The Course:

This first round will be
the gradual evolution of one piece only.
I believe I shall show

the same or similar examples
But each one differing in subject matter
In the next short series.

I had originally written the above as the introduction to the first sonnet in the first series, both of which are mentioned above; however my sweetheart has written such a lovely piece–or, more accurately, I took down verbatim the naturally poetic words she quietly uttered when nearly asleep.  And for some reason, although I confess I had written it first–that is, before her lovely words I posted–here we have another moment of synchronicity wherein what is the first offering in the series is an answer of sorts.   I had originally intended to use a much more tame subject; however I tend toward perversity whether I intend it or not; and as usual, I have gone the other way.  In any case, I shall leave my sweetheart’s wonderful words where they are, as I have found that moving things about can have disastrous results for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that wordpress.com’s so called permalinks  are…  well…  not permanent.

In any case the “course material,” if such it can truly be called, is here:

I do not have…

…writer’s block, nor stage fright, for that matter.  I am not quite sure why that is, but still, sometimes it is difficult to bring myself to keep to my schedule.   Particularly now.  I know I could, for example use one of my developed techniques to write several sonnets in the next hour or two; but I can already tell, I am not going to.  I think tomorrow, I will do so.

Lately, I think I have have written a series of more serious and more heartfelt sonnets, and these do not necessarily need to be the norm.   When I started this project, I made a joke about not writing sonnets about trivial matters, still, there is something between writing about one’s sunburn during one’s vacation (in Majorca, I have always maintained) and writing a nice-sounding sonnet about a less trivial but still not a soul deafeningly deep matter.   I thought nothing of doing this at first, as I mentioned.  Still, I think I have been having what a dear friend of mine would call “a case of the blues.”  And I am disinclined to write about this case for the reason above.

Sometimes one gets to a point where one does not wish to delve.  I am after all, more–much more–a musician than a writer of any kind.  And even though music is more difficult than writing–as is practically every field of human endeavour–in the grand scheme of things, music comes rather more easy to me than writing.  So to compose a sonnet that sounds nice the subject of which is rather vague or even cryptic, is not a difficult thing to accomplish.  Still I do feel much better now that I “verbalise” this fact.

I can write, perhaps because of whatever musical, or one might say: “sound related senses,” I may posses, something rather quickly.  Some of these sonnets have ended up being quite nice to my ears; and, as often happens in such a case, capriciousness gives way to depth as one writes, arranges, and rearranges words in such an endeavour.  Sometimes of course the result may…  sound better than it means, or sound more clearly than its meaning is clear.  Still, more often than not, perhaps, these are nearly indistinguishable from those into which I invest quite a lot of thought and emotion and research of one kind or another.

Quite often, a very deeply held feeling can also roll off the pen, even when one is using a particularly difficult form.  Although my general “policy,” as it were, has always been to let the text dictate the best form to use.  I have very many to chose from, in sonnet writing.  When one realises there are:

  1. Shakespearean (abab,cdcd,efef,gg)
  2. Reverse Shakespearean (aa, bcbc, dede, fgfg)
  3. Interlocking Shakespearean (abab, cdcd, dede, fg — fg abab, cdcd, efef)
  4. Italian (1221, 1221, 6*{AB} | {ABC} (six final lines of two or three ephemerals which can vary in almost any combination))
  5. Reverse Italian: 1221, 2112, AA 4* {BA} | {BC} (two or three rhymes but beginning with a couplet.
  6. Spenserian (a1a1, 1212, 2323, bb)
  7. Reverse Spenserian (2121, 3232, 4343, [14][14])   one of my favourites.
  8. Emeronian (a1a2, b1b2, c1c2, [d1][d2])
  9. Reverse Emeronian (1a2a, 1b2b, 1c2c, [1d][2d])   another favourite.
  10. Sequential (1234, 1234, 1234, [12][34]) another invention
  11. unnamed (aa1a, bb1b, cc1c, [1d][1d])
  12. Canopian ([a-a]c[b-b]c, [d-d]f[e-e]f, [g-g]1[h-h]1, [j-j]1) extrapolation from “Roddenberry’s Couplet.”
  13. Unlucky ( ????????????? )

