I am having to do a sonnet for a class poetry slam, and in reviewing what I have at the moment, realize this as one of my lines:
…/so briefly, in the multivalent chagrin, the gray of conformity, that which I myself struggle through.
A sonnet has alternating rhyming: ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, and GG; they are in iambic pentameter and ten syllables long per line (five feet); clearly, this line here does not follow the rules. Many other lines in my sonnet disobey line length (the number of syllables) and iambic pentameter, but it still keeps the number of lines and rhyme scheme of a traditional sonnet.
However, in spite of the break of this rule, can it still be considered a sonnet?
Given this, could I still present my sonnet as a sonnet?
Best Answer
The OED defines “sonnet” thus:
Note the word “typically” – this allows for other meters.
Note the syllables mentioned in the 1575 quote.
It gives two further meanings:
And (note obsolete)
Thus a “sonnet” is rather vague.
Yours is probably a sonnet.