#fixed forms

Time holds much unsaid, what we grow and what we chain, in the space unread.

Wading through the dead, a wake for those that remain, time holds much unsaid.

Are vanishings bred within the words that refrain in the space unread?

Hand from hand has fled, enumerating its gain; time holds much unsaid.

Throw the trite instead and store what you can’t explain in the space unread.

Beaten, abandoned, a man lies half dead, bleeding profusely—conspicuously. Preachers ignore him, despite what they’ve said, passing him by so compassionately.

Church-mongers argue he acted unwise, choosing this crossing of sordid renown— opining dangers, they rationalize openly scorning the man on the ground.

Finally kindness—an Other arrives: finding a person in bona fide need, spends his supplies so a stranger survives, speaks of no recompense for his good deed.

Time will say nothing but I told you so, Time only knows the price we have to pay; If I could tell you I would let you know.

If we should weep when clowns put on their show, If we should stumble when musicians play, Time will say nothing but I told you so.

There are no fortunes to be told, although, Because I love you more than I can say, If I could tell you I would let you know.

The winds must come from somewhere when they blow, There must be reasons why the leaves decay; Time will say nothing but I told you so.

Perhaps the roses really want to grow, The vision seriously intends to stay; If I could tell you I would let you know.

Suppose the lions all get up and go, And all the brooks and soldiers run away; Will Time say nothing but I told you so? If I could tell you I would let you know.

Fixed Forms: The Sonnet

The sonnet is the most standard sort of fixed-form poem; also, there are many variations on the basic fourteen-line pattern.

Beyond that fourteen-line length, what makes a sonnet a sonnet? Mostly, it’s a matter of stanzaic form. The two chief kinds are the Italian or Petrarchan and the English or Shakespearean. The Italian looks like this:

abba/abba/cdcdcd

So, two quatrains in “envelope” rhyme, using the same rhyme sounds, and three couplets (two-line stanzas) in alternate rhyme with each other, also using the same rhyme sounds (though different from the first set in the quatrains). Usually, though, the Italian sonnet is thought of as an octave (eight-line stanza) followed by a sestet.

The English is:

abab/cdcd/efef/gg

Or, three quatrains using alternating rhyme, each pair of sounds different in the three stanzas, ending with a rhyming (or “heroic”) couplet.

Traditionally, sonnets are printed in monolithic, or single-stanza form; the stanzas are not spatially separated. But the energies of the stanzaic differences are quite important. The second- most important formal point, after the fourteen-line length, is the “turn.” Actually, though, this is a tonal or a thematic issue, more than formal. The turn is a shift of some kind roughly between the octave and the sestet in the Italian, and the third quatrain and the couplet in the English. You aim for some kind of modulation in your language, point of view, narrative (if there is one – most sonnets are not strongly narrative, though, although most poems suggest an outer narrative), or emotion. You can see, then, that the Italian allows a lot of room for exploring this second modality, whereas the English allows only two lines – making the second modality, often, a kind of punch line, or a surprise.

There are, as I said, many other forms of the sonnet. There are, for example, hybrids of the English and Italian; and couplet sonnets (seven rhyming, heroic couplets). Again, you should start with the text, then move to the Internet for examples and further explanations. You might choose, by the way, to do these fixed forms as “pastiches” – imitations of other poems, that is, attempts at copying the style (and perhaps content) of the other poem. It is a good way to practice, just as in music and painting.

“Sonnet Central” is a very good Internet resource to start with; look up John Keats, John Milton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, to start. Here are some others to look at:

Denis Johnson, "Heat"

James Wright, "Saint Judas" (scroll down a bit)

Edna St. Vincent Millay, "Sonnet VI"

June Jordan, "Sunflower Sonnet Number Two" (In this article, by Adrienne Rich, about the poet’s work; read, or scroll down to find the poem)

Seamus Heaney, "Requiem for the Croppies"

Robert Frost, "Mowing"