sonnet

One of my professors has started a blog, Open Source Sonnets, in which he is going to attempt to write a sonnet every day, or at least post an old classic sonnet. When I took his class a few semesters ago I had to analyze two of his sonnets, and was very impressed by both, especially because he wrote them on his bus ride into work. As he explains in the introduction to his blog, he once wrote a sonnet everyday for almost four years, almost 1,200 sonnets. He invites all that visit his blog to post comments, and says "Whatever poem posted here is free/for you to imitate, adapt, or take;/ whatever line or stanza you may see/ is open, let it leaven what you bake./ Improve, revise, or parody at will;/remix, repost, be playful with your skill!"

In his first posted sonnet he talks about the fear that many writers, myself included, have towards sonnets; which is conforming to the form, or "rules" of sonnets. Recently in my Creative Writing class we had a discussion about how rules are meant to be broken, and if broken with purpose and intent, can lead to beautiful results. One popular example of this is the poemThe Aeronaut to His Lady by Frank Sidgwick.

I
Through
Blue
Sky
Fly
To
You.
Why?
Sweet
Love,
Feet
Move
So
Slow.

While this does follow the rhyme scheme and other such "rules" of sonnets, it is not written in iambic pentameter. I don't intend to teach an English lesson here, but this can easily be argued to be a sonnet, and I find it pretty cool. Needless to say I am hoping to find some inspirational sonnets from his blog. You should check it out!