The Gushen Grove Sonnets
Studies in the Sonnet Poetry Forms
By Mike Garofalo
Table of Contents: Alphabetical
25 Steps and Beyond: The Collected Works
Green Way Research Subject Index
Sonnets, Typographic Play, Graphics,
Photos, Text-Art, Variations, Lists
