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Explore the Craft of Writing Poetry The Sonnet Sonnet Comparison Chart English Verse Although the sonnet began in Italy in the 13th century, Thomas Wyatt 1503-1542, was one of the first English poets to translate and utilize the form. He used the Petrarchan octave but introduced a rhyming couplet at the end of the sestet. His friend the Earl of Surrey also initiated more rhyme. The Italian form was restricted to 5 rhymes. After Wyatt and Surrey the sonnet could have 7 rhymes. They also shifted the sonnet away from the slightly more intellectual and argumentative Petrarchan form, and gave new importance to the ending, declamatory couplet. This Wyatt/Surrey adaptation of the sonnet has not been officially named, at least I haven't found an assigned designation yet. So for the sake of identification I call it the Wyatt/Surrey Sonnet. The elements of the Wyatt/Surrey sonnet are: a quatorzain, written with a Petrarchan octave followed by an envelope quatrain ending with a rhyming couplet. metric, primarily iambic pentameter. the rhyme scheme is abbaabba cddc ee. it is composed with the volta (non physical gap) or pivot (a shifting or tilting of the main line of thought) sometime after the 2nd quatrain. distinguished by the declamatory couplet. A Renouncing of Love by Sir Thomas Wyatt Farewell, Love and all thy laws for ever; --- Thy baited hooks shall tangle me no more. Senec, and Plato, call me from thy lore, To perfect wealth, my wit for to endeavour; In blind error when I did persever, Thy sharp repulse, that pricketh aye so sore, Taught me in trifles that I set no store ; But scaped forth thence, since, liberty is lever Therefore, farewell ! go trouble younger hearts, And in me claim no more authority : With idle youth go use thy property, And thereon spend thy many brittle darts : --- For, hitherto though I have lost my time, --- Me list no longer rotten boughs to clime. The fancy of a wearier lover by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey The fancy, which that I have served long, That hath alway been enemy to mine ease, Semed of late to rue upon my wrong, And bade me fly the cause of my misease. And I forthwith did press out of the throng, That thought by flight my painfull heart to please Some other way: til I saw faith more strong: And to my self I said: alas, those days In vain were spent, to run the race so long. And with that thought, I met my guide, that plan Out of the way wherin I wandered wrong, Brought me amidst the hills, in base Bullayn: Where I am now, as restless to remain, Against my will, full pleased with my pain. Next Sir Edmund Spenser gets into the act 4. Spenserian Sonnet

Explore the Craft of Writing Poetry English Verse Common Measure In the 15th to 16th centuries, English clerics were seeking a catchy rhythm and sound in which to set and sing the Psalms to capture the hearts and minds of the laity. They chose the popular Ballad Meter familiar to most everyone. They adapted the ballad rhythm and form to more formal and scriptural topics, eliminating the narrative, colloquial language. They called it Common Measure and developed several variations. The first poems were meant to be lyrics set to music. The metered lines give a musical sound to the poem. Emily Dickinson used variations of this form generously even though she was thought to prefer to write "outside the box" not adhering to traditional verse form. Common Measure or Meter, the elements are: stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. When the quatrain is doubled, it is called Common Octave. Note: doubling a quatrain and writing 2 quatrains of the same form are not the same thing. A doubled quatrain would have rhyme scheme xaxa xaxa while 2 quatrains would change rhyme xaxa xbxb. metered, L1 and L3 are iambic tetrameter and L2 and L4 are iambic trimeter. rhymed, rhymed scheme xaxa xbxb etc x being unrhymed. Journal: Today's Weather by Judi Van Gorder It's Sunday here, the sun is high with gentle springtime breeze, the song birds sing a melody in tune with buzzing bees. Hymnal Measure or Meter, the elements are: stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains.A doubled quatrain is a Hymnal Octave metered, L1 and L3 are iambic tetrameter and L2 and L4 are iambic trimeter. rhymed, rhyme scheme abab cdcd etc. When you Sing you Pray Twice by Judi Van Gorder I'm in a churchy mood today though I didn't go to church. I work at writing hymns to pray and start at home to search. I raise my voice in thanks and praise and hear Him in my song. He charges me throughout my days and helps me shy from wrong. We double pray when ere we sing, a proverb I have heard. A joyful sound I hope to bring inspired by His Word. Short Measure or Short Meter, the elements are: stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. When written in octaves doubling the short measure quatrains, the verse form is called Double Short Measure. metered, most often L1, L2, L4 iambic trimeter, L3 is iambic tetrameter. rhymed, Rhyme scheme xaxa xbxb etc x being unrhymed. called