Wednesday, March 20, 2013

A Sonnet....because I can't keep my mouth shut.

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I challenged my AP Lit class to write a sonnet--yep, 14 lines of iambic pentameter. And gave them the luxury of choosing which type of sonnet they wanted to create: Spenserian, Petrarchan, or Shakespearean. (I know, I'm such a generous teacher.) And then, before I could stop my overly-eager tongue, I told my students that I, too, would produce a sonnet. (Not a moment of brilliant forward-thinking on my part.) So I thought, in my effort to live doorlessly and in a moment of punishment-gluttony, I would not only write a sonnet to share with my students, I would share my sonnet with anyone brave enough to amble onto my Silent Isle (including those who arrive here by mischance). So I offer you my Shakespearean sonnet.


                How Deep the Vein

                The transcendence of poetry doth show
                How deep the vein of human feeling bleeds,
                And wide is that which o’er the seas doth blow
                Within the mind of man who daily reads
                The poetry of love and loss and joy
                And hope—which in the end is all we have
                To claim and climb aboard, our souls buoyed.
                Our eyes to heaven lift and we are glad
                And thankful for the gift of prose and verse.
                And oh! that all might read and see and feel
                What poetry puts forth to ‘scape the curse
                And offer as a dressing meant to heal.
                     The man deprived of words will never taste
                      Of freedom wrought from beauty. What a waste.

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9 comments:

  1. So, you still don't have that door? How did the home repairs in your AWP absense go?

    Also, beautiful sonnet. Lovely and it will impress the socks off of your students, who will all have written about one of the following (I'm sure):
    1. Rihanna
    2. their xbox
    3. food
    4. homework
    5. Ryan Gosling
    6. growing up (barf, right?)
    7. some teenage view of existentialism

    I'll expect a tally.

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    1. I have a door!! Yes, Jonathan reinstalled the bathroom door, and we have purchased the tile for the floor - once that's installed, the bathroom will be fully functional again. Praise be! Oh, and I'll be sure to keep a tally on sonnet subject matter :) Thanks, Kate!

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    2. Tally is in, Kate, on sonnet subjects:
      Food - 1
      Graduation - 1
      On Writing a Sonnet - 1
      A Shipwreck - 1

      No to shabby!

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    3. If you get a sonnet on either Rhianna or Ryan Gossling, please get your students' permission to share. That's brilliant, Kate.

      I love your sonnet, Anna. It is so in the tradition of writing poems about poetry and has the feel of something written centuries ago.

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    4. Unfortunately no Rhianna or Ryan Gossling--though that would have been fantastic! (Maybe I'll use that as my subject matter next time.) Thanks for reading, Amy! And I tried to make the sonnet sound "old-school-ish"--although the students weren't sold on the "joy" & "buoyed" slant rhyme attempt. (shrug.)

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  2. Love the sonnet! I'm impressed, even if none of the students are :-) The last lines are really good. Seriously. Very nice.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Danni - I think my students were sonnet-ed out by the time I read mine. But I don't mind. A challenge is always fun.

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  3. So I guess I'm technologically inept, because I typed up about four paragraphs of conversational praise about how I loved your sonnet and a bunch of other stuff, but then Blogspot ate my post, and I can't bring myself to rewrite all that praise. So. . .

    -Insert 4 paragraphs of high praise for your sonnet-

    That's about the best I can do now. Next time I'll write up the comment in word. . .

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    Replies
    1. I'm so sorry, Luke, that Google decided not to cooperate (I've targeted Google with some serious rage from snafus such as you experienced). But I do appreciate your high praise. Thank you :)

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