Why the Sonnet?

[twelveoone]

I realize asking this may strike some as asking why do airplanes have two wings. But, does anyone wonder why of this form, the why of that? What were the reasons for its invention?
As examples, in an oral tradition rhyming couplets serve as a memory device, and Dante developed the Terza rima for his The Divine Comedy because it serves its purpose so well, rhyme sounds natural in Italian, interlocking tercets serve to move the reader along and the number three is significate to the work.
I suspect the damnable American Haiku may have become popular because of the Beat's penchant for reefer (Wow, heavy, man!) and it is interesting to note that when the Japanese imported kanji, they did not import the Chinese forms, but instead developed the haiku. Different language.

Why the Sonnet ? Do any of you think about it's structure and it's purpose? Does anyone wonder about it's reason, why it was developed? It has to be more than a Holy Grail of craftwork, a sideshow of Neoformalism, why did it disappear and then reappear?

Do I wonder about these things in a vacuum ?

 

[Tarakin]

The sonnet has seen some twists over time, but mostly it is 4 - 4 - 3 - 3. In the quartets (4-liners) the outer world is described, in the terzets (hope I get the words right, I mean the 3-liners) the inner feelings of the lyrical self are mentioned.
The rhyming corresponds with this, the enclosing rhyme (?) a - b - b - a is for nearness when positive (like love), narrowness when negative (like in descriptions of cities during the industrial revolution).
The theory goes on and on, but I got some problems with the termini technici since I only know them in german.
Hope that helped.

 

[Picodiribibi]

Adding to what Tarakin just said, iambs are very common in spoken English. The sonnet, written in iambic pentameter, sounds more "natural" to an English-speaker's ear.
Sonnets are also easier to write in English than other forms--notably, forms developed for Romance languages. In Italian, for example, more common words rhyme, giving a poet writing in that language a wider range of metrical options than one writing in English.

 

[twelveoone]

Sonnets are written in other languages, so we can toss "iambic pentameter"; interesting and thoughtful answers. Anyone ever think of when and why it became popular, we'll forget about it coming back as a reaction from time to time. This was a revolutionary form at one time. A response or a utilzation of a technology?

 

[Mark2]

sonnet

I like them because they are technical to write.
They are big enough to say things, yet small enough to require they be concise.
And lastly, if they were good enough for Shakespeare, they are OK for me to.

Write one and see the challenge.

Octet, sextet, iambic pentameter, rhyme scheme all together in one piece of work.

More fun than those number things, and crosswords.

 

[champagne1982]

I tend to use the form of 4, 4, 4, 2... 14 lines with the thematic purpose of each strophe determining the content. If a poet is careful and uses enjambment, the end rhymes become unobtrusive adding an elegance to the form. Many modern sonnets don't even rhyme so scheme is pointless to emphasize. I think that as long as the rhythm and sound of the words manage to convey the story, that's all that's important.

I don't remain true to the iambic pentameter rule, but I do favour some sort of iambic pattern as long as it's da duh da duh da duh da duh .. da duhs on either end. As long as it sounds good to my ear, I think Shakespeare would be happy.

So, the question is now, Why NOT the sonnet?

 

[Liar]

Asking "why the sonnet", feels to me like asking "why the unicycle"?

Just because.

 

[twelveoone]

Asking "why the sonnet", feels to me like asking "why the unicycle"?

Just because.

why not the bicycle, tricycle
because I asked... it wasn't handed down by god

If a poet is careful and uses enjambment, the end rhymes become unobtrusive adding an elegance to the form. Many modern sonnets don't even rhyme so scheme is pointless to emphasize. I think that as long as the rhythm and sound of the words manage to convey the story, that's all that's important.

I don't remain true to the iambic pentameter rule, but I do favour some sort of iambic pattern as long as it's da duh da duh da duh da duh .. da duhs on either end. As long as it sounds good to my ear, I think Shakespeare would be happy.

So, the question is now, Why NOT the sonnet?

Did anyone ever consider the fact that it looks so good on the printed page , these things like enjambment can't exist in an oral tradition. So maybe the sonnet was developed for a visual reason to utilise a new and spreading technology, the printing press.

Rhyme (also known as a memory device) was probably a residual effect from the heroic couplets of the oral traditon. Let's not get too revolutionary, else how would they know it's poetry?

