fourteen lines, and a rhyming couplet. “Harlem Dancer” and “In an Artist’s Studio” are both sonnets and contain rhyme schemes; however,
While perusing through the aggregate of the ballad, the storyteller gives the onlooker clear indications of misery by means of perplexity, unobtrusive triggers, affection, memories, and the perspective of a mother. The speaker affirms for us the affection she has for her dead youngsters and the frightful memories, which uncover themselves throughout the methodology of anguish. Perusing the sonnet likewise uncovers the truth this by all account not the only abortion the speaker is composing of, ended up being a real supporter to the lamenting in the ballad. The ballad is an extraordinary read for any novice or anybody encountered with verse. With a mixture of subjects all around the sonnet, one may find that there is more than simply despondency, which shows itself in the work.
The imposition of the British aggressor is even made apparent through the structure of the work, the two sonnet form stanzas not only highlight the inadequacy of the loveless union, but with their Shakespearean rhyme scheme also imply the cultural dominance of English tradition. The use of half rhymes, such as ‘pulse’ and ‘burst’ or ‘pain’ and ‘within’ leaves the stanzas feel...
For example, in “The Rain”, the entire poem has lines that are enjambed, “Is it / that never the ease, / even the hardness, / of rain falling”(8-11). The phrase or idea talked about in one line does not end at the end of a line, it continues on for several lines and sometimes several stanzas. In addition to the poem “The Rain”, enjambment can be seen in the poem “For Love”. Examples of enjambment can be found frequently throughout this poem, but specifically from lines 15, to 18. The poem reads, “I wouldn 't either, but / what would I not / do, what prevention, what...”. The subject talked about in these three lines is not thoroughly explained in the lines given, as the poem continues it discusses different subjects that are also spread out through several lines, with no one line being about one subject. The meaning of what Creeley is trying to describe can only be found by reading several lines of the poem because of the way he structured his poems. In the article "Love and Frangibility: An Appreciation of Robert Creeley", Heather Mchugh EXPLAINS, “ First of all, he 's often miscast as a rebel against poetic forms, foot soldier in the resistance against prosodic refinement... I believe that Robert Creeley 's abstemious formality nourishes a luxury of readings”. Mchugh SAYS that the line structure that Creeley uses is
In “Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey,” we find the purest expression of Wordsworth’s fascination with friendship.
The structure of Bright Star is unique in that it breaks free of the limitations of the sonnet form, a form that is notorious for its strict and constrained nature. The rhyme scheme falls very close to the Shakespearean rhyme scheme of ABABCDCDEFEFGG, in which the last two lines represent the final heroic couplet. However, the rhyme of the ninth nine (‘unchangeable’) is never continued, as the eleventh line (‘swell’), which the Shakespearean form dictates should rhyme with the ninth line, doesn’t rhyme fully. These create a sort of volta effect, emphasized by the strong determined word ‘No’, and followed by a caesura to create a pause, emphasizing the new change. This creates a lean towards the Petrarchan sonnet form, in which the volta lies at the beginning of the sestet, rather at the heroic couplet of the Shakespearean sonnet. This is made clearer as the first two quatrains deal with the subject of immortality by examining the star and how it watches down on Earth, while the final quatrain and couplet, or the sestet, which now has the rhyme scheme of EFGFHH, deal with how Keats instead wishes to be with his lover instead. The effect of the merged sonnet forms creates a free and lively mood which feels unconstrained and more natural. It also makes the sestet livelier, not only due to extra rhyme whic...
