Tag Archives: iambic pentameter

Scupham Sonnet

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Isosyllabic quatrain consisting of two  Scupham stanzas (sextets) followed by a couplet
Metered: Iambic Pentamter
Rhymed: abccba deffed gg
Sources:
My thanks to Bob Newman at Volecentral for this information, his site is a wonderful resource.
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder at Poetry Magnus, another wonderful resource.
  • The Scupham Sonnet is noted at Vol Central as not a “proper” sonnet, probably because of the lack of prescribed pivot. It was created by British poet Peter Scupham and uses the Scupham Stanza.The Scupham Sonnet is:
    • a quatorzain made up of 2 Schupham stanzas (sixains) followed by a rhymed couplet.
    • metered, iambic pentameter.
    • rhymed, scheme abccba deffed gg.
    • no prescribed place for a pivot but most good poetry naturally has a pivot or turn someplace within the poem.
  • The Scupham Stanza is a sixain used in the Scupham Sonnet but which could be stand-alone poem or written in any number. It was created by British poet, Peter Scupham and is found at Vol Central.The Scupham stanza is:
    • stanzaic, written in any number of sixains.
    • metered or not at the discretion of the poet. (When using it in a sonnet, in deference to the form, iambic pentameter would be my choice.)
    • rhymed, scheme abccba.
My Thanks to Jodi Van Gorder for the wonderful PMO resource.
Scupham sonnet
Peter Scupham likes abccba stanzas. Two of these plus a rhyming couplet make something very like a sonnet. This is not a “proper” sonnet, strictly speaking, but I think of it as a Scupham Sonnet. (This is not a standard name).
Bob NEWMAN
Example Poem
Not to Be Relinquished    (Scupham Sonnet)
Your loveliness and charm have made you sought
by big on campus  types and by most all.
Since every blooming guy’s asked you to dance,
I wondered how I’d ever have a chance.
I’ve secretly been subject to your thrall
if we don’t dance this day has been for naught.
I watched and waited most content, engrossed.
by seeing others shining in your light.
Uplifting, kind response to all you’d meet
I meet you as you return towards your seat.
I mumbled “Hi, we haven’t danced tonight.
“The timing’s right, just two more tunes at most,”
you said, and offered me your arm and hand.
We left together,  just as she had planned.
© Lawrencealot – November 8, 2013
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Balanced Sonnet

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Stanzaic:             2 septets (seven-line stanzas)
Meter:                  Iambic pentameter
Volta                    Not specified.
Rhyme Scheme:  ababcbc ededfef
Primary Sources –
Balanced sonnet/California rhyme scheme
Barbara Dilworth has devised a form she calls the balanced sonnet, or the California rhyming scheme. The rhyming scheme is ababcbc dedefef. This splits the 14 lines up into two 7-line sections, each with the same rhyming scheme. A purist would say that … this wasn’t a proper sonnet, because it doesn’t have the obligatory 8/6 split.
My thanks to Bob Newman at Volecentral for this information, his site is a wonderful resource.
  • The Balanced Sonnet is noted as not a sonnet because it doesn’t use the octave-sestet sonnet pattern but then technically neither does theShakespearean sonnet. So as long as the poem sings in 14 lines with a pivot or turn somewhere within, I think one could call it a sonnet. This form was created by Barbara Dilworth.The Balanced Sonnet is:
rhymed, rhyme scheme ababcbc dedefdf.
  • no placement of pivot prescribed.
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder at Poetry Magnus, another wonderful resource.
 
Example Poem
 
Not to Be Relinquished     (Balanced Sonnet)
Since every guy was asking you to dance,
including jocks and handsome wealthy guys,
I never thought that I would stand a chance
to hold you close and gaze into your eyes.
Your image captivates me through the day
and often I may think of you with sighs,
remembering you face and gentle sway.
You are so kind to everyone you meet
that peacefulness is anywhere you stand.
Compelled, I wandered near your vacant seat;
as you approached I just held out my hand
and mumbled “Hi!”, before the last note struck;
Your acquiescence made the day complete,
You stayed with me, those guys were out of luck.
© Lawrencealot – November 7, 2013
 
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Teddybard Sonnet

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This is a sonnet form invented by Teddybard of Allpoetry.

