To Write a Sonnet

     As the poetry-gurus among my readers may have noticed, my last poem was in sonnet-form, a way of writing a poem with a catchy rhyme scheme, a good rhythm, and a short-and- sweet length. For all you non-poetry-gurus out there, and also for those of you who don't have a clue, I have made a guideline for writing a sonnet in a relatively painless way.
     But before you (attempt to) write a sonnet, you should know the basic guidelines. A sonnet has to be 14 lines long. It is composed of three quatrains (short sections of poem with four lines each) and a couplet (two-line poem that rhymes) that ties the whole thing off. If you're writing in iambic pentameter (the usual format for a Shakespearean sonnet), each line has to have ten syllables, and the pattern of the syllables must go unstressed, stressed, unstressed, stressed, etc., until the end of the line. In addition to all this, the first line of each quatrain has to rhyme with the third line of the same quatrain, and the second line has to rhyme with the fourth line of the quatrain. 
     Now that you know the anatomy of a sonnet, here's how to actually write one yourself:

How to Write a Sonnet  

(AKA, poet-ing for the non-poetic)

• First, think of a topic. It should be something you feel strongly about or will have a lot of inspiration for. For example, if you just got a new puppy, you could try writing your poem about him. On the other hand, it wouldn't be a good idea to write about something you don't care about, such as the list of formulas you're required to know to pass your algebra final. 
• Second, you need to find a line that grabs the audience's attention. For example, Shakespeare starts his 18th sonnet (a love poem) with the line, "Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day?" Now, that might not sound very romantic to us here in the 21st century, but think about it: Ladies, if a boy came up to you one day and told you that you were so absolutely incredible you reminded him of a beautiful day in June, wouldn't that just melt your heart? 
• Now remember, this line must be 10 syllables long, and it must end in a word that you're willing to rhyme with in the third line of your first quatrain. Also, don't forget the syllable pattern: unstressed, stressed, unstressed, stressed.
• Next is the second line: this one's not too bad, because you don't have to rhyme with anything yet. Expand upon the first line a bit.
• Third and fourth lines are a little harder: you have to keep the syllable pattern, and you also have to rhyme. Try keeping a piece of scratch paper next to you so you can try out lines and make a list of possible words you could rhyme.
• In the second quatrain, expand more upon the first stanza (a stanza is a section of a poem, sometimes with its own set of rhymes). Shakespeare doesn't just tell his girl that she's like a summer's day, he also goes on to say things like, "thou art more lovely and more temperate" (meaning, you're as wonderful as a day in June and then some).
• Take a deep breath: you're almost there!
• The third quatrain is almost like a cliff hanger. It shakes things up, adds a little conflict and, "wait, what?!" to the poem. Shall we look once again at Shakespeare's 18th sonnet? To start his third quatrain off, he says, "But thy eternal summer shall not fade". Yeah, so what? Well, folks, he basically just told her that she's always going to be beautiful, even when she's old. Awww, what a guy!
• So for your sonnet about your puppy, if you talked about how sweet he was for the first two stanzas, you might want to mention the way he tries to eat everything in sight, or those puddles he leaves around when you go off without him in your third quatrain.
• Lastly, we have the couplet. Although it's not as long as the other stanzas, it's just as, if not more, important. Remember the conflict in the third quatrain? Well, this couplet resolves that, "wait, what?!" moment. It also ties up any loose ends in the sonnet and leaves the reader with a lasting impression of your writing. In my opinion, no one does this better than Shakespeare as he closes his aforementioned love poem with, "So long as men can breathe or eyes can see/So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."  If you were wondering how Shakespeare's girl could be pretty even in old age, the couplet sums it up perfectly. As to what it means, well, you're going to have to figure that out for yourself.

Thanks for listening, and good luck 

with your sonnets, my poetic friends!

Maggs