Just wondering. And wondering may be the best tool you can use for the development of your writing. How sad to ever find the answer.

 

[Angeline]

It's an easy form to write. It doesn't have the repetitions and twists of the vilanelle or sestina (39 lines is a killer compared to 14). Iambic pentameter is an easy rhythm (at least for me) to compose in, easy to remember. And people become so familiar with the form (particularly the Elizabethan sonnet) that they can adapt it to the interests of current poetry (current whenever).

And it's easy to work with thematically. Identify an issue, expound on it, summarize it. All in 14 lines with a simple rhyme scheme.

I think many of us like to write in forms and the sonnet is simply the most accessible one. Haiku is short but deceptive. I think it's much more difficult to write good haiku than a decent sonnet.

 

[WhiteWave48]

The logical argument

*****

 

[Angeline]

The sonnet is also a neat mental challenge for the writer because a traditional version usually contains some kind of argument linked by words like 'if', 'but', 'yet', 'then'. It often sets a premise at the beginning, develops the argument with some examples and draws a conclusion at the end. Even these days of total freedom it's still rewarding to write within these limits.

Yes! That's exactly why I enjoy writing them. It's like working through a complicated puzzle. A good mental exercise.

 

[WhiteWave48]

Balance

*****

 

[twelveoone]

The sonnet is also a neat mental challenge for the writer because a traditional version usually contains some kind of argument linked by words like 'if', 'but', 'yet', 'then'. It often sets a premise at the beginning, develops the argument with some examples and draws a conclusion at the end. Even these days of total freedom it's still rewarding to write within these limits.

Yes, agreed. But some of the best have "gone outside the box', pardon the well chosen cliche here. And a question? why not 9 to 5, instead of 8 to 6. Play hell with tradition. The sonnet did.

 

[WhiteWave48]

The box

*****

 

[Angeline]

Yes, agreed. But some of the best have "gone outside the box', pardon the well chosen cliche here. And a question? why not 9 to 5, instead of 8 to 6. Play hell with tradition. The sonnet did.

I think that is precisely why the form has held its own through the centuries. It can be faithfully adhered to or it can be adapted and still is recognizable as a sonnet. It's a very malleable form.

 

[Tarakin]

Yes, agreed. But some of the best have "gone outside the box', pardon the well chosen cliche here. And a question? why not 9 to 5, instead of 8 to 6. Play hell with tradition. The sonnet did.

With 9 you would get difficulties rhyming, with 8 t's the classical set (aabb, abab, abba).

The 5 wouldn't rhyme also. Sometimes the six are without rhyme (expressionism had some of those to describe a lost case), but usually you have abccba, aabbcc, abcabc or something like that.

Like said above, it's a puzzle when done correctly!

 

[twelveoone]

With 9 you would get difficulties rhyming, with 8 t's the classical set (aabb, abab, abba).

The 5 wouldn't rhyme also. Sometimes the six are without rhyme (expressionism had some of those to describe a lost case), but usually you have abccba, aabbcc, abcabc or something like that.

Like said above, it's a puzzle when done correctly!

aba, bcb, cdc

dd
aba

But then, would it be a sonnet? Would it move too fast? These are all just questions. Is it a sonnet, if I write a 14 line block, shift from the ocetet, don't rhyme, etc.? Would look good centered on the paper. I could ask this about white space also.

Really, I think it was a revolutionary shift from an oral tradition to a written one.

Just questioning common assumptions. There is no "it just is". Well, Mr. Newton I see an apple on your head, why is that?

 

[bogusbrig]

Yes, agreed. But some of the best have "gone outside the box', pardon the well chosen cliche here. And a question? why not 9 to 5, instead of 8 to 6. Play hell with tradition. The sonnet did.

Being a visual artist first and foremost, I liken it to the need of some people to see craft, skill and hard work as being necessary to make a painting or sculpture worthwhile. It is the old work ethic, you need to apply yourself and suffer to create within accepted boundaries that can be objectively judged. However, such apparent skill is so full of tricks of the trade which is why so often such work is so boring once you have learnt the skill yourself. I remember learning stone carving at art college and then realizing it was true what my lecturer said, you could throw Rodin's stone pieces back into the quarry. That's the way I feel about most form poetry, good sonnets are good in spite of the form. Meanwhile lesser poets have a safety net of the form itself. Free form you are up their without a safety net and if you fail, you fail so disastruosly it is often embarrassing.

