The Sonnets of Today and Yesterday

When reading about sonnets, I think about how different that they are in today's world. I have decided that I am going to do some small research on contemporary sonnets and sonnets that were written in the Elizabethan Era. The difference between the subject matter in these poems are fascinating to me. I have always been interested in how things change, and you can defiantly see how different sonnets were in the Elizabethan Era, Even though Elizabethan Sonnets were usually written for Queen Elizabeth.

Examples of Elizabethan Sonnet:

III

William Shakespeare

Look in thy glass and tell the face thou viewest
Now is the time that face should form another;
Whose fresh repair if now thou not renewest,
Thou dost beguile the world, unbless some mother.
For where is she so fair whose unear'd womb
Disdains the tillage of thy husbandry?
Or who is he so fond will be the tomb
Of his self-love, to stop posterity?
Thou art thy mother's glass and she in thee
Calls back the lovely April of her prime;
So thou through windows of thine age shalt see,
Despite of wrinkles this thy golden time.
But if thou live, remember'd not to be,
Die single and thine image dies with thee.



One Day I wrote Her Name Upon The Strand

Edmund Spenser

One day I wrote her name upon the strand,
but came the waves and washed it away:
Again I wrote it with a second hand,
But came the tide and make my pains his prey.
Vain man (said she) that dost in vain assay
A mortal thing so immortalise;
For I myself like to this decay,
and eke my name be wiped out likewise.
Not I (quod I); let baser things devise
To die in dust, but you shall live by fame;
My verse your virtues rare shall eternise,
And in the heavens write your glorious name:
Where, when as Death shall all the world subdue,
Or love shall live, and later life renew.



Contemporary Sonnet Examples:

In Simultaneous Rooms

Alfred Dorn

How many doors open, how many close
while your eyes skims this "moments monument"?
Holed up in a slum lord's apartment house,
and old man dies, alone, irrelevant.
Another life is pierced out of the womb,
from tropic sleep into our arctic day.
In the deluxe hotel's Edwardian room
a window fiercely hugs a rose bouquet
set by a chamber half her age, with card
warbling silk words that curtain has design.
In the Sahara of a hospital ward
a bed explodes with pain like a land mine.
And meanwhile the galaxy, that spiral ear
carrying us through darkness, does not hear.


Nightfall

Jared Carter

Now while I sit here in this dark chamber
By firelight, a lost traveler returned
From a distant country, and half unlearned
In his own tongue--I must risk the danger
Of remembrance. Pensive, I would linger
Over old books, yellow pages burned
By unquenchable years, that I once yearned
To know: the verse of forgotten singers.
First almost nothing remains--a fragrance
Of blossoming trees, a single footstep
On the cobbled stone beneath my window.
Yet every line reverberates. A dance
Perhaps, in the way the music has kept
To an old balance, among these shadows.



Though I only listed a couple of these sonnets in each section, but the list can go on and on. As you can see, both the Contemporary and the Elizabethan Sonnets are 14 lines, in 10 syllables. There are very interesting differences in the two, however. As I have seen in many Contemporary Sonnets, they tend to not rhyme as often as Elizabethan Sonnets. Also, the subject manner in both of these poems are very different. In most Elizabethan Sonnets, they are geared towards an object of affection, or love. I noticed in Contemporary Sonnets, however, that they tend to lean on a variety of subject manners.

I think I could learn a lot from looking at these two styles of sonnets. I think that I can learn about how beautiful language can be, while writing about things that I would like to write about. I have always strayed away from Sonnets because I have always been taught that they were written in admiration to someone or something. Looking at Contemporary Sonnets shows me the variety that they can be in.

#1 for Week Four: Free Thought

I have decided to list my favorite song lyrics ever, and my least favorite song lyrics ever.

My favorite: First of all, I am a glutton for Damien Rice. I love him, and if I could, I would marry him, and shoot out his babies.

"The Animals Were Gone"

Woke up and for the first time the animals were gone
It's left this house empty now, not sure if I belong
Yesterday you asked me to write you a pleasant song
I'll do my best now, but you've been gone for so long

The window's open now and the winter settles in
We'll call it Christmas when the adverts begin
I love your depression and I love your double chin
I love 'most everything that you bring to this offering

Oh I know that I left you in places of despair
Oh I know that I love you, so please throw down your hair
At night I trip without you, and hope I don't wake up
'Cause waking up without you is like drinking from an empty cup

Woke up and for the first time the animals were gone
Our clocks are ticking now so before our time is gone
We could get a house and some boxes on the lawn
We could make babies and accidental songs

I know I've been a liar and I know I've been a fool
I hope we didn't break yet, but I'm glad we broke the rules
My cave is deep now, yet your light is shining through
I cover my eyes, still all I see is you

Oh I know that I left you in places of despair
Oh I know that I love you, so please throw down your hair
At night I trip without you, and hope I don't wake up
'Cause waking up without you is like drinking from an empty cup


I love some of the images Damien Rice gives in this song. My favorite is "waking up without you is like drinking from an empty cup." I love it, because he shows how pointless waking up without his lover is through that line.

My least favorite lyrics: No offense Lady Gaga, you are catchy and all, but come on.


Disco Heaven


Oh, the disco heaven
Oh, the disco heaven

Get back, bunny
It's getting cold in here little honey
We got a show to put on your dress
Take a minute for us and relax, relax
Cupid's got me, oh with his bow & arrow, baby
He'll hit you in the pants, hot pants
Get the people to dance and relax, relax

Oh the lights still on, we're dancing
Yeah the floor is shaking
In this disco heaven
(oh, the disco heaven)
The disco heaven

(oh, the disco heaven)

Oh the lights still on, we're dancing
Yeah the floor is shaking
In this disco heaven
(oh, the disco heaven)
The disco heaven

(oh, the disco heaven)

Throw your head back, girly
Throw it like those girls in the movies
We got a show to put on your dress
Take a minute for us and relax, relax

The ball is turning, 300 mirrors burning
Through the hearts of the crowd
In the back hips just banging the track
To the music, the music

Oh the lights still on, we're dancing
Yeah the floor is shaking
In this disco heaven
(oh, the disco heaven)
The disco heaven

(oh, the disco heaven)

Oh the lights still on, we're dancing
Yeah the floor is shaking
In this disco heaven
(oh, the disco heaven)
The disco heaven

(oh, the disco heaven)

Oh we got that disco
D-i-s-c-o
And we're in heaven
H-e-a-v-e-n
Disco heaven

Feels just like heaven
Disco heaven
Disco heaven

A line up for the dance
Yeah bring those fancy pants
Y'know there's disco in the air
And hairspray everywhere

A disco heaven
A disco heaven
Disco heaven
Disco heaven

Oh the lights still on, we're dancing
Yeah the floor is shaking
In this disco heaven
(oh, the disco heaven)
The disco heaven

(oh, the disco heaven)

Oh the lights still on, we're dancing
Yeah the floor is shaking
In this disco heaven
(oh, the disco heaven)
The disco heaven

(oh, the disco heaven)


No offense. Hit me in the hot pants?