For your fourth major assignment, you will write a formal poem. You have a choice among the villanelle, pantoum, sestina, and sonnet. Read the instructions (linked) and examples (below) for each style and choose which style you want to use; then follow the instructions for that style closely to produce your poem. Following the guidelines for the first three may be a little easier than the sonnet because there are not as many rules to follow, and they don't involve meter. Keep in mind with each of these that no matter the form among these three, you need to keep the lines around the same length.
Beyond the above requirements, it is absolutely imperative that you not forget all of the elements of great poetry we have used when creating free verse. You still want to use energetic, original language (no cliches or word packages); you still want to create great imagery; you still want to use alliteration, assonance, and repetition to create flow and emphasis; you still want to use similes and metaphors to your advantage.
Tips: You will see that in each one of the types of formal poems from which you can choose, the main format uses some sort of repetition: in the sestina, it is a repetition of end words in a specific pattern; in the pantoum, it is a repetition of whole lines in a specific pattern (a repetition of a line or a group of words in a poem is called a refrain); in the villanelle it is a repetition of lines as well as sounds (end rhyme) in a specific pattern (end rhyme in a specific pattern is a rhyme scheme). In free verse, you learned how to make the pattern or format of your poem mimic the content. You will do the opposite in formal poetry. Formal poetry comes with a defined pattern, so you need to choose content that fits the pattern well. Think of topics that often involve repetition or looping back to the same ideas over and over again. They tend to be things we are obsessed with and can't get out of our heads: scenes we play over and over again in our minds, see "Stillbirth" by Laure-Anne Bosselar and "My Brother at 3 a.m." by Natalie Diaz (both pantoums) as great examples of this.
Things to include in every poem you write:
Things to avoid in every poem you write:
Format:
Pantoums
"Stillbirth," Laure-Anne Bosselaar
"My Brother at 3 a.m." Natalie Diaz
"Pantoum of the Great Depression," Donald Justice
"Descent of the Composer," Airea D. Matthews
"Lawless Pantoum," Denise Duhamel
Villanelles
"The Long Deployment," Jehanne Dubrow
"Cracked Ice," Julie Sheehan
"Mad Girl's Love Song," Sylvia Plath
"I Am Not a Myth," Matthew Hattinger
"Do Not Go Gently Into That Good Night," Dylan Thomas
Sestinas
"Sestina," Elizabeth Bishop
"Operation Memory," David Lehman
Sonnets
"First Poem for You," Kim Addonizio (modified Shakespearean--imperfect iambs; imperfect pentameter)
"Here," Kim Addonizio (modified--no rhyme scheme or meter)
"The Gulf, 1987," Deborah Paradez (modified-unrhymed)
"Are All the Break-Ups in Your Poems Real?" Aimee Nezhukumathil (modified--unrhymed, mostly unmetered)
"SONNET (silenced)," Olena Kalytiak Davis
"Gapped Sonnet," Susan Gardinier
"Gravity and Center," Henri Cole
"What Lips My Lips Have Kissed," Edna St. Vincent Millay
"Love is Not All," Edna St. Vincent Millay (modified--imperfect iambs)
"I, Being Born a Woman and Distressed," Edna St. Vincent Millay (modified--imperfect iambs)
"Putting in the Seed," Robert Frost (Shakespearean)
"Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?" William Shakespeare (modified Shakespearean--the iambs aren't perfect here)
"My Mistress' Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun," William Shakespeare
Beyond the above requirements, it is absolutely imperative that you not forget all of the elements of great poetry we have used when creating free verse. You still want to use energetic, original language (no cliches or word packages); you still want to create great imagery; you still want to use alliteration, assonance, and repetition to create flow and emphasis; you still want to use similes and metaphors to your advantage.
