poetryclass - Roger Stevens

KEY STAGE TWO

Year Five, Term Two

2. The Sonnet
(Term Two)

This is a tricky poetic form but can be fun and very rewarding. The NLS suggests the sonnet is studied - and what better way to get to grips with this form than by writing in it. You might feel that this is beyond the skill of some of your pupils, on the other hand you might feel brave enough to give it a go!

Sonnets were first written around five hundred years ago and made famous by such poets as Milton, Wordsworth and Shakespeare.
Sonnets have 14 lines.
Each line consists of ten syllables.
The syllables are grouped in pairs (called feet or measures) - each with a short and a long stress. (The technical term for a short stress followed by a long stress is an iamb.)
Because there are five iambs in each line of the sonnet it is said to be written in iambic pentameter - pent meaning five (as in The Pentagon).

So, each line should go:

di dum di dum di dum di dum di dum

Give the class some proverbs. Try rewriting them using alternating short and long syllables.

For example

There's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip - / - / - / - /

becomes

Between the cup and lip there's many slips / - / - / - / -

Try

If at first you don't succeed then try, try again.
Too many cooks spoil the broth.
Many hands make light work.

You are trying to get into the swing of the rhythm. It looks a difficult task written down like this - but, funnily enough, children find it easy and before long it's difficult NOT to talk as though you were in a Shakespearean play. The important thing is to have fun with it.

The second element of the sonnet is the rhyme structure. The English or Shakespearean sonnet rhymes:

a b a b c d c d e f e f g g

It is important not to worry too much at this stage about either the rhythm or the rhyme. That can be worked on in later drafts. And many contemporary sonnets don't keep strictly to this form anyway. For less able children, you may want to forget about the rhyme and write the sonnet using the rhythm and line length only.

The sonnet could be written about someone. Ask the class to think of someone that they know very well and to begin by writing down everything they know about that person. What he or she looks like. What they wear. What they do. Their hobbies. Where they live. Good habits. Bad habits. And so on. Then play around with the rhythm, gradually shaping the sentences and phrases into the rhythm and pattern of the sonnet. It's a bit like working with clay, adding, subtracting, squeezing, kneading...

Teacher
by Roger Stevens

She's big and wide but moves just like a cat
Along a wall. A smile like the queen.
Her choice of clothes is black. She wears a hat.
Although occasionally she will wear green.
She always marks your book in pencil, never pen.
Her voice is quiet. As quiet as falling snow.
She very rarely rages. Now and again
Her voice is raised. But does she shout? Oh no.
She fixes you with eyes as pale as snake.
She stops you dead. She sees into your soul.
You cannot move. Your heart beats and you shake.
You want to shout, I'm sorry. Let me go!
Her class will tell you that she's kind and fair.
They never misbehave. They wouldn't dare.

My Dear, If Once
by Nicole Anne Braganza (aged 15)

My dear, if once I could but hold your hand...
And lead you gently, by the rhythmic sea
And 'neath the solitary moon, like love birds, we
Shall walk upon these grains of golden sand
The moon smiles down upon us, ever beaming
Your tender heart beats in perfect accord
Those waves, they break the silence like a gallant's sword
Then they caress the shore, like love beams streaming
I sing to you a ballad, just for old time's sake
Of lovers, on a summer's starry night
So innocent are words as beautiful as this
They drift into my mind, as it awakes
Amidst the sands of time, two lovers reunite
Our souls are sealed as one with but a single kiss.

Sonnet to a Messy Room
by Roger Stevens

If in my brother's room you dare to tread
Make sure you tell someone that you are there
Please wear protective clothing, and take care;
Perhaps a paper bag upon your head.
There's Lego scattered on the bedroom floor,
A pair of underpants hang from the light
An old jam sandwich pushed half out of sight,
One smelly trainer, mould grows by the door,
The bedclothes piled up in a shapeless heap,
A one-armed, dog-chewed Teddy, looking sad
This room must be the subject of a curse.
There doesn't seem to be a place to sleep.
But if you think my brother's room is bad
You'd best not visit mine - for my room's worse

Another sonnet that's worth searching out is Celia Warren's Shakespeare's 18th Worm ('Shall I compare thee to a piece of string, thou art more bristly and more flexible') and Dave Calder's The Amorous Teacher's Sonnet to his Love. Both can be found in The Unidentified Frying Omelette - edited by Andrew Fusek Peters (Wayland).

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