Day 23 – How to Write a" Sonnet" for “30 Poems in 30 Days” for #NationalPoetryMonth

Today, April 23, 2017 is “Talk Like Shakespeare Day” so it seemed appropriate that we should try our hand at writing sonnets ~ right? OK, then ~ here are some things to consider:

There are 154 surviving sonnets by William Shakespeare. He probably wrote more than that. If you want to make your sonnet (or anything else you write or say TODAY) sound like Shakespeare, here are a couple of links to help you out: 

Talk Like Shakespeare 

Shakespeare’s Insult Generator ~ well, this is NOT for a sonnet - how romantic would insults be? THIS link is just to have fun today for "Talk Like Shakespeare Day." Cheerio!! 

DETAILS about SONNETS to consider ~

“Shakespearean” or “English” sonnets are 14 lines long and divided into three stanzas of four lines and one stanza of two lines. Shakespeare was well-known for his sonnets. There is also the “Italian Petrarchan” sonnet form which has two parts: a rhyming octave (abbaabba) and a rhyming sestet (cdcdcd). However, for now, let’s just work on the “Shakespearean” sonnet.

Please note that there IS a PARTICULAR RHYME SCHEME:

We will use this traditional rhyme scheme:

1) ABAB CDCD EFEF GG   

Sonnets are written in iambic pentameter, with five sets of unstressed syllables followed by stressed syllables in one line.

The English sonnet has four sections. Each of the first three sections has four lines following the rhyming pattern "ABAB CDCD EFEF." The last section has two lines that follow the "GG" rhyming pattern. 

Personally, I have never attempted writing a sonnet so I will be joining you today in trying to create one.

Here is a well-known sonnet of Shakespeare’s that you can use as a guide.

Happy rhyming!!

 

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (Sonnet 18)

By William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st.
     So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
     So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright for to them as soon as they post them. Thanks so much! 

Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or you FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO THIS BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.

 

Day 29 ~ “Rhyming Poems” with an ‘A-B-A-B rhyme scheme’ for “30 Poems in 30 Days” #NationalPoetryMonth

OK, second to last day ~ for those of you who LOVE rhyming poems ~ this is your lucky day!

There are NUMEROUS patterns to rhyming poems, the use of end rhymes where the last sound of the end word in one line of poetry rhyming with the last sound of the end word in another line of poetry.

Here’s a couple of FREE resources you can use to find rhyming words – just type in the word in the box, click and poof ~ a rhyming word appears:

Rhyming Dictionary

RhymeZone 

Today we are going to use the most common rhyming scheme:

a – b – a – b

This is where the words at the end of the first and third lines rhyme and the words at the end of the second and fourth line rhyme. 

You should also try to keep the meters of lines ‘a’ the same as each other and the meters of line ‘b’ the same as each other. This can be done by counting syllables. 

Here’s an example of a rhyming poem with an A-B-A-B scheme written by Lousia May Alcott (it’s in the Public Domain – so I can use it here). 

To One Who Teaches Me
    by Louisa May Alcott 
To one who teaches me               (A)
The sweetness and the beauty     (B)
Of doing faithfully                        (A)
And cheerfully my duty."             (B)     

And here’s on that I wrote ~ just for fun:

In this little 4 line example I made up, you can see the end words in the first and third lines rhyme and they both lines have 5 beats (5 syllables). The end words in the second and fourth lines rhyme and they both lines have 6 beats (6 syllables). 
 

I went to the store                    (A)
To buy a loaf of bread.              (B)
I found something more            (A)
“So typical,” I said.                   (B)

                     © Stephanie Abney 2011            (Seems silly to copyright such a simple little sample verse but there you have it) 

You can just do four lines or you can create a longer poem by making several stanzas of four lines each, always rhyming lines one and three as well as lines two and four.

Also, note that often times the very last stanza can vary, or not, but all previous stanzas should follow the pattern.

Just a heads up: for tomorrow, our last day – be thinking of some of your great family stories – we will base our last poem on family history.

If you need some ideas ~ TODAY IS ARBOR DAY - perhaps a rhyming poem about trees would be in order? Up to you!! Cheers!!

OK, off you go – rhyme away!!

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright for to them as soon as they post them. Thanks so much!

Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or you FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO THIS BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.

DAY THIRTEEN ~ “Rhyming Poems” with an ‘A-B-A-B rhyme scheme’ for “30 Poems in 30 Days” #NationalPoetryMonth

Rhyming schemes: the use of end rhymes – last sound of the end word in one line of poetry rhyming with the last sound of the end word in another line of poetry.

There are several rhyming schemes in poetry but we are going to start with the most common:

a – b – a – b

This is where the words at the end of the first and third lines rhyme and the words at the end of the second and fourth line rhyme.

Your poem can be as many lines as you wish as long as you continue with the rhyming pattern throughout.

Here’s a couple of resources you can use to find rhyming words – just type in the word in the box, click and poof ~ a rhyming word appears:

http://www.rhymer.com/

http://www.rhymezone.com/

You should also try to keep the meters of lines ‘a’ the same as each other and the meters of line ‘b’ the same as each other. This can be done by counting syllables. In the little 4 line example I made up, you can see the end words in the first and third lines rhyme and they both have 5 beats (5 syllables). The end words in the second and fourth lines rhyme and they both have 6 beats (6 syllables).

Here’s an example of a rhyming poem with an A-B-A-B scheme written by Lousia May Alcott (it is in the Public Domain – so I can use it here)

To One Who Teaches Me
    by Louisa May Alcott 

"To one who teaches me               (A)
 The sweetness and the beauty      (B)
 Of doing faithfully                        (A)
 And cheerfully my duty."               (B)    

And here’s one that I wrote ~ just for fun:

I went to the store                       (A)
To buy a loaf of bread.                  (B)
I found something more                 (A)
“So typical,” I said.                       (B)

                      © Stephanie Abney 2011 
          (Seems silly to copyright such a simple little sample verse but there 

            you have it)

You can just do four lines or you can create a longer poem by making several stanzas of four lines each. Also, note that often times the very last stanza can vary, or not, but all previous stanzas should follow the pattern.

Your turn! Have fun!