Tips: You will see that in each one of the types of formal poems from which you can choose, the main format uses some sort of repetition: in the sestina, it is a repetition of end words in a specific pattern; in the pantoum, it is a repetition of whole lines in a specific pattern (a repetition of a line or a group of words in a poem is called a refrain); in the villanelle it is a repetition of lines as well as sounds (end rhyme) in a specific pattern (end rhyme in a specific pattern is a rhyme scheme). In free verse, you learned how to make the pattern or format of your poem mimic the content. You will do the opposite in formal poetry. Formal poetry comes with a defined pattern, so you need to choose content that fits the pattern well. Think of topics that often involve repetition or looping back to the same ideas over and over again. They tend to be things we are obsessed with and can't get out of our heads: scenes we play over and over again in our minds, see "Stillbirth" by Laure-Anne Bosselar and "My Brother at 3 a.m." by Natalie Diaz (both pantoums) as great examples of this.
Things to include in every poem you write:
- showing more than telling
- conflict
- originality
- energy (of sound and sense)
- complete sentences (MOST of the time)
Things to avoid in every poem you write:
- cliches and word packages
- most adverbs, especially ones that end in "ly"
- abstractions like "joy," "happiness," "fear," "excitement," "anguish," etc.
- heavy-handed or melodramatic words like "heart," "soul," "eternal," "desire," "dearest," "yearn," "bliss," "embrace,"etc.,
- archaic words like "alas," "amiss," "upon," "farewell," "thee," "thou," "thy," "beloved," "thine," etc.
- perspective adjectives like "beautiful," "lovely," "ugly," "terrible," "fantastic," "surreal," "enchanting," etc.
- clunky words (basically, words with too many syllables)
Format:
- The poem should be typed using 12 or 11 pt. font size and Times New Roman or Arial font style.
- Your name and e-mail address should be in the top, right corner of the page(s)
- By the left margin, you should type the title of your poem, double space, and begin typing the text of your poem (which should be single spaced except for the breaks in stanzas).
- Single space each stanza of the poem.
- Do not center the poem in the middle of the page or center each line of the poem. Again, the poem should begin at the left margin. If you would like to play with the spacing before and between lines and words, do so as suits the subject of your poem. Most serious contemporary poetry uses these devices very subtly, though, so keep that in mind. Look at the published poetry in your books as examples.
- Do not capitalize the first letter of every line. This is an antiquated convention to which most contemporary poetry does not adhere. Only capitalize the first letter of every sentence in the poem. If your word processing program automatically capitalizes the first letter of every line, turn auto-correct off or edit every line manually.
Pantoums
"Stillbirth," Laure-Anne Bosselaar
"My Brother at 3 a.m." Natalie Diaz
"Pantoum of the Great Depression," Donald Justice
"Descent of the Composer," Airea D. Matthews
"Lawless Pantoum," Denise Duhamel
Villanelles
"The Long Deployment," Jehanne Dubrow
"Cracked Ice," Julie Sheehan
"Mad Girl's Love Song," Sylvia Plath
"I Am Not a Myth," Matthew Hattinger
"Do Not Go Gently Into That Good Night," Dylan Thomas
Sestinas
"Sestina," Elizabeth Bishop
"Operation Memory," David Lehman
Sonnets
"First Poem for You," Kim Addonizio (modified Shakespearean--imperfect iambs; imperfect pentameter)
"Here," Kim Addonizio (modified--no rhyme scheme or meter)
"The Gulf, 1987," Deborah Paradez (modified-unrhymed)
"Are All the Break-Ups in Your Poems Real?" Aimee Nezhukumathil (modified--unrhymed, mostly unmetered)
"SONNET (silenced)," Olena Kalytiak Davis
"Gapped Sonnet," Susan Gardinier
"Gravity and Center," Henri Cole
"What Lips My Lips Have Kissed," Edna St. Vincent Millay
"Love is Not All," Edna St. Vincent Millay (modified--imperfect iambs)
"I, Being Born a Woman and Distressed," Edna St. Vincent Millay (modified--imperfect iambs)
"Putting in the Seed," Robert Frost (Shakespearean)
"Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?" William Shakespeare (modified Shakespearean--the iambs aren't perfect here)
"My Mistress' Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun," William Shakespeare