The Petrarchan or Italian sonnet was one of Hopkins’s favorite forms of poetry and one that he employed frequently in his writing. Hopkins enjoyed the fusion of form and content, and the structure of an Italian sonnet perfectly lends itself to such a synthesis. An Italian sonnet is divided into two parts, the octave and the sestet. The first eight lines have an ABBAABBA rhyme scheme and the sestet concludes with CDCDCD. The content of an Italian sonnet is very specifically and thematically organized as is the content of Hopkins’s “Carrion Comfort.” The octave is divided into two quatrains, which present and then develop, respectively, a problem or situation on which the poem focuses. The sestet relates the answer or solution to the problem. The transition between the two sections of the poem can be easily identified through dramatic punctuation, or a distinct change in tone. The octave in “Carrion Comfort” powerfully illustrates intense suffering and despair experienced by the speaker. Hopkins masterfully depicts the transformation from the utter despair caused by this suffering to hope and reconciliation with God as he makes a transition into the sestet. Throughout the poem, Hopkins uses various poetic elements, such as th...
A sonnet is a fixed patterned poem that expresses a single, complete thought or idea. Sonnet comes from the Italian word “sonetto”, which means “little song”. Poem, on the other hand, is English writing that has figurative language, and written in separate lines that usually have a repeated rhyme, but don’t all the time. The main and interesting thing is that these two poems or sonnets admire and compare the beauty of a specific woman, with tone, repetition, imagery, and sense of sound.
"Prose and Verse Criticism of Poetry." Representative Poetry On-line: Version 3.0. Ed. D. F. Theall. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2009. .
Primarily in Lines composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey the mortality of creativeness and imagination is expressed by Wordsworth. This is a poem about the beauty of an old cathedral called Tintern Abbey. He hasn’t been there in five years and he brought his sister along. Even though imagination isn’t immortal, there is a way to reclaim it, “That time is past, / and all its aching joys are ...
An element of poetry in William Wordsworth's poem, “It is a Beauteous Evening, Calm and Free” is Diction. His descriptive words such as, “beauteous” “calm”, “free”, “breathless”, “adoration”, “tranquility”, “thunder” and “solemn” are words that conjure up a powerful feeling in the readers mind.
Lackluster love is the subject postulated in both sonnets, Petrarch 90 and Shakespeare 130. This is a love that endures even after beauteous love has worn off, or in Petrarch, a love that never was. The Petrarchan sonnet utilizes fantasy to describe love. It depicts love that is exaggerated and unrealistic. Shakespeare’s sonnet, on the other hand, is very sarcastic but it is more realistic as compared to the Petrarch 90. Petrarchan sonnets, also called Italian sonnets were the first sonnets to be written, and they have remained the most common sonnets (Hollander 28). They were named after the Italian poet Petrarch. Its structure takes the form of two stanzas, the first one an octave, in that, it has eight lines, and the next stanza is a sestet, meaning that it has six lines. The rhyme scheme suits the Italian language, which has the feature of being rhyme rich, and it, can take the forms of abbaabba, cdcdcd, or cdecde. These sonnets present an answerable charge in the first stanza, and a turn in the sestet. The sestet is the counter argument of the octave.
The leading major contrast between the two poems is revealed in the difference in structure for their pieces. Petrarch's "Sonnet 292" is composed in the Italian 14-line poem structure comprising an eight-line octave. It also contains six-line sestet. The fundamental characteristics for the Petrarchan poem structure is the two-part structure. To attain this, the author divides the eight-line octave into two four-line stanzas and the sestet into two three-line stanzas. This structure takes into account improvement of two parts of the subject, expanding the point of view of the piece. While some rhyme plot remains after the interpretation of the lyrics from Italian, it does not provide a correct representation of the definitive complexity of Petrarch's work and message found in the original Italian form of the sonnet (McLaughlin). The...
Sir Thomas Wyatt is credited as one of the first poets to bring the sonnet form into English literature, a form in which the speaker’s sincerity for, most commonly, a distant mysterious woman whom he loves, is believed to be the focal point of the poetry. From the selection of works which Wyatt wrote we can see many point in which the focal point is seemingly the earnestness of his love for his muse as authenticated by what he states in the poem itself. However, there is a sense of underlying meaning throughout his works which the reader must tease out themselves to see that that in fact is the focal point of his poetry.