The Sonnet
The sonnet is a poetic form that has historically had a focus on the topic of love, as seen in the romance works of William Shakespeare, written as an English sonnet. However, there are certainly other forms of sonnets that have developed, while still abiding by the general structure of the poem. The Italian sonnet has fourteen lines of eleven syllables that have a lesser value on rhyme, as these syllables were not accented in an orderly fashion. This would allow the poem to have more freedom in how the poem reads, and the message conveyed to the reader. A very famous Italian sonnet is one that sits on the marker of freedom for the United States. This is Emma Lazarus’s sonnet, “The New Colossus” which is imprinted on the Statue of Liberty and focuses on the love of freedom and immigration, rather than romantic love. In this poem, Lazarus uses the rhythm scheme of the sestet (the last 6 lines of the sonnet) to welcome and encourage people into this land of freedom and opportunity.
The sestet of the poem, “The New Colossus” follows an ababab rhyme scheme. By doing this, Lazarus emphasizes her cry for those that are looking for a land full of possibility, freedom, and a new start. She says “Give me your tired, your poor/ Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” (Lazarus 305). These lines are then followed by lines that continue the rhyme scheme; “The wretched refuse of your teeming shore./ Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me./ I lift my lamp beside the golden door” (Lazarus 305). By rhyming “free” and “me” the poet illustrates the connection between freedom that is associated with the United States, as “me” refers to lady liberty, the symbol of freedom welcoming immigrants into the New York harbor. She emphasizes that this is a country where individuals can practice their lives freely, whereas they may not have been able to in other parts of the world. Lazarus’s drive to show that this land is a place bursting with opportunity is seen in the other rhyme set. Rhyming “poor”, “shore,” and in the final line of the poem, “door” there is a narrative created about the United States. This is that the country is open to the poor (and the tired), and wants to welcome them on their shores, as within this country there is a golden door of opportunity open for anyone who is willing to work for it. By using these rhymes, and emphasizing this message within the rest of her poem, it is clear that the poet wants to see immigration within this country so people can better their lives.
Hacker, Marilyn. An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art. Edited by Anne Finch and Katherine Varnes, U of Michigan P, 2002, pp. 297–307.
Lazarus, Emma. “The New Colossus,” An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art. Edited by Anne Finch and Katherine Varnes, U of Michigan P, 2002, pp. 305.
