Tag Archives: Sonnet Writing

Early this afternoon…

Posted by David Emeron on

…I began feeling a bit under the weather.  And in a few minutes, I will settle down into my bed with my laptop and something fizzy to soothe my throat, and write the answer to Will Shakespeare’s sonnet II; which prompt, I have already posted.  I do like doing these; however, now I have two sequences that are essentially notes to myself.  I’m not sure how to characterise that.

Also: I, of late, have been thinking I should number all my sonnets.  I am not sure the numbering system I should use, however.  There are the short sequences and there should be some method for making them sequential whether or not I add to them later or not.  Still… that type of enumeration, in and of itself, might be confusing as well.  Perhaps I should just use plain sequential numbers and keep things in date order.  That, or I could use two different systems depending on what type of cataloguing I, or another reader, might like to do.

“Kirkpatrick” type numbers and perhaps “Shorto” (rather than “Longo“) numbers.  This is a reference to Domenico Scarlatti, whose sonatas have three different numbering systems, mostly rather confusing, with Kirkpatrick being the most used–and which puts Scarlatti’s sonatas in sequential order by date as well as can be done.

Regarding my sonnets, these ‘K’ numbers would be chronological simply as: K1, K2, K3, &c.

The ‘S’ numbers would be Chronological as S1, S2, S3, &c; except where sequences are involved, I would then, perhaps, note the place where sonnet number one of a sequence first appears (whether it is out of order or not) and then, for example:

If S2 marks the first of a sequence, it will be numbered S2.1, and the next in the sequence would be S2.2, S2.3, &c, (all the way up to S2.154 or more if necessary!)  These would not indicate very well how many sonnets in total there might be, but the ‘K’ numbers would be for that purpose.

I might even try ‘P’ numbers also, for “Petrucci,” or whatever type of pasta the third system for classifying Scarlatti’s sonatas is named; which might group all sonnets by subject, perhaps in a similar way as the ‘S’ numbers.  Very well… I looked it up, it is, in fact, “Pestelli.” Sounds delicious, perhaps tossed with seafood and Alfredo sauce.  This is making me hungry.  “Feed a cold,” do they say, after all.

This would make the mnemonic for these three systems fairly straight forward.  If ‘K’ numbers are simple enumerators, and ‘S’ numbers are sequence based, and ‘P’ numbers are subject related; then we might say “Count, Sequence, Passion,” which would help one remember which is which:  K for count (or Kount), ‘S’ for sequence, and ‘P’ for passion (hence subject).

I suppose I could also use the unique post id that wordpress provides.  However, this, I have found does not exist on every screen wherein one might want or need it.

I could, of course, leave such enumeration to posterity, but I find myself needing and wanting such numbers now, for a variety of reasons.

Sonnet: (template) (Haiku/terza-rima/tanka) Coming (perhaps) soon to a website near you

Posted by David Emeron on

This pattern occurred to me several days prior. I have experimented with sonnets containing word-wise or word count haiku in one form or another. And have made some notes regarding some that I might soon attempt.

I have never, on the other hand, written a sonnet in terza-rima which at that time a few days ago, also struck me as an ideal rhymescheme for embedded haiku. But even more recently, yesterday evening on my way home from running a few errands, it suddenly made some sense to me that if I concluded the sonnet with an embedded tanka, I would not need to include a 15th line or include an extra line representing a rather long title (in iambic pentameter.) In this way, I believe I might combine these two oriental forms with sonnet form seamlessly.

Furthermore, having considered the fusion of the two and/or three forms at some length, I have devised five differing rhymeschemes as shown in the diagram below:

 
line     words      Rhymescheme: 1  2  3  4  5
-----------------------------------------------
 1)        5                     A  A  A  A  A
 2)        7                     B  B  B  B  B
 3)        5                     A  A  A  C  A

 4)        5                     B  B  A  A  C
 5)        7                     C  A  B  C  B
 6)        5                     B  C  C  D  C

 7)        5                     C  A  C  B  D
 8)        7                     D  C  D  C  E
 9)        5                     C  D  C  D  D

10)        5                     D  C  C  B  F
11)        7                     E  D  D  D  E
12)        5                     D  E  E  E  F

13)      5 [7]                   E  D  F  E  G
14)      7 [x]                  [D] E [D] D [F]
15)      5 [7]                   E [D] F [E] G
------------------------------------------------
.

In all cases, I believe line 14 (the one with the ‘x’) would be omitted in favour of the tanka termination. This would give a 7 word concluding couplet rhyme to end each piece regardless of which of the five rhymeschemes I might use.

I therefore am getting a bit closer to writing something specifically for Kanzensakura–something I would very much like to do.

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Sonnet: Thieves

Posted by David Emeron on

Through turns and twists, an endless beat, we ran;
I’d spurn the mists, descend to meet with thee.
We’d turn a bend upon a stone, and we
Would earn an end, and on our own, began.

But for a while–and never knowing when–
Once more to smile, then time to go, it was.
Through turns, we twist, an endless beat, and us
Returned, we list, pretend, and meet again.

You’d wrest some rest from lies and flight, and stole
From me some paradise, not quite forlorn.
I took, from you, a measure of that sworn
A garden, too. You stole no treasure, whole;
But gave us shrift, though magical and brief.
Forgiveness gifts me gratitude, my thief!