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Message: <blockquote data-quote="barsoomcore" data-source="post: 2422141" data-attributes="member: 812">Just so folks know:A sonnet is composed of fourteen lines of iambic pentameter -- that is five feet of (weak - STRONG) syllabic type (one weak syllable followed by one strong, so ten syllables per line). A sonnet is a description of a subject (rather than a tale or a philosophical ponderation. It is not strictly speaking a romantic form -- sonnets are often about romantic interests, but not exclusively.More importantly, sonnets are built around a conceit called a "turn" -- a dramatic shift in the point of view or the attitude of the sonnet towards its subject. Where the turn exists is what informs the structure of the two sonnet types.A Shakespearean sonnet (which I strongly recommend against, as nobody but Bill can write these) is four quatrains rhyming abab cdcd efef and a final couplet rhyming gg. The "turn" happens between the final quatrain and the couplet -- that's what makes Shakespearean sonnets so difficult. Tying to in two lines present an entirely new take on what you just spent twelve lines developing is just one demonstration of the towering genius that is Shakespeare.A Petrarchan sonnet is much easier. Petrarchan sonnets are formed of two quatrains rhyming abba abba and a sextet that can rhyme in any of a number of ways: xyzxyz is fine, as is xyxy zz or even xx yy zz (not as impressive an achievement). The turn happens between the second quatrain and the sextet.Most of the "sonnets" in this thread are no such thing -- they aren't in iambic pentameter (remember it's not just counting syllables, it's ordering stress among those syllables) and they lack the "turn" that really sets the sonnet apart as a form.That's not to say they aren't fine poems in their own right, but by and large they are not, strictly speaking (and when it comes poetry, I ALWAYS speak strictly) sonnets.</blockquote>

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