How do you feel about sonnets as a poetic form? Do you like their structure or do you find them too limiting? Use one of the sonnets we have discussed in class or one that you have read on your own as an example of what you mean.

I like sonnets, they get to the point and they're interesting. Generally however, I prefer free verse poems that have no limited structure or any specific requirements, they're more 'stream of consciousness" like; a style of writing I always enjoy. Sonnets aren't too binding however and rules can always be broken. Because of their structure, sonnets can seem repetitive after a while, with the rhyme scheme. and precise quatrains and ending with a rhyming couplet. Although it's limiting, it's challenging to get an idea across in a certain number of lines, so when one can accomplish that, it's admirable.I like how sonnets start off by saying one thing but at the volta (turning point - ninth line) the ideas change and in the conclusion, something different is stated, contradicting the introduction.

For example, I enjoyed reading Sonnet 29, by Shakespeare. The speaker of the poem starts off by comparing himself with other men, and finding that he comes out mediocre " (I) look upon myself and curse my fate...desiring this man's art and that man's scope". Then the mood changes into a more optimistic one, where the speaker counts his blessings so to speak, and values his friendship or love with the person to whom he is speaking, above the virtues he seeks superficially. When the speaker realizes this, he says that he wouldn't trade place with kings. This sonnet is one of my favorites from the 5 we've read so far.