Terza Rima Sonnet: Poetic Forms
Poetic Form Fridays are made to share various poetic forms. This week, we look at the terza rima sonnet, a 14-line Italian form.
If the terza rima sonnet sounds familiar to Poetic Form Friday regulars, there's a reason for that. We've previously covered the terza rima and also the terzanelle. While these Italian forms are related to the terza rima sonnet, it's definitely its own Italian form.
Here are the guidelines for the terza rima sonnet:
- 14-line poem comprised of four tercets (or three-line stanzas) followed by a couplet (or two-line stanza)
- Rhyme scheme (capitals are refrains): aba/bcb/cdc/ded/ee
- Iambic pentameter (or 10-syllable lines for those who aren't comfortable with meter)
Note: Lewis Turco's authoritative The New Book of Forms refers to the terza rima sonnet as a quatorzain (or a 14-line poem that is not a sonnet). However, it's a little too weird for me to say that "terza rima sonnet" is not actually a "sonnet." So I'll just share that aside and let the philosophers and traditionalists duke that one out. Either way, this is a fun poem to pen.
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Play with poetic forms!
Poetic forms are fun poetic games, and this digital guide collects more than 100 poetic forms, including more established poetic forms (like sestinas and sonnets) and newer invented forms (like golden shovels and fibs).
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Here's my attempt at a terza rima sonnet:
"down memory lane," by Robert Lee Brewer
beyond the pond and all the evening sounds
there's a spot that's made for a summer swoon
beneath the moon in june that we once found
while we both wandered through that afternoon
of saying one thing and then another
while we both wondered if it were too soon
to say the things said only by lovers
falling so fast we felt that we might fly
where balloons and helicopters hover
because down became up and low fell high
our empty thoughts were so saturated
with the big ideas that make all dreamers cry
out in the night that all love is fated
for better or worse i'm still elated
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
