The constraints on sonnets
The sonnet is one of the most famous, yet criticized forms of literature to date. To many, the form may seem constricting its harsh rules, but as stated in the text An Exaltation of form, writers of such form leave with great pieces of work, as their eyes have been opened to the endless possibilities of work that can be created with such form. Many people have read such form of literature through the works of Shaksphere, along with the vast history within Great Britian and Ifreland literature. Poet “jacopo de Letini created the from in the thirteeneth century. The form is constucrted with 14 lines, originally meant to be sung, but eventually turned into a form of poetry using repetition, with patterns of abab as well as a sestet rhyme scheme, with cdecde. Although the sonnets construction rules are specific and sharp, the topics and themes in which a sonnet can be written about are not, allowing readers to expierence a multitude of stories, which make this form of poetry unique (Finches and Varnes (298).
One sonnet that really stood out to me was From “Second Grade”, by Alberto Rios. What I enjoyed about this sonnet was the modern language and personal story telling Rios expierenced in his life. The sonnet tells a story that the author experienced in second grade, where he was one of the only kids who spoke English. Raul was antoher student who he met. He was a Spanish speaker, and ran into trouble because of his culture and ethnicity. Within the second stanza, Raul was expelled for stating that he was the “last Panchuco left” (Rios Line 10). Furthermore, it could be interpreted that the teacher, “Miss Lee”, racially discriminated Raul, as someone cussed in the class, and her first guess was Raul. (Rios Line 14).
It can be interpretted through the text that Rios here was trying to explore the disgrimiation that minorities expiernce in society, even at such a young age. It felt as if the story has happened multiple times in the current world, with the fact that the school in the story suspensended the student based off his ethnicity, and the teachers first assumption that Raul was in the wrong for something that she was truly unure of. Furthermore, these views could also show how society views sonnets. Many people tend to ignore them because of their strictness, and difficulty to read sometimes, but truly dont dig deep down to understand them, just like the tecaher and school didnt understand Raul as a person.
An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art. Eds. Anne Finch and Katherine Varnes. Ann Arbor: U. of Michigan Press, 2002. pp. 297–307.
Rios, Alberto. “Second Grade.” An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art. Eds. Anne Finch and Katherine Varnes. Ann Arbor: U. of Michigan Press, 2002. pp. 307.