It is easy to conceive of the appropriate form to use given the idea one wishes to express.  So I must now pledge to continue in this way tomorrow wherein It may be easier to accomplish after some rest. : )

On the 17th…

…is sonnet IV of the Shakespeare reflected variety.  As usual, it is a reverse Spenserian.  Internal rhymes are all couplets (also as per usual) however this time, I used all of Shakespeare’s rhyming words for these.  I use these in the order in which they appear, excepting that they are rearranged to couplet form.  Mechanically this worked better than expected; however I feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end, as no doubt, Lucas is “gunning” for this one.

Sonnets with embedded haiku and tanka…

…are more involved to write than most. Even in étude form wherein the subject matter is secondary.

First, there is form and reverse form to consider.
Next, there is the word count wherein lines and sentences need rephrasing.

This has been an odd week, but I feel I can continue to work on them now.   And then, perhaps, write a few more such sonnets without the use of the formulaic method of the Études series.

Sonnets in Lyrical couplets–the gateway drug… Possibly?

Having recently discovered a sonnet in lyrical couplets by Kipling, [“When Fear Came,” I believe it is titled, in the 2nd “Jungle Book”] and having written one myself, albeit as a character rather than as myself, I was put in mind of the above possibility.  As such I would like to write a few more couplet sonnets.  But also….

I feel perhaps, I might write a series of sonnet like forms ranging from completely freeverse to completely structured.  I feel that in such a way one might bring someone along a bit toward realising that sonnets are not so very hard to understand.

Of course, even if they were, one may still have the experience of hearing one read aloud; for the sound itself, is quite beautiful even without full comprehension.  Still, sonnet form is relatively simple; and even if classical topical structure is maintained (e.g. a sonnet reading essentially:  “Consider this…  But wait, what about this?” this turn or ‘volta’ most often occurring at the ninth line but often delayed till the very last; and sometimes, though rarely, earlier than that) quite easy to understand.

I feel this sequence I describe in the second paragraph is a bit of “cheating” perhaps, because the first few examples would be quite easy to write; however, I have been wondering in what way I might reward myself for having passed my sixth month mark, and perhaps this might be fitting.   I cannot, for example, think of any further paid services at this time in which I would desire to engage; therefore, I am reduced to content related rewards, I fear!

Reverse Petrarchan/Reverse Italian Sonnets:

In the sequence Regarding the Male form, You will see an atypical rhymescheme in Sonnet #3, this is what may be termed a “Reverse Italian,” or “Reverse Petrarchan,” if you prefer the more formal name.

Also in this sequence, the piece directly preceding this one is a more direct companion.  Sonnet #2  in the sequence is a conventional Italian or Petrarchan.

I enjoy reversing forms in order that I might see how they work, sound, feel, etc.  A Petrarchan is difficult to reverse, because in the first section you have

ABBA, ABBA,

which when reversed gives one BAAB, BAAB, which is identical in sound.  So I can see the best possibility here might be to reverse one quatrain which gives:

ABBA, BAAB, which does have a unique sound.

Also the second section of a Petrarchan–the final six lines–are never set to one form so they may be

CDECDE, or CDCDCD, or CDECED, or even occasionally, CDCDEE,

which is something of a rarely; but even Petrarch did it that way once.  You will see any number of possibilities in the final six lines.  Except you will never (that I know of) see something like:

CCDEDE, which a reverse of CDCDEE,

So that seems a logical target for a Reverse Petrarchan.

All this together gives

ABBA BAAB CCDEDE,

One could perhaps try CCDEED, or possibly a third use of C, but the couplet really must, I think, be in lines 9 and 10.