Suzette sonnet was introduced on my facebook page, Suzette Richards poetry, on 9 April 2021 as a new sonnet form. Simultaneously, I introduced it on my websites. A few days later, it was introduced on PoetrySoup.com in an article named ‘Suzette Sonnet—a new sonnet form’.
To me, the most pleasing of the forms are not stylised formats, but rather those with a lyrical element to them. What sets poetry apart from regular prose, or everyday communication, is that it has an element of rhythm, and has its own unique language, for example, the use of alliteration.
Historically speaking, songs came first before the written word—rhythm and tonal quality are paramount. Therefore, rhythm and sound have primacy over meaning. Metre lends rhythm to the poetry penned and as such, I designed Suzette sonnet with this in mind.
Copyright © Suzette Richards 9 April 2021
Rhyme scheme: aaa; (b1–b2)(b1–b2); ccc; (d1–d2)(d1–d2); abcd
A 14 line sonnet. The triplets are iambic pentameter [*/|*/|*/|*/|*/]; the rhyming couplets are iambic hexameter including an internal rhyme [*/|*/|*/ — */|*/|*/] (alexandrines); concluding with a quatrain in iambic pentameter that summarises the sonnet in a rhyme scheme of any combination set by the triplets and couplets—for example: abcd/acbd/dcba/etc. The volta is at L9.
Suzette sonnets may be written as a single 14-line stanza or the tercets, couplets and the quatrain may be set apart on the written page by employing white space.
Auto antonyms (‘Janus words’), homonyms, homographs, heteronyms, and homophonic rhymes would lend interest to the couplets, but it is not a set requirement.
MY EXAMPLE
INEFFABLE MYSTERIES
We paid the price for hasty choices made
and cried our tears for dreams put to the blade.
The lessons learned a hefty price we paid.
Against our woes, we rail — the urgency to bail.
Excuses very stale — comparisons must fail?
With truthful knowledge, man must themselves arm,
protecting him from possible great harm,
as ignorance deceptively would charm.
Lament will take its toll —do travel to-wards goal.
Some silver tongues extol —their lavish lyrics roll.
A fair comparison to current ails,
the signs of growing rapprochement disarm.
Plumose like-memories that tease then fade.
Ineffable the mysteries of t’ soul.
All rights reserved.
The moral rights of the author have been asserted.
Copyright © Suzette Richards 2021
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