The rising sun kissed the horizon
peeking shyly above the edge of Earth,
as it climbs in steady gait,
beaming arms of light ready themselves
to slice through the day.
Clouds compete,
and waft across the sun,
arresting light till the day is done.
Then in gusts wind blows its breath,
and rescues sun’s beams glory light.
On and on this fight is fought,
until the elements blame and gust,
not caring who below it harms,
as long as all get what they want.
Tag: poems
Whispers by L. M. Montes
A whisper gently tickles,
as one’s words politely trickle,
whether kind or filled with angst,
the mind will sing or sink with pangs
of what it does not want to know.
But do we sit and let it fester
or set it loose on water’s flow?
The Glow by L. M. Montes
At half sunrise and half sunset,
a low light of heaven predawn or preset,
gives pause to one’s thoughts,
of pre-day or pre-night,
reflection abounds and growth is met.
Cherish the moments of heaven’s glow,
when quietude erupts and silence so low,
smile, drink coffee, enjoy the time,
those moments, so precious, do flee,
so day and night can grow.
The Rain by L. M. Montes
I lay aloft on feathers
in a house of wood in trees,
the rain, oh sleep persuader,
carry the mind afloat on seas,
to slumber as I lay buoyant,
relaxed among the breeze,
trickle patterns of pitter patter,
to dreams my eyes will see.
The Fleeting Soul by L. M. Montes
In life you are a soul behind a mask,
hiding from the world but yet you seek
true beauty from within a natural set,
displaying gold inside your heart,
giving what you have to all, then part.
In dreams you linger strong and within sight,
but then you move and vanish from my
reach when hands behold your presence,
leaving one to wonder if you are there,
or staying away forever, ’cause you care.
Nature’s Movement by L. M. Montes
Falling beams of sun’s pure light,
portrayed the morning’s breath
of flowers and scented dew,
a haven and dreamlike world
to ponder thus with you.
In nature’s quietness I sit
upon a grassy cliff up high,
a tree it tapped me on the head
as breezes they set sail
and spoke of change’s rule.
Life’s Choices by L. M. Montes
The pull of life reached out to me,
and taunted with its symmetry,
so many shapes and paths that call,
which one to do or none at all,
alas I chose and it was wrong,
so others harped with nasty song,
inside I shrank and bent to cringe,
the edges of my mind so singed,
but light it came and slayed the burn,
as from mistakes the brain it learned.
The Sonnet
A true sonnet contains the following:
- 14 lines
- Each line is written in iambic pentameter. This means that there are 5 feet per line. In each foot there is one unstressed and one stressed syllable for a total of 10 syllables. If your sonnet has only 9 syllables in one or more lines, it is NOT in true sonnet form.
- A rhyme scheme. Choose from one of many rhyme schemes and stick to that rhyme scheme throughout your sonnet. (See my post from July 22, 2022 entitled Rhyme Schemes)
I once read a poem by someone who said it was a sonnet. Well, at least five of the 14 lines had only 9 syllables, so it wasn’t written in iambic pentameter, and it didn’t follow a rhyme scheme.
People complemented the writer of the poem by telling that person how great a sonnet it was. Well, it wasn’t a sonnet. It was a beautiful poem with lots of meaning, but it wasn’t a sonnet.
Sonnets can be tricky to write, and they take time, given everything that goes into them. What I do is get the iambic beat in my head as I’m writing a sonnet. This beat goes something like this:
Line 1: ta da’ ta da’ ta da’ ta da’ ta da’
In the above line 1 example, each ta da’ is a foot. Notice there are only 5 of them, no more no less. The tick mark after each da’ means that the accent is placed on that syllable. Here is another way to look at it. Let’s put some actual words to the Line 1 example above. Each word or part of a word that is in all caps is the syllable that receives the stress.
Line 1: When SNOW has COME and LINgered FOR a TIME,
Make sure your lines follow a rhyme scheme.
