Sonnet By Billy Collins

“Blank Sonnet” by George Elliott Clarke is a sonnet expressing struggled communication with a lover through a broken relationship. This poem expresses communication struggles through the stylization that is atypical to a Shakespearean or Petrachin Sonnet. Clarke

In 2001, the American population was shocked by the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. Two planes were hijacked and rammed into the twin towers. As soon as the first plane hit, news reporters began to broadcast the event on every news station throughout the country. In the next moment, a second plane crashed into the other building, and it was witnessed on live television. A frenzy of panic and uncertainty engulfed the American society and patriotism soared.

A sonnet by definition is, a poem of fourteen lines using any of a number of formal rhyme schemes, in English typically having ten syllables per line. A poem is a piece of writing that says a lot in a few words; this sonnet does exactly that, it utilizes a multitude of literary devices to tell a story of a writer examining life with an ending message to push forward and go. In “An Echo Sonnet”, the author, Robert Pack uses repetition, hypophora, antithesis and synecdoche to reveal the voice experiencing writer's block which leads to the discussion of life and death between the voice and the echo.

In my opinion, Billy Collins could be appreciating the simplicity and organization of sonnets, or (as the evidence suggests) he may dislike how standard and uniform they are. He begins by just listing how many lines are in a poem, “All we need it fourteen lines.” He does not see a sonnet as anything more than fourteen lines on a paper. It is not until the very end of the poem, that Collins gives characters and a brief story to his poem. He also compares the lines, and the structure of the poem to “rows of beans.” This further suggests to me that he finds sonnets boring and rigid. In the final six lines of the poem, Collins summarizes the ideas of “longing and heartache” that are often found in sonnets. This shows that Collins believes

In 2001 a new poet laureate was crowned and a new voice; the voice of

Throughout the poem “Sonnet” it is unclear the poet has written his poem as a true sonnet since Collins ignores several structural components of a sonnet. For instance, the writer chooses not to adhere to the traditional iambic pentameter rhythm and rhyme schemes of a sonnet as the speaker states: How easily it goes unless you get Elizabeth and insist the iambic bongos must be played and rhymes positioned at the ends of lines (Collins 5-7). Although the poem fails to implement several components of sonnets, the poem still utilizes some features found in traditional sonnets. For instance, the speaker of the poem describes implementing the fourteen stanzas required in a sonnet when the poem reads, “All we need is

Billy Collins, born and raised in Manhattan, New York, is one of America’s most successful poets. Known for very famous poems such as “The Art of Drowning” and “Introduction to Poetry,” Billy Collins has succeeded in the department of English Literature for much of his life. With a bachelors degree from the College of Holy Cross and a Masters and PHD from the University of California, Riverside, Billy Collins went on to become a college English professor at Lehman College in the Bronx. He is and for a long time has been a strong advocate for encouraging young people to get into poetry and even created the program “Poetry 180” where he made a collection of 180 poems for schools to read one poem every school day. Setting him apart from the average poet, Collins received the utmost honor from the Library of Congress when he was declared the U.S. poet Laureate in 2001, serving for two years. Following the September 11th terror attacks, Collins wrote and read a poem entitled “The Names” that was dedicated to the victims. Unlike many poets who write extremely emotional poems, drawing from their traumatic backgrounds, Collins keeps it simple and rights about relatable, average, middle class lifestyle topics; both of his poems Introduction to Poetry and Embrace are emblematic of that.

1. The sonnets written in the Harlem Renaissance have many similarities. In every sonnet there is a thyme pattern. These patterns may vary, but each poem has a distinctive pattern. The different approaches to the sonnet form could signal different thematic concerns.

In sonnet 95, the speaker depicts a paternal feeling while speaking to the addressee, where indeed the poet reminds his audience about way appearance can be so deceiving. The young man is relying on his good appearance to veil his sexual immorality. Being that he is handsome and attractive, people are reluctant to disapprove his behavior. In the first quadrant, the poet employs different stylistic devices, which include simile, as the young man is likened to a fragrant rose, and on the other hand, he is compared to a destructive worm, but all his dark side of life is hidden under his good looking and charming nature. What is important about this poem is the manner in which the speaker reminds the young man about his bad behavior and draws examples that makes him feel sorry about what he does behind his good-looking nature. By the use of diction, imagery, diction, images, metaphors and other figures of speech, such as tone of voice, allusions, syntax and structure of the speech, the speaker warns the young man against his sexual immorality, and reminds him that there are detrimental risks associated with his behavior if he does not change.

Written in the form of a Shakespearean sonnet, one could hardly mistake it for anything so pleasant. Sonnets being traditionally used for beautiful, appealing topics, already there is contradiction between

12. A Petrarchan Sonnet has two parts, one stanza that contains 8 lines and another containing 6. It “uses a rhyme scheme that ties the first eight lines (the octave) together, followed by a rhyme scheme that unifies the last six (the sestet)” (Foster

Glasgow sonnet is a touching poem written by Edwin Morgan and is about how Glasgow used to be, years ago and the effects that it had on people. It deals with an important issue such as poverty and we see the reality of it and how it shouldn’t be ignored. By examining Morgans use of techniques we will be able to seen more of the effects of poverty and how and things actually are Morgans makes the poem particularly effective by the use of sonnet structure, the first 8 lines show us the area and the surroundings and the second half shows us the inside of the situation including people having to deal with this poverty.

     The sonnet, being one of the most traditional and recognized forms of poetry, has been used and altered in many time periods by writers to convey different messages to the audience. The strict constraints of the form have often been used to parallel the subject in the poem. Many times, the first three quatrains introduce the subject and build on one another, showing progression in the poem. The final couplet brings closure to the poem by bringing the main ideas together. On other occasions, the couplet makes a statement of irony or refutes the main idea with a counter statement. It leaves the reader with a last impression of what the author is trying to say.

‘Sonnet 116’ by William Shakespeare and ‘What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, And Where, And Why” by Edna St. Vincent Millay are both sonnets that discuss companionship and a glimpse of each poet’s experiences. In ‘Sonnet 116’, Shakespeare illustrates how capability is weakened by its metaphysical stereotype and ideals such as, love, while on the contrary, in ‘What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, And Where, And Why” Millay feeds on the chaos between the ideal of love and its harsh reality, heartbreak. Both poets seem to be love struck but there is a significant difference in the two. I will compare and contrast ‘Sonnet 116’ by William Shakespeare and ‘What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, And Where, And Why” by Edna St. Vincent Millay. I will also inquire and analyze why this particular form of poetry established different effects.

The poem by Billy Collins entitled “Introduction to Poetry” was a really great opening to the new semester. When I think of poetry I think of something that I hate reading, don’t understand, and is extremely boring. Since elementry school I have had to recite poems for the annual contest. I have had extreme stage fright, those emotions have now correlated with poetry itself. When Ms Davis first introduced this unit at the beginning of the second semester, I was dreading it. It did not seem to turn out like I expected, I enjoyed this unit a great deal.