Poulter's Measure when consolidated into 2 lines. Laker Gold by Judi Van Gorder I have a lucky charm, a Laker logo, gold dangles from a chain 'round my neck, my loyalty is bold. I live in Warrior land where rivalry is fierce. Friends say I cheer the enemy, they would my heart be pierced. My necklace always worn throughout the season's run, I hope it helps us win the crown, return to number one. Part Two: Nature XXII by Emily Dickinson 1830-1886 A BIRD came down the walk He did not know I saw He bit an angle-worm in halves And ate the fellow, raw And then he drank a dew From a convenient grass, And then hopped sidewise to the wall To let a beetle pass He glanced with rapid eyes That hurried all abroad They looked like frightened beads, I thought He stirred his velvet head Like one in danger; cautious I offered him a crumb, And he unrolled his feathers And rowed him softer home Than oars divide the ocean, Too silver for a seam, Or butterflies, off banks of noon, Leap, splashless, as they swim. Poulter's Measure was named by George Gascoigne, 16th century English poet, for its alternating 12 syllable and 14 syllable lines because when selling a dozen eggs a poulter would often measure out 13 eggs in case one was cracked and the 2 lines of 12 and 14 averaged 2 poulter's dozen. The correlation is a leap for me but I think it is a closer anomaly than the lines sounding like clucking hens which I've also read as a reason for the name. The elements of the Poulter's measure are: suitable to narrative poetry because of the Alexandrine line. metered, written in any number of couplets made up of an Alexandrine line, iambic hexameter broken by a caesura and a fourteener line, iambic heptameter. rhymed, rhyme scheme aa bb etc. called Short Measure if the couplet is broken into 4 lines. What Length of Verse? by Sir Philip Sidney from Complaint of Her Lover, Being Upon the Sea by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517 - 1547) Good ladies, ye that have your pleasures in exile, Step in your foot, come take a place and mourn with me a while; And such as by their lords do set but little price, Let them sit still, its skills them not what chance come on the dice. But ye whom love hath bound by order of desire To love your lords, whose good desserts none other would require, Come ye yet once again and set your foot by mine, Whose woeful plight and sorrows great no tongue can well define. Incendiary by Judi Van Gorder 04-16-04 The pinching smell of smoke, the dirty ash filled air precedes the leaping flames, to play like children without care. The blazing fingers flick and snap, to fling sparks high and send the fiery cinders far, to light the blackened sky. Long Measure or Meter, the elements are : stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. When written in octaves made up of 2 quatrains, the verse form is called Double Long Measure. metered, all lines iambic tetrameter. rhymed, rhyme scheme xaxa xbxb etc. Long Haired Dog by Judi Van Gorder In need of grooming, Trey lay down, the heat of noon too much for him. The shady space he occupied a respite til he took a swim. Long Hymnal Measure or Meter, the elements are: stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. metered, all lines iambic tetrameter. rhymed, rhyme scheme abab cdcd etc. Cheezy Addiction by Judi Van Gorder To eat one Cheez-it is absurd, it can't be done, you have to eat another and another, Word! I stash away, admit defeat. Short Hymnal Measure or Stanza , the elements are: stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. metric, L1,L2&L4 are iambic trimeter and L3 is iambic tetrameter. rhymed, rhyme scheme abab cdcd etc. .. Short Particular Measure makes a slight departure from the quatrain pattern and is written in sixains. The elements of Short Particular Measure are: stanzaic, written in any number of sixains. metric, L1,L2,L4,L5 are iambic trimeter and L3&L6 are iambic tetrameter. rhymed aabaab ccdccd etc. Common Octave is a double Common Measure, the elements are: stanzaic, written in any number of octaves. metered, L1 L3, L5 and L7 are iambic tetrameter and L2, L4, L6 and L8 are iambic trimeter. rhymed, rhymed scheme xaxaxaxa xbxbxbxb etc x being unrhymed. Hymnal Octave is a double Hymnal Measure, the elements are:: stanzaic, written in any number of octaves. metered, L1, L3, L5, L7 are iambic tetrameter, L2, L4, L6, L8 are iambic trimeter. rhymed, rhyme scheme, abababab, cdcdcdcd etc. Short Measure Octave is a doubled Short Measure, the elements are: : stanzaic, written in any number of octaves. metered, most often L1, L2, L4, L5, L6, L8 are iambic trimeter, L3 and L7 are iambic tetrameter. rhymed, Rhyme scheme xaxaxaxa xbxbxbxb etc x being unrhymed. Long Measure Octave is a double long measure, the elements are:: stanzaic, written in any number of octaves. metered, all lines iambic tetrameter. rhymed, rhyme scheme xaxaxaxa xbxbxbxb etc. Long Hymnal Octave or double Long Hymnal Measure, the elements are: ,stanzaic, written in any number of octaves. metered, all lines iambic tetrameter. rhymed, rhyme scheme abababab cdcdcdcd etc.