Sonnet

Only through sonnets, can this man compare thee to a summer's day.

A sonnet is a verse that is quite fine.
Ten syllables each line, but wait, there's more.
Five iambs (weak then strong) make up each line,
And rhyme divides the lines in groups of four.
The sonnet, when complete, fourteen lines long,
With three such groups and then a couplet, too.
And if you ever get this structure wrong,
Your English teacher goes berserk on you.
The sonnet comes from Italy; today
The English is the version that we use,
Although to a historian, this may
Be something that does nothing but confuse.

And so, as you write tanka and haiku,

Forget this not. Write one sonnet or two.

See also

• Sonnet 18
• Sonnet the Hedgehog