SHAKESPEAREAN SONNET: Rhymes and Meter

(courtesy of tiempoderoller.com)

Rummaging through the jungle of old notes and books, I found an ancient journal, a proof that Psyche (my old pseudonym that is synonymous with pain in an era of tears and heartaches [wait, erase that last part, the harrowing memories are seeping through...]) existed. This was a sonnet I wrote for my hubby’s birthday (he was still my boyfriend then) a decade ago.

Life’s no heaven without thee’s existence

A desert where no trees or flowers bloom;

How sweet to live and love in thy presence,

So oft have I felt pains, nor tears, nor gloom.

So are thee to my thoughts as food to life,

Or as the rain showers to the dried ground;

My wounded heart, stabbed by life’s cruel knife,

Hath been healed in thy arms with warmth abound.

How can I then return in happy plight,

Ev’rything I gained within thy embrace?

There are thousand ways which I cannot cite,

Just let me love thee ‘til the end of my days.

With thee in my life, it was love I have known,

May God bless this day, the day thee was born.

11132000

I remembered that it took me two days to finish this sonnet, for I agonizingly tried to follow the structure of a Shakespearean sonnet (with little success) which is constructed from three quatrains and a couplet and is composed of iambic pentameters with the rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef gg. I can’t imagine the spurt of inspiration I had that time that pushed me to finish the sonnet.

And now eggheads, let's start our activity about today's lesson. Group yourselves into three and analyze the rhymes and meters of the sonnet above... Move!