reflections after having read a whole bunch of sonnets in English - here, there and everywhere... ;-)


Sonnet on the Crucial Problem of the Iamb


If strictly trod the iamb will shine a lot
when rising like the sun from the horizon
Not even Shakespeare managed on the spot
to tame this two-faced, witty, sturdy icon

I think the problem lies within the language
which, like the lovely waltz, avoids the dual
The sonneteer who loves his craft in anguish
might find my words meticulously cruel

My aim is not to say it can't be done
'cause finally old Willie won the polish
and found the rhythm of this two-faced gun

In our time, however, we must relish
and fight for rhythms otherwise abolished...
And this, my friend, is just my simple knowledge





Poetry by Caprice
Read 1274 times
Written on 2009-07-19 at 12:28

Tags Sonnet  Iamb  Rhythm 

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Rob Graber
An amusing sonnet indeed, with a noble comment too!
2009-07-19



Heh, this reminds me, somehow, of a thingie I wrote a couple of years ago...

Iambic meters build a funny verse
that goes ta-DUM, ta-DUM, ta-DUM, ta-DUM
Iambic pentameters, clear and terse,
are made of some such feet, and five's their sum.

It is frustrating, friends, to count your feet
when things do not turn out as you hoped best!
Look here: these verses aren't very neat
cuz the last one has a foot called Anna Pest.

;)
2009-07-19