Sententious Sonnet
Reinvigorating A Fallen Form
Amongst people who know anything about Poetry, the sonnet is one its most celebrated forms. Oftentimes (and rightfully so) we hear recited classics from the incomparable William Shakespeare, such as for example, Sonnet XVIII:
“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;”
That’s just a teaser of course — I’ll link its full text in the footnotes should there be any interested parties.
Were you aware though, that Shakespeare himself didn’t invent the sonnet? To be fair, he did reinvent it and his contributions to its content and execution are unequalled, but the Bard originally learned said technique from the Italian poet Petrarch. Or rather from other Renaissance poets who fashioned their work after Petrarch’s.¹
Speaking strictly in technical terms, the main difference between the Petrarchan and Shakesperean sonnets is their syntactic rhyme structure. A sonnet in the manner of Petrarch typically consists of an octave followed by a sestet [It: fronte & sirma] in this meter: ABBA ABBA (who doesn’t like ABBA, eh?) and CDE CDE. Seedy indeed, whenever rhymes are in need. Okay! I’ll STOP.
By contrast Shakespeare’s famous sonnets exhibit a different scheme altogether, consisting primarily of three quatrains rhyming in alternation: ABAB CDCD EFEF — followed by a conclusive couplet of GG, which rhymes only with itself. This wide variance separating British and Continental styles is likely linked to linguistic leanings toward either resonant set.
Furthermore, Petrarch’s sonnets are characterized by a turn (It: volta) about halfway through. This usually means that the subject introduced during the opening octet is flipped on its head via the entrance of secondary elements. On the other hand, Shakespeare’s variation allows for much more suspense, albeit leaving a little less room for resolution.
Apart from these structural distinctions, there also are thematic issues that differentiate the former from the latter. However, we shan’t delve too deeply into those particulars herein. Suffice it to say that the older form fell out of favor as time passed on because of its practitioner’s (perhaps unhealthy) obsession with certain female figures. Regardless of relatively ancient history, I shall proceed to present an original composition of the Petrarchan persuasion. Although to be honest mine is extra rhyme-y, since I’m told that no proper sonnet of this kind features more than five repeating chimes, but that’s just how Yours Truly rolls. Moreover, it overflows with classical Greek and Latin references. Hence, its title:
Sententious (adjective) given to or using pithy sayings or maxims: e.g. a sententious poet. | Dictionary.com’s tertiary definition.
Sententious Sonnet
Now who could fill the shoes of Petrarch today?
Vox Dei may possibly sway the mind of a logician
Running the gamut from pedestrian to patrician.
Attentiveness is key, to keep many balls in play.
Heave the anchor ho and pray Aquilo’s gusts won’t betray
As we set sail like the Argo on its perilous mission.
Till simile’s soil ’til dragon’s teeth foment sedition.
Do not stray from battlefield — dilettante — join the fray!
Oxford might have us keep ‘shtum’
’cause the scheme here goes athwart
And this theme seems desultory.
Pollice Verso (with your thumb);
May these thoughts on art impart
Æsopian moral to our story.
Originally Published at Obsidian Eagle’s Blasphemous Bazaar (The Flagship of Anti-Poetry).
Further Readings:
¹ Robert Canary: The Continental Origins of the Sonnet | June 2006
