On Sonnets

So after many years in the dark, I was formally introduced to sonnets last week, and for the most part I'd say I appreciate this new acquaintance. (too corney? Sorry, but I love corney-ness. I'm actually the queen of corney.) Anyway, being that I didn't know anything at all about sonnets until the Mr. Matt Buchanan did some fine teaching and I read the handout from class, I feel like I learned a lot. And though my sonnet wasn't much of a success by any means, I still found it fun to write. Don't get me wrong, I found it slightly frustrating also, but overall the challenge of writing with limitations was kind of enjoyable for me. (yes, I'm aware that finding challenges "enjoyable" qualifies me as nerd status. I'm cool with it.) Though something tells me I shouldn't admit this, to make it easier, I actually numbered cells 10X14 on Excel, and labeled the rhyme scheme down the side, to write my sonnet. Now I'm super nerd status, right? Whatev, it helped me map the syllables out better.

Sure the concept of limiting, may seem like it's confining or discouraging creativity in some ways, but in my opinion, it also forces us to be even more creative than usual. It forces us to try different ways to accomplish something, and it forces us to work with what we've got. All of these things probably make us better writers in the long run. It's better to say more with less, right?? I'm reminded of Hemmingway. With a background in Journalism, he was trained to write within space/character limits and supposedly his short fiction was influenced by that. His stories often accomplish a great deal of description and characterization in only a few words. So, I'm pretty sure that striving to write like Hemmingway is a good thing. With only 14 lines, and 10 syllables per line, this is good practice.
Now word on the street is we're supposed to use concrete rather than abstract in our poetry. That said, I found that writing with sonnet limitations left me no choice. (Though I'm sure some abstract managed to find its way into my poem) For the most part, I felt like I used more concrete descriptions and words than usual in my sonnet because I had no time to drift in the world of intangible. And that has certainly got to be a good thing!

When it come to rhyming, my sonnet lacks. I thought the words rhymed, and when you read them separately they do, but for some reason when you read the sonnet itself they don't. I can't explain such a phenomenon, but I have more than enough proof. The thing that matters here is that rhyming was yet another limitation that forced me to be creative with my words. It was cool to see how something like rhyming affected my poem so much. Just be glad I'm not in the hip-hop business.

And as for stressing and un-stressing every other syllable... yeah, I couldn't handle that, but I did try. Shortly after, I gave up. But at least I've got a new appreciation for poets/sonnet writers that are successful with this part, which brings me to my conclusion. Appreciation. When I read sonnets I can now count lines, count syllables, check for stressing, check the rhyme scheme, and appreciate the work more thoroughly. Even if I don't get the meaning of the poem at all, I know the work and thought behind the form, and that's something to appreciate alone.

Overall, I think sonnet writing is good practice, if anything. And even if a sonnet is a total failure, it probably stirred up some cool phrases, ideas, or lines. As for my sad little sonnet, I think I will revise it without some of the limitations, and hopefully come out with a decent totally rad poem.


-Rachel Alberico