We have moved!

This blog is no longer actively updated. You can now find us at http://poetscollective.org/everysonnet/.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

AA Sonnet - 12 Step Sonnet

This sonnet was invented by Larry Eberhart, aka, Lawrencealot

It steals a page from the Burmese poem form know a Ya Du, in that it uses staircase-rhyme as well as end-rhyme.

The sonnet can be written in either Iambic or Trochaic Tetrameter or Pentameter. The form is different for each, because of the 12-Step internal rhyme pattern.

The Tetrameter version is three quatrains and a couplet,

Rhyme Patter n:    abab cdcd efef gg

The internal rhyme has the first syllable rhyming with the For each stanza the first syllable in line 1 

rimes with the 2nd syllable in line2
with the 3rd syllable in line 3, and
with the 4th syllable in line 3.

The Petrameter version is two sestets and a couplet.

Rhyme Pattern is  abcabc dedede ff
The same scheme is applied to each stanza as was used in
the tetramter version, except at Line 4, and L10 new
rhyme sounds are selected.  (This limiting required rhymes to three)

NO Volta is required, but may be used anywhere at poet's discretion.


Example.



Restraint       (AA Sonnet - 12 Step Sonnet)

A drunk husband with rifle in the door. 

That day I was the fourth cop there, so went 
right away to the rear of that small house. 
The cops were talking they would talk some more. 
A danger now stalked we hoped to prevent. 
I found window unlocked, with view of spouse. 

Beyond the wife was man with back to me, 

and he was never looking back my way. 
Quietly, I slide open my entry, 
but paused- negotiations underway 
were calming him, though he held the gun he 
did not point, so I showed restraint that day. 

Entering that room I'd have been a fuse- 

With not a lot to gain and much to lose.

Template:





















2 comments:

  1. What about Shakespeare? Can Sonnet no.126 be called an AA sonnet?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, because the defining element, the staircase rhyme (interleaved) is missing. When I came here to reply, I noticed that the templates were not displaying correctly. I have corrected that now. Thanks for dropping by.

      Delete