This is a form invented by Charles L. Weatherford the creator of one of the best Poetry learning sites in the English speaking world.
Visit it at: http://www.poetrybase.info/forms/
In his own word Charles explains that he devloped to form to play to his own particular strengths:
Creating the “sonondilla, I actually used two existing forms. First was the Petrarchan sonnet; second was the redondilla, a purely syllabic Spanish quatrain with envelope rhyme scheme (abba).
Based on this mixing, I came up with a fourteen line form that was syllabic, but was also tougher to rhyme than other sonnets. I’m much better at rhyming than a lot of people. (That isn’t to say that I don’t put out some real klinkers in my light verse.)
So, the sonondilla’s predominant rhyme scheme is abbaabbaccddcc, which is even more difficult than the Petrarchan sonnet. “
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And from the Britannica:
redondilla, a Spanish stanza form consisting of four trochaic lines, usually of eight syllables each, with a rhyme scheme of abba. Quatrains in this form with a rhyme scheme of abab, sometimes also called redondillas, are more commonly known as serventesios. Redondillas have been common in Castilian poetry since the 16th century. The word is derived from the Spanish redondo, meaning “round.”
Pasted from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/494744/redondilla
And from Poetrybase:
Sardine
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Type: |
Structure, Metrical Requirement, Rhyme Scheme Requirement, Simple, Pivot Requirement |
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Description: |
A sonnet that uses redondilla as a base. Each line is eight syllables and has the rhyme scheme abbacddceeffee or abbaabbaccddcc. It is also known as the Redondilla sonnet, the Napoleonic sonnet, or the Sonondilla. |
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Attributed to: |
“The Dread Poet Roberts” |
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Origin: |
American |
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Schematic: |
Rhyme: abbacddceeffee or abbaabbaccddcc |
Pasted from http://www.poetrybase.info/forms/002/290.shtm
Many Thanks to Charles Weatherford for his wonderful resource site.
So we have the Sonondilla or SardineSonnet
It should be written in octosyllabic lines.
Meter either iambic or trochaic
Rhyme scheme: Rhyme: abbacddceeffee or abbaabbaccddcc
Rhyme scheme: Rhyme: abbacddceeffee or abbaabbaccddcc
Volta to appear at line 9.
I found the Sonondilla first, then found the Sardine. I asked the inventor about it.
His reply:
Larry,
I usually go with Sardine. It is a good joke name
that my buddy Chuck Lipsig (He’s a poet and
playwright on my FB friends’ list.) came up with
while I was developing the form.
The idea was that Sardinia was sort of midway
between Spain (redondilla) and Sicily (Sonnet).
The geography was the basis of several of the joke
names, such as Napoleonic sonnet.
Several people have written sardines (the poem)
with the theme of sardines (the fish).
I remember one I saw talking about people on a crowded
train with the sardines-in-a-can metaphor.
Charley
My example:
Ambiguity (Sonondilla or Sardine)
In ambiguity there’s hope
that your misstatement may make sense
to someone sitting on the fence
who’s neither voted yep nor nope.
Thus politician’s often cope
with lack of what’s called commonsense
by merely giving no offence.
If you don’t get it, you’re the dope.
You cannot fact check what’s not said
Thus inferences that have led
to contrary conclusions are
non-specific, sometimes bizarre.
Turn off the TV, go to bed,
or watch grass grow; you’ll be ahead.
©Lawrencealot – February 1, 2014
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