I have always been fascinated by the sonnet form. I have played with this myself for over 20 years... but I can always appreciate a master.
It was funny.. I had the TV on in the background when my ears perked up.. some mindless Canadian Sci Fi show was quoting Sonnets to Orpheus one of my long ago favs.
Amazing how a vague cultural reference can segue into a renewed love.
I dug up my old copy of Rainer Maria Rilke's masterpiece and launched in.
I have been carrying it around with me while I travel for work for over a week now.
Amazing how the still in an airport lounge or the bustle of a Starbucks can suddenly seem still when you read these sonnets.
There are 55 sonnets in the sequence, divided into two sections, the first of 26 and the second of 29. The sonnets follow certain trends, but they include many different forms.
The sonnets are made up of two quatrains followed by two triplets. As well, the sonnets have some rhyme scheme, generally a/b/a/b c/d/c/d or a/b/b/a c/d/d/c in the quartets and e/e/f g/g/f, e/f/g e/f/g or e/f/g g/f/e in the triplets.
They are also all metered, but their meters change tremendously between poems; dactylic and trochaic are the most common. The line length varies greatly, sometimes even within a particular sonnet.
Feast on this small sample.. and read more GOOD poetry
SONNET 1-21
Spring has come back. And the Earth is
like a child who memorized
many poems, so many! ... For this
long hard study, she wins the prize.
Her teacher was tough. We liked the white hue
of the beard below the old man's nose.
Now, we can quiz her what the blue
and green are called: she knows, she knows!
You lucky earth, from duty freed,
play with the children. We want to hold on
to you, jolly earth. The jolliest succeed.
What teacher taught her, all those things,
and what stands written in roots and long
entangled stems: she sings, she sings!
And for extra credit... the original untranslated!
Frühling ist wiedergekommen. Die Erde
ist wie ein Kind, das Gedichte weiß;
viele, o viele ... Für die Beschwerde
langen Lernens bekommt sie den Preis.
Streng war ihr Lehrer. Wir mochten das Weiße
an dem Barte des alten Manns.
Nun, wie das Grüne, das Blaue heiße,
dürfen wir fragen: sie kanns, sie kanns!
Erde, die frei hat, du glückliche, spiele
nun mit den Kindern. Wir wollen dich fangen,
fröhliche Erde. Dem Frohsten gelingts.
O, was der Lehrer sie lehrte, das Viele,
und was gedruckt steht in Wurzeln und langen
schwierigen Stämmen: sie singts, sie singts!