It is identified by the Rhyme Pattern: aaaabbccddeeff

Normal sonnet attributes apply.

Example Poem

Not to be Relinquished

Since every guy asked you to dance
I never thought I’d have a chance
to even profit from your glance,
much less to entertain romance.
I thought about you every day
your face, your hair, your gentle sway,
your kind response to all you’d meet,
your gentle voice which sounds.so sweet.

I’d wandered near your vacant chair
and when your partner brought you there
I mumbled “Hi!” held out my hand
I hadn’t waited for the band.

In your warm arms I felt befriended.
We danced on when music ended.

© Lawrencealot – October 1, 2013

Visual Template This is shown for Iambic Tetrameter

Whimsical Sonnet

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This Sonnet form was introduced in a contest on Allpoetry by Numi_Earl_Grey
When I asked him to name the sonnet, this was his response.
Ah, a name – probably Wayne’s Honestly Intricate Mono-Stanza’d Imperfectly Coupleted Alternately-Layered Sonnet, or the WHIMSICAL Sonnet for short…
The following is his own introduction to the sonnet:
My friends, I shall impart this wisdom: True,
if life were thus parlayed in newish Sonnet form
we’d need some kind of rhyme and rhythm – New,
this form would break with stale traditions and the norm.
Now, why would we begin such daunting tasks?
Is it because we’re just some new iconoclasts?
Have we been drinking bourbon from our flasks?
Or do we wish to strip away old pretense masks?
The latter would be beneficial; though
you may not want such thoughts and views upon your shelves –
such innovative types (like us) forego
the safety nets that small minds cast around themselves.
My friends, you have a choice – remain secure,
or journey in, so we may walk the untrod shores…
New Sonnet Form Details:
Lines alternate between iambic pentameter and iambic hexameter (no, not sexameter!).
So that’s lines of ten and twelve syllables, all going da-daa-da-daa-da-daa…
Rhyme scheme is ABAB CCCC DEDE FF’ where F’ is a near rhyme to F.
I think the CCCC mono-rhyme stanza breaks the monotony of the ABAB, and the near rhyme at the end breaks the monotony of the perfect rhyming.
Here is the poem which he selected as the winner of the contest.
Poor William (Numi Sonnet)(Renamed Whimscal Sonnet)
Poor William’s not around to try this form—
And pity ’tis, for he would do it up right just!
And not, as I’m intending, flaunt the norm
By using Irish rime* to land on verse’s cusp.
Nor would the Master tempted be to write
In meter that’s so regular the reader might
While reading fall asleep, as if dim night
Had dawned and scared away all ambient delight.
No, he would teach a lesson with his wind
By breaking ev’ry rule rich pedants have proclaimed,
Such as the thought a trochee would rescind
The name ‘iambic’ from a line (as if ’twere lamed).
And I have tried to follow in his footsteps
Here, as opposed to following poetic goosesteps.
* Irish rime is what the Welsh call it;
 the Irish themselves call it perfect ‘correspondence’
or Comharda (the closest thing the Irish have to rime),
which allows substitution of like-sounding consonants,
such as t and p (e.g. ‘just’ and ‘cusp’).
(c) Gary Kent Spain, writing as Venicebard
Visual Template of the Form

