Poetry Type Comparison:
Sonnet vs. Limerick
Today, there will be a comparison of two types of poetry. Sonnets and Limericks. The comparison will encompass the definition of both forms, famous authors who utilized this form, and excerpts of poems that are clear, cut examples of the respective types.
Limerick:
A Limerick is a five-line witty poem with a distinctive rhythm. The first, second, and fifth lines rhyme with each other, while the third and fourth lines rhyme with each other as well. Each line follows a certain rule regarding syllables. The first, second, and fifth lines contain seven to ten syllables, while the third and fourth contain five to seven syllables which all feed into a limerick's rhyming scheme. Commonly, the first line introduces a person and a place, with the place appearing at the end of the first line and establishing the rhyme scheme for the second and fifth lines.
A very renowned poet that utilized this form of poetry was Edward Lear (1812-1888). Edward Lear popularized this form of poetry in his lifetime with all of the literature he wrote following its rhyme scheme and form. His most famous work of literature, titled Book of Nonsense contained an immense catalog of limericks that he wrote in his lifetime.
One of his limericks within the book shows an expert example of a limerick:
"There was a Young Lady of Portugal,
Whose ideas were excessively nautical:
She climbed up a tree,
To examine the sea,
But declared she would never leave Portugal."
Whose ideas were excessively nautical:
She climbed up a tree,
To examine the sea,
But declared she would never leave Portugal."
As you can see from the limerick above, the first line speaks of a place (Portugal) and it rhymes with the second and fifth lines, as stated previously. The place of Portugal then is restated in the last line bringing the poem together in a full loop and solidifying the rhyme scheme.
Sonnet:
A Sonnet is a fourteen-line poem that follows a specific rhyme scheme. Sonnet is an Italian word that translates to "little song". There are three main types of sonnets, Italian (or Petrarchan), English (or Shakespearean), and Spenserian sonnet. The respective names originated from the authors who made them famous.
Italian Sonnet (Petrarchan):
An Italian sonnet originating from the Renaissance involved two parts that formed an "argument". The first part which contains an octave (stanza of eight lines of prose) forms the "proposition", which describes a "problem", or "question", followed by six lines of prose, known as a "sestet", which proposes a "resolution". The ninth line of a sonnet, commonly referred to as the "volta" or turn, signifies the transition from the poem's problem to it's eventual resolution.
An excellent example of an Italian Sonnet style is the poem "On His Blindness" by John Milton:
"When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodg'd with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide,
"Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?"
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies: "God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts: who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed
And post o'er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait."
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodg'd with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide,
"Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?"
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies: "God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts: who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed
And post o'er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait."
English Sonnet (Shakespearean and Spenserian):
An English sonnet contains much of what an Italian Sonnet has. Specifically, Shakespearean sonnets have fourteen lines structured as three quatrains (a quatrain is a stanza of four lines of prose) and a
couplet. The third quatrain generally introduces an unexpected turn, also known as the "volta". The turn itself usually comes in the couplet and summarizes the poems theme or provides a different perspective.
A famous Shakespearean sonnet that stands the test of time is "Sonnet 18":
"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st;
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st;
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."
What makes a Spenserian sonnet different, is that it follows the abab, bcbc, cdcd, and ee rhyme scheme.
A Spenserian sonnet that shows the difference between these English authors is "Amoretti I: Happy ye leaves when as those lilly hands"
"Happy ye leaves when as those lilly hands,
Which hold my life in their dead doing might
Shall handle you and hold in loves soft bands,
Lyke captives trembling at the victors sight.
And happy lines, on which with starry light,
Those lamping eyes will deigne sometimes to look
And reade the sorrowes of my dying spright,
Written with teares in harts close bleeding book.
And happy rymes bath’d in the sacred brooke,
Of Helicon whence she derived is,
When ye behold that Angels blessed looke,
My soules long lacked foode, my heavens blis.
Leaves, lines, and rymes, seeke her to please alone,
Whom if ye please, I care for other none."
Sources:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Shakespeare.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Lear#/media/File:Edward_Lear_drawing.jpg
http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/BoN/bon020.html
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/50023
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Spenser#/media/File:Edmund_Spenser_oil_painting.JPG
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/on-his-blindness/
http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poems/other/
http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poems/funny/limerick/
http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poems/other/sonnet/
http://welcometotheschoolhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/poetry-quotes-620x3501.jpg
