i looked it up and i got this definition:
1. Prosody. a poem, properly expressive of a single, complete thought, idea, or sentiment, of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter, with rhymes arranged according to one of certain definite schemes, being in the strict or Italian form divided into a major group of 8 lines (the octave) followed by a minor group of 6 lines (the sestet), and in a common English form into 3 quatrains followed by a couplet.
my first thought was................WTF!?!?
can someone explain everything there is about it. please!
2007-06-15 03:38:11 · 5 answers · asked by Minty 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Poetry
well "elgil" that sure didn't help me now did it.......
2007-06-15 03:51:25 · update #1
Okay, you need to know about meter for it to work...
So this is on iambic pentamater.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iambic_pentameter
And
Try this guide from Shadowpoetry.com on the form...
Sonnet
------------------
A Sonnet is a poem consisting of 14 lines (iambic pentameter) with a particular rhyming scheme:
Examples of a rhyming scheme:
#1) abab cdcd efef gg
#2) abba cddc effe gg
#3) abba abba cdcd cd
A Shakespearean (English) sonnet has three quatrains and a couplet, and rhymes abab cdcd efef gg.
An Italian sonnet is composed of an octave, rhyming abbaabba, and a sestet, rhyming
cdecde or cdcdcd, or in some variant pattern, but with no closing couplet.
Usually, English and Italian Sonnets have 10 syllables per line, but Italian Sonnets can also have
11 syllables per line.
French sonnets follow in this same pattern, but normally have 12 syllables per line.
Example #1:
Sonnet of Demeter--Italian Sonnet
Oh the pirate stars, they have no mercy!
Masquerading as hope they tell their lies;
Only the young can hear their lullabies.
But I am barren and I am thirsty
Since she has gone. No hope is there for me.
I will roam and curse this earth and these skies--
Death from life which Zeus sovereign denies.
My heart's ill shall the whole world's illness be
Till she is returned-- my daughter, my blood--
From the dark hand of Hades to my care.
With my tears these mortals shall know a flood
To show Poseidon's realm desert and bare.
No myrtle shall flower, no cypress bud
Till the gods release her...and my despair.
Copyright © 2000 Erica Fay
Example #2:
To--French Sonnet
Elle est muette. Waiting in wind towards nightfall,
dawn emerges early with purple hands, eager
for a song of mountains. Silhouetting meager
ground, sun throws her whispy shadow across and tall.
(She had never been imprisoned or subdued
beneath his lips, hands, or eyes, which roughly tasted,
perhaps, the small of her back ere passion wasted
her soul, or planets quit orbits standing still - queued.)
Elle est muette. Sighing under sun - coming twilight
beckons secret sentiments unspoken; verses
promised in breaths - never to be revealed; curses
against space and time for splitting the seams of night.
Fingers trace Venus in the sky - wishes are flung
and whispers are sent from tenderly silent tongue.
Copyright © 2000 Christine Ann Kelley
Example #3:
Sonnet--Italian Sonnet
I set my soul free down the dreamers lane
Thoughts of joyful times bring my mind aflight
Moons of memories drip so lovely light
Stars above hum a tune to ease my pain
I sail a sea where kings of past did reign
Thoughts buried deep burn in the stars so bright
To see the legends only I may sight
A life of imagery that pumps in vein
As life is written in a hidden page
I soar among all the things that will fly
I'm always seeking my soul's so lost core
Sooths all of my hate and my painful rage
Sorrow from all my blood dripped tears I cry
Dreams are the peace felt in life times before
Copyright © 2000 Emily Webber
On and pentameter means 5 feet... iambic means that it is composed of iams, a foot composed of two syllables in a unstressed-stressed pattern.
Say... attempt.
The stress goes on tempt( the second syllable) which makes it a natural iamb. It takes a while to see (a few get it offf the bat), but you'll get it eventually.
Hope this helps!
2007-06-15 03:50:26 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most of the older poem, for example by Emily Dickenson and William Shakespeare picked a certain question in the first 8 lines and then found a resolution in the last 6 lines. Iambic pentameter is a pattern in which each syllable is stressed, unstressed, stressed, unstressed. There are many different kinds of rhyme schemes, and as long as you pick one consistent one it should work.
I hope this helped!
2007-06-15 10:52:55 · answer #2 · answered by Olivia 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Striped of all that fine language is: a sonnet is a fourteen line poem expressing a single and complete thought.
2007-06-15 10:52:32 · answer #3 · answered by iscan12345 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Usually..
It is a fourteen line poems, in two verses of six and eight lines each.
It can be two verses of four with one of six .. or two of three.
There can be a unified thought in the first group and a corresponding, or a counterpunctual (opposite0 thought in the second....
2007-06-15 11:21:32 · answer #4 · answered by gibson w 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I find the definition very clear.
2007-06-15 10:48:28 · answer #5 · answered by elgil 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