Sonnet (1999) By: Billy Collins

1 All we need is fourteen lines, well, thirteen
2 now, and after this one just a dozen to launch a
3 little ship on love's storm-tossed seas, then
4 only ten more left like rows of beans. How
5 easily it goes unless you get Elizabethan and
6 insist the iambic bongos must be played and
7 rhymes positioned at the ends of lines, one for
8 every station of the cross. But hang
9 on here wile we make the turn into the final six where
10 all will be resolved, where longing and
11 heartache will find an end, where Laura will
12 tell Petrarch to put down his pen, take off those
13 crazy medieval tights, blow out the lights, and
14 come at last to bed.


POEM TYPE:

What do you notice about its STRUCTURE?
-Rhyme scheme (Mark using RED letters at the end of each line)
-Stanzas
-Line length
-Meter/rhythm
What do you notice about the poet’s WORD CHOICE? (Highlight interesting/intriguing word choice in YELLOW; and discuss below)
-Look for emotional words.
-Look for meaningful words.
-Analyze for connotative meanings.
-Select the most powerful word.
What do you notice about the IMAGERY? (Highlight imagery in BLUE; and discuss below)
-Check for similes and metaphors.
-What do you see and feel?
-What do you hear, taste, and smell?
-What words and phrases create these images?
What do you notice about the poet’s FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE? (Highlight figurative language in PINK; and discuss below)
-Check for similes and metaphors.
-Check for personification.
-How does the figurative language enhance the poem?
What is the THEME of the poem? (Discuss below)
-What message does the poet want the audience to know?
-Formulate the message into a complete thought.