Lesson 6...The Blues Sonnet

The Blues Sonnet is an American variation of the English/Shakespearean Sonnet. Both types of sonnets are 14 lines in length, both are written in iambic pentameter, and both have a rhyme scheme.

The English/Shakespearean Sonnet you will recall, consisted of 3 four line stanzas, with a rhyming couplet at the end. The English Sonnet is written with a rhyme scheme of ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG.

The Blues Sonnet is written in 4 stanzas consisting of three lines each, with an heroic/rhyming couplet at the end of the poem. Each line consists of 10 syllables.

The structure of the Blues Sonnet is:

Stanza 1

A
A
a

Stanza 2

B
B
b

Stanza 3

C
C
c

Stanza 4

D
D
d

Couplet

E
E

Each line is written in iambic pentameter - 10 syllables per line - u/s, u/s syllabic pattern.

The second line of each stanza is either a repetition of line 1, or a variation of line 1 with the same ending word. The third line is totally different from either line 1 or 2, and it contains a different rhyming word. but remains in proper rhyme.

The Blues Sonnet is usually a poem written about problems, or troubles the author is going through, or has gone through, and it is not unusual for the entire Blues Sonnet to be in the form of a complaint.

Discussion Topic
Blues songs were often patterned from the songs of slaves. Why do you think the slave songs lend themselves to blues, and what do you feel is the purpose of repetition in the Blues Sonnet? Write 1 page, your opinion only!

Assignment
Write a Blues Sonnet as defined in this lesson.

Example

She's Gone

I walked the road to Galveston at dawn,
yes walked the road to Galveston at dawn.
It ain't been very long since she's been gone.

My love she left me feeling sad and blue,
oh yes she left me feeling sad and blue.
I can't believe she's gone, but yes, it's true.

My skies have now turned dark and cloudy gray,
blue skies have now turned dark and cloudy gray.
I hope that they'll be bright and blue one day.

There will not be another love for me.
There will not be another love for me.
My brokenness is something you can't see.

My life will not go down in dark defeat.
For now my life is simply incomplete.

        Robert G. Dyson

References
http://www.poetrybase.info/forms/000/20.shtml
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5768

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