I like the idea that maybe the reason for popularity was its visual impression on the printed page. The printed word can make a remarkable impression without even reading it.

 

[Tzara]

With 9 you would get difficulties rhyming, with 8 t's the classical set (aabb, abab, abba).

The 5 wouldn't rhyme also. Sometimes the six are without rhyme (expressionism had some of those to describe a lost case), but usually you have abccba, aabbcc, abcabc or something like that.

Like said above, it's a puzzle when done correctly!

You could always vary it to something like abbaaabba cdcdc. Still fourteen lines, still formal rhyme. Still a break where the volta would presumably occur. Does that make it a sonnet? Dunno.

The best definition I've seen of what a sonnet is in the contemporary sense is something like a poem of 14 lines (approximately) in which a problem or situation is presented and resolved. I know. Not very satisfying.

They are kind of fun to write, though. It gives one a different kind of problem to solve.

 

[Tzara]

aba, bcb, cdc

dd
aba

But then, would it be a sonnet? Would it move too fast? These are all just questions. Is it a sonnet, if I write a 14 line block, shift from the ocetet, don't rhyme, etc.? Would look good centered on the paper. I could ask this about white space also.

Really, I think it was a revolutionary shift from an oral tradition to a written one.

Just questioning common assumptions. There is no "it just is". Well, Mr. Newton I see an apple on your head, why is that?

I was playing around with the Onegin stanza form recently. It is well-defined to be 14 lines, iambic tetrameter (not pentameter), with a very specific rhyme pattern (which also includes distinctions between masculine and feminine rhymes).

Since it was developed by Pushkin, it was obviously originally a Russian form, but it has been adapted to English, both for translations of Eugene Onegin and for newer works (notably, Vikram Seth's The Golden Gate).

Is it a sonnet form?

Does it matter?

 

[twelveoone]

I was playing around with the Onegin stanza form recently. It is well-defined to be 14 lines, iambic tetrameter (not pentameter), with a very specific rhyme pattern (which also includes distinctions between masculine and feminine rhymes).

Since it was developed by Pushkin, it was obviously originally a Russian form, but it has been adapted to English, both for translations of Eugene Onegin and for newer works (notably, Vikram Seth's The Golden Gate).

Is it a sonnet form?

Does it matter?

When Pushkin comes to shovekin

 

[GuiltyPleasure]

When Pushkin comes to shovekin

Onegin, offegin.


sorry

 

[twelveoone]

Onegin, offegin.


sorry

Sorry? Bested me.

 

[FifthFlower]

Did anyone ever consider the fact that it looks so good on the printed page , these things like enjambment can't exist in an oral tradition.

The word "sonnet" could be used for any short poem that would fit on one page. Check out what Gerald Stern thinks a sonnet is in his American Sonnets. Maybe a definition would be--a one page poem that the author calls a sonnet is a sonnet.

Just a small disagreement about "enjambment", which you are welcome to dismiss. I claim no authority.

As I view it, enjambment exists only if there are "lines". A "line" exists only if there is a meter that is repeated. Free verse, if it actually is free verse and not metrical poetry hiding behind arbitrary line breaks, cannot enjamb no matter how many visual line breaks the poet uses. To enjamb means to not end-stop the metrical line. It is clearly heard and should be rarely used to give it maximum power.

Here's an example. There's an enjambment between lines 4 and 5. Except for line 1, the lines are more or less end-stopped. That is, one would naturally make a pause at the end of them.

In spring, the birdies in my tree
Come dropping do-do down on me.
My truck, parked on the frozen lake,
Has sunk below, and I can't take
The energy that bursts in spring.
My wife returned her wedding ring.
She tells me, "Life means moving on,"
And I am glad that she is gone.
She's giving Sam, that creep, some head
Then spreading in his dirty bed.
My jumping dog would like to run.
I grab some ammo for my gun.

(Just in case it is not obvious, when I use "I" in a poem, it is almost never me. Besides, I would never drive my truck on a frozen lake.)

 

[WhiteWave48]

*****