Reasonnet

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*Reasonnet
A sonnet form invented by Ruth Poteet aka Reason on Allpoetry
A variation on a variattion of a Keats Sonnet.
10 syllables
Four tercets plus a couplet
Rhymed: aaa bbb ccc ddd ee
Example Poem
Social Engineering     (Reasonnet)
Now every day you make me break the ice.
I wouldn’t mind if you’d just ask me nice.
Instead you merely yak and give advice.
“Who made me your undocumented fool,
and set me up as your ice-breaking tool?”
I just decided to revoke that rule.
Of course we want to search for our next meal
yet all my stomping may attract a seal.
you say, “So what? That’s not a biggy deal.”
This method causes quickly, a commotion.
I backslap you with one nice friendly motion
and voila! there’s our entry to the ocean.
I found my solution to be quite neat.
It’s quicker than my using my two feet.
© Lawrencealot – June 1, 2013
This was a picture prompt contest entry.
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Mason Sonnet

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The Mason Sonnet is an invented sonnet form created by American poet Madeline Mason in 1953. It is the rhyme scheme that sets this sonnet apart from others. This was found in the Study and Writing of Poetry; American Women Poets Discuss, 1983 and has been used in workshops 
throughout the US
 
* an octave and a sestet.
* metered, iambic pentameter.
* Rhyme pattern: abcabcbc dbadda
* composed with a pivot developed after the octave.
Example Poem:
Grow up Slowly        (Mason Sonnet)
I like to go to grammas’ after school.
I show her what I learned today then play,
or learn a lot of stuff not in a book.
She showed me how to milk a cow. That’s cool.
She showed me on the internet today.
But best of all she lets me help her cook!
We made gingerbread cookies; Grandpa took
a lot so I think they turned out okay.
Don’t know what I’ll  be when my growing’s done,
A cook? A fireman? It’s too hard to say.
If you think I change my mind a lot, you’ll
be right. My mom says choosing’s half the fun.
“Take time to be a  kid and play and run.”
Right now that’s my grandparent’s golden rule.
     © Lawrencealot – December 21, 2012
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Canadian Sonnet – Italian Structure

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This is a form invented by Jose Rizal M. Reyes of the Philippines
 Unique in  presentation as 2 quatrains + 2 Tercets
Generally Iambic Pentameter
Volta at line 9
Rhyme Scheme: abba cddc eff egg 
Same rhyme pattern as Bowlesian Sonnet.
 
Example Poem: 

 
Today’s Best     ( Canadian  Sonnet – Italian Structure )

The editor demands my very best
with ocean’s depth and pictures for one’s mind.
Let waterfalls of syllables combine
while melodies of sounds they manifest.

Just that and nothing less is all that’s asked.
The pen is poised and pauses while I think –
perhaps I scratch my beard and sip a drink,
before returning, determined, to my task.

Oh, hell! How often does one sit to write
a piece of crap to merely fill a page?
Real poets don’t do that in any age.

We never set out trying to be trite.
Our very best attempt are made in vain
When mind’s creative cogs get clogged again.

© Lawrencealot – December 5th, 2012
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Sicilian Sonnet

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The defining features of the Sicilian Sonnet are:
• a quatorzain, made up of an octave followed by a sestet.
• metric, in English, written in iambic pentameter.
• composed with the octave presenting an idea, problem or question, followed by a sestet finding the solution or resolution. The word “sestet” originally was reserved for the sonnet or other forms in which the group of 6 lines attempts to distinguish itself from other line groups such as the octave of the sonnet. This is in contrast to the words sixain or sexain which are 6 line stanzas usually written in conjunction with other sixains or sexains as in the Sestina.
• rhymed using only 4 rhymes. The difference between Sicilian and Italian is in the rhyme scheme. The octave made up of 2 quatrains alternates rhyme abababab. The sestet made up of 2 tercets with alternate rhyme cdcdcd. 

Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?/topic/1048-sicilian-sonnet/
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.

