My oldest had to write a sonnet for her homework. The rules set down were, in order, that it should be:
- 14 lines
- 10 syllables per line
- ABAB/CDCD/EFEF/GG scheme
- iambic pentameter
“Most kids aren’t even going to attempt iambic pentameter,” she told me.
“You will,” I told her. “Where’s the volta? The turn?”
“He’s never mentioned it.”
“Shame. It’s not really a Shakespearean sonnet without a good volta.”
She has given me permission, as part of Shakespeare Day, to share her creation. I told her that sonnets are not generally titled, but she insisted.
Fleeting Fall
The wind carries the scent of changing trees
While sticky sap drips down for tasty treats
And down the apples fall with light fall breeze
Becoming grandmother’s pie for dinner sweets
On busy streets the cider donuts wait
Soon hungry children come to eat their fill
Then racing home, they try not to be late
For pumpkin pie sits cooling on the sill
A lightly drizzling rain comes with the dawn
It washes everything away, anew.
And all too soon the life of fall is gone
When winter blankets everything in view
The fleeting scents of autumn all are flown
But winter brings aromas of its own.