Rhyme Scheme Examples:
Petrarchan: also know as Italian. abba abba cde cde OR abba abba cdc dcd
Here is how it will look in line form:
Line 1: a
Line 2: b
Line 3: b
Line 4: a
In other words, Line 4 will have the same end rhyme as Line 1. And Line 3 will have the same end rhyme as Line 2. For Lines 5, 6, 7, and 8, you would follow the same rhyme as you have for Lines 1, 2, 3, and 4. Again, for my article on rhyme schemes, see my post entitled Rhyme Schemes dated July 22, 2022.
Take your time and don’t rush when writing a sonnet. When you’re finished with it, go through each line again by reading it and counting the syllables to make sure you have 10. Also, make sure you have 14 lines and follow a rhyme scheme. For more information on writing sonnets, click the link below.
https://nosweatshakespeare.com/sonnets/how-to-write-a-sonnet/
Rhyme Scheme
When a work of poetry contains rhyme, there is a pattern to this rhyme as the poem moves from the beginning to the end. This pattern is called rhyme scheme. Let’s look at the poem below entitled Pride from a blog post written on June 9, 2022. The rhyme scheme for this poem is aab b ccd d. Notice that lines 4 and 9 don’t rhyme with any other line, so we leave that blank.
Line 1: Against the wind one pushes forth, a
Line 2: with fight and footsteps heading north, a
Line 3: an arctic breeze inside it grabs b
Line 4: a hold of bones
Line 5: the heart it stabs. b
Line 6: How to stop this hardship now, c
Line 7: just ask for help, to you it bows, c
Line 8: no and no for help is forbidden, d
Line 9: to do for oneself
Line 10: so they’ll be forgiven. d
The letter a in lines 1 and 2 represent the first rhyme sound. The letter b in lines 3 and 5 represent the second rhyme sound. The letter c in lines 6 and 7 represent the third rhyme sound, and the letter d represents the fourth rhyme sound.
Is it possible to have lines further on down in the poem rhyme with lines further up in the poem? Yes. Let’s look at the poem below. Notice that lines 5 and 6 rhyme with the first rhyme in lines 1 and 2, therefore their rhyme is labeled with an a. The rhyme scheme for this poem is:
aabb aacc
Line 1: A wave rolled smoothly to the shore, a
Line 2: unlocking beauty’s lushes door, a
Line 3: so fluent did it merely creep, b
Line 4: and o’er the sand to make me sleep. b
Line 5: Dream I did of clouds and lore, a
Line 6: that left me struck and wanting more, a
Line 7: but breezes came and touched my face, c
Line 8: with nature’s fingers of love and lace. c
Do these rhyme schemes or patterns have to be coupled together as above? No. Let’s take a look at the poem below, Sonnet I: Winter from my blog post on June 3, 2021. Notice that now each end word of every line rhymes with the line two lines down from it. So, this is how the rhyme scheme looks: abab cdcd efef gg
When snow has come and lingered for a time, a
The mountains shine like pure white satin sheets. b
The jagged rocks that stand and point like knives, a
Have but a look of poise and symmetry. b
The houses they in hibernation go, c
and sink like ships way deep beneath the waves. d
Cold air does whoosh in frigid gusty blows, c
But stops to peek a while inside a cave. d
The birds take off from empty bare tree nests, e
To seek their food which they know is not there. f
The trees did fall asleep like all the rest e
Of this great wintry beauty of no where. f
The hunters coming back from years afar, g
Do find their world still bright like heaven’s star. g
There are more rhyme schemes than what I have displayed here. This is just a basic view of what a rhyme scheme is. Below is an excellent link that delves further into the different rhyme schemes used in poetry.
The Golden Plight by L. M. Montes
In my room so bold and bright,
on the wall with gold and light,
was a tree with leaves to pluck,
and waved this day to spin my luck,
but I said no, I’ll take a stance,
and find my way through time’s expanse.
WRITE TIME AND AGAIN 