There are three basic Italian Sonnet Forms; 
1. Italian.
2. Sicilian and
3. Sonetto Rispetto.
The difference is in the octave. The octave is constructed of two quatrains.
1. The Italian has a rhyming scheme of, a.b.b.a….a.b.b.a.
2. The Sicilian has a rhyming scheme of, a.b.b.a….c.d.d.c.
3. The Sonetto Rispetto uses uses either sestet with the Ottava Rima Octave which is very different from the two previous forms and has a rhyming scheme of a.b.a.b.a.b.c.c.
Each of these forms can also have a choice of two sestets, Italian and Sicilian:
1. The Italian sestet consists of two tercets (of 3 lines) with the rhyme scheme.. .1.2.3….1.2.3. 
2. The Sicilian Sestet, has a rhyme scheme of .1.2.1.2.1.2.

Pasted from http://www.thepoetsgarret.com/Challenge/italian.html
My thanks as always to the active group at thepoetsgarret

FORM : Re-stated
* Sicilian form of the Italian Sonnet – 14 lines
* divided into 1 octave and a sestet
* volta (pivot) in line 9
* written in iambic pentameter
* rhyme scheme abab abab cdc cdc
                         or abab abab cde cde

Example Poem:

Tell Me of Your Anger in Whispers       (Sicilian Sonnet)

 

Should you be moved to speak in anger dear,

I ask that first you test your words alone.

If I have blundered then I will want to hear

but will not gain from harshness in your tone.

Such words once thrown will travel like a spear

We’ve both before said words we can’t disown.

You’ll want to make sure that your meaning’s clear;

an err unsaid leaves nothing to atone.

 

So hold those words for later; don’t despair,

there’s nothing risked delaying words that grate.

My love, use whispers closely late tonight.

I’ll listen to your words- you know I’m fair.

So love, allow your anger to abate.

I love you dearly; I will make it right.

 

© Lawrencealot – June 21, 2013

 

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Melanesian Sonnet

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Octet + Sestet
Generally Iambic Petameter
Volta at or following line 9
Rhyme scheme:  aabaaaba aababb
This is a form invented by Jose Rizal M. Reyes of the Philippines

JOSE wrote another which he intended to name Melanesian Wave which is only
different in presentation being three quatrains and a couplet.  It seems to me that
poets have always had the freedom to present their sonnets as the muse dictated they should.  I am not posting it therefore as a separate sonnet form.

Example Poem:

A Simple Flash!  (Melanesian Sonnet)

She thinks perhaps I dream of her at night
and miss her when she’s somewhere out of sight.
She believes that some how I deserve respect
and am her thoughtful brave and charming knight.
She thinks it’s fun to hike or fly a kite,
or read a poem and talk by candle light.
She speaks her mind, and shares her thoughts unchecked;
objections are not taken as a sleight.

Her figure’s full, her teases do incite;
She thinks her cleavage flashed just might excite
and grins and smiles when I become erect,
my validation proving she was right.
She thinks she can have sex and my respect.
I know my lady surely is correct.

© Lawrencealot – October 30, 2012
This was written a parody of a Dalaney Poem

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Couplet Sonnet

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he Couplet Sonnet is as its name implies a sonnet made up of couplets. This verse form was found at Poetry Base. I am pretty sure this is a recently invented form however it could be a variation of the Clare Sonnet or the Cyhydedd Fer Sonnet or the other way around.

The defining features of the Couplet Sonnet are:
• a quatorzain is made up 7 heroic couplets.
• metered, iambic pentameter.
• rhymed aa bb cc dd ee ff gg.
• composed with a pivot placed at the poet’s discretion.

As sample poem.

This topic did not fit this form well, and I subsequently rewrote the poem as
a Spensarian Sonnet, but here was the attempt.

Bonding

I knew I belonged when you held out your hands.
There are such things a puppy understands.

I leaped to you and nuzzled right away.
Adopting you was puppies goal that day.

Almost as quickly you connected too.
That day this pup adopted mainly you.

I loved the tricks you taught and the games we’d play,
like tug-a-war and chase-ball everyday.

When you’d go to bed, I’d lie on your chest.
I’d see your smile, then I would like it best.

One day though you remained cold in your bed.
I knew that you were gone- that you were dead.

It won’t be long, for I’m an old dog too,
before my time is up and I’m with you.

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