Nine Non-Conventional or Controversial "Sonnets"
There are those who argue that the only true sonnet is the English sonnet with its iambic pentameter quatrains and its final couplet. But the English sonnet is the last of the traditional (and conventional)sonnets. Formalized by Shakespeare it was a Johnny-come-lately. The Italian and the French forms pre-date Shakespeare by two hundred years.
These first two in this essay are labeled non-conventional. I suspect partially because they have been accepted by many literary critics. But , they do have some of the basic requirements. They have the fourteen lines, a rhyme scheme, and a volta. .They do not conform to the basic sonnet forms: the Italian (and its four forms), the English, or the French. Those are the traditional forms of the sonnet. They have strict standards of form, structure, rhyme. These must be followed as prescribed. There is no fudging nor straying from the formal form or structure. Period.
Of the following seven, two are from the 19th century and the rest are 20th century inventions.
1. Pushkin Sonnet (also called Onegin sonnet)
This "sonnet" was developed by Alexander Pushkin for his long poem "Eugene Onegin.) 19th Century
14 lines
3 quatrains plus a couplet
Any metric measure
Any metric line *
Has the volta in the ninth line or in the couplet
Rhyme scheme abab ccdd effe gg
Formatted the same as the English sonnet**
*Once the meter and metrical are chosen they must stay the same throughout the poem.
**The original was written as two quatrains with two tercets. Breaks were between the quatrains and the tercets as well.
2. Keats Sonnet
Has 14 lines.
Has a volta in the couplet
Any metrical measure
Any metrical line *
Rhyme scheme: abc abd cab cde de
Formatted as four tercets plus a couplet. There are breaks between the tercets and a break before the couplet
The following "sonnets" are not only non-conventional but are controversial as well.
1. Dorn Sonnet.
Invented by Alfred Dorn for a contest which he won. Therefore his "sonnet" has received recognition.
It has:
14 lines
Has a volta with the couplet
Any metrical foot
Any metrical line *
Rhyme scheme: abcabc dd aeaeae
Formatted with a break after the first quintain, and after the couplet..
2. The sarabande
The sarabande was a dance of Persian origin introduced into Spain in the 16th century. The poem follows the movements of the dance with its change of stanza form to comply with the measures of the music. As a "sonnet" it has:
14 lines
Four stanzas
Stanza 1 a tercet, rhyme axa or aaa
Stanza 2 a quatrain, any quatrain form or rhyme
The stanza forms may be mixed
English: abab or abcb
Italian: baab
Spanish: bcbc
French: bbcc
Stanza 3 a tercet, same rhyme scheme as stanza 1
A sonnet with a French tercet requires line 2 of both tercets to rhyme.
Stanza 4 a quatrain, any quatrain form and rhyme
Any metrical foot
Any metrical line *
Some authorities insist on eight syllables but this is not mandated
Rhyme scheme: depends on the stanza form chosen.
There are breaks after each tercet and each quatrain.
The volta is usually in the eighth line.
As can be seen, this is a very flexible form and leaves a great number of choices up to the poet. A good bet though would be to pick one of the ethnic forms and stay with it
5. The Curtal Sonnet
This form of the "sonnet" was devised by Gerard Manley Hopkins. There are those who claim this is no sonnet, but since Hopkins called it such, it is labeled a sonnet. The curtal label is his idea also. He chose
not to call it curtailed or shortened. It consists of:
A sestet and a quintain
Iambic foot
10 metrical lines of iambic pentameter
Line 11 is iambic, but must be shorter than 5 metrical feet
Volta is usually in line 7
Rhyme scheme is
Sestet abc abc
Quintain dbcbdc or dbcde
The break is between the sestet and the quatrain
EXAMPLE:
Peace
When will you ever, Peace, wild wooddove, shy wings shut,
Your round me roaming end, and under be my boughs?
When, when, Peace, will you, Peace? I’ll not play hypocrite
To own my heart. I yield you do come sometimes; but
That piecemeal peace is poor peace. What pure peace allows
Alarms of wars, the daunting wars, the death of it?
O surely, reaving Peace, my Lord should leave in lieu
Some good! And so he does leave Patience exquisite,
That plumes to Peace thereafter. And when Peace here does house
He comes with work to do, he does not come to coo.
He comes to brood and sit.
Glory Be to God
Glory be to God for dappled things ----
For skies of coupled colors as a brinded cow;
For rose moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh firecoal chestnut falls, finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced–fold, fallow and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; a dazzle, dim;
He Fathers forth , whose beauty is past change;
Praise him.
–Gerard Manley Hopkins–
6. Rosarian Sonnet
This "sonnet" was developed by Bruce Henderson. It consist of two quintains and a quatrain.
The quatrain can be treated as a refrain the way it is used in the French Ballade.
It has:
14 metrical lines
No designated meter, but the iamb is shown as the preferred foot. *
Either tetrameter or pentameter metrical lines. *
(When writing a Rosarian, pick one of the lines and stay with it.
There is no mixing of the two.)
Couplets are used throughout the poem
There is a choice of three rhyme schemes:
1. aabcc ddbee fgfg
2. aabcc ddbee fggf
3. aabcc ddbee ffgg
The breaks are after each quintain.
The volta in line eleven.
7. Rubaiyat Sonnet
The rubai (plural form rubaiyat) is a very old Persian poem. The rubai form was made famous with the Edward Fitzgerald translation of the Rubaiyat by Omar Khayyam, a philospher and mathematician of 12th century Persia.
The sonnet has:
14 metrical lines
The original Farsi had no designated meter nor metrical line.
The English form can be either tetrameter or pentameter. *
No designated meter;
(Fitzgerald used the iamb)
Rhyme scheme: aaba bbcb ccdc eeLayout is set into three quatrains and a couplet.
The volta can be in the ninth line or the couplet.
8. Terza Rima "Sonnet"
The Italian Terza Rima is written in tercets, three line rhyming stanzas, and has no set length as long as the interlocking rhyme is continued. The terza rima sonnet is written in tercets and has the interlocking rhyme scheme. It has:
14 lines
Usually written in iambic pentameter
This is not required. Any meter is acceptable.
Any metrical line is acceptable. *
The volta can be written in the 7th or 9th line.
The layout breaks are after each tercet.
9. Little "Sonnet"
The Little Sonnet is an invention of Elinor Wylie. It has all the characteristics of the Italian sonnet
but is written in iambic tetrameter. Therefore, it has:
14 lines
Iambic foot
Tetrameter metrical line
Layout is set with an octave and a sestet
Rhyme scheme: abba abba cdecde
Volta is in line 9.
Line break after the octave
