Readings
Shakespeare, William. “Sonnet 18”, “Sonnet 60”, “Sonnet 65.” Poetry Foundation.
Spenser, Edmund. “Amoretti LXXV”, “Amoretti LXXXI.” Poetry Foundation.
Sidney, Philip. “Astrophil and Stella 1”, “Astrophil and Stella 31.” Poetry Foundation.
Brooks, Gwendolyn. “my dreams, my works, must wait till after hell.” In Selected Poems. Harper & Row, 1963.
Brooks, Gwendolyn. “the rites for Cousin Vit.” In The Norton Anthology of Poetry Fifth Edition. W.W. Norton and Company, 2005.
Reading Exercises
You can see what it looks like if we assign color to the lines of a sonnet to show their end rhymes.
In other words, instead of writing the rhyme pattern as ABBA ABBA … (for instance), we can show it using different font colors:
When I consider how my light is spent,
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one Talent which is death to hide,
Lodged with me useless, though my Soul more bent,
To serve therewith my Maker, and present,
My true account, lest he returning chide;
“Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?”
I fondly ask. But Patience to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need
Either man’s work or His own gifts. Who best
Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best. His state
Is kingly: thousands at His bidding speed,
And post o’er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait.”
Pick one author and one sonnet; copy the poem, and use color to indicate the rhyme scheme. Before class, look at all the sonnets to see what kinds of changes get rung on the form, and what kinds of line groups within the 14 line whole get defined by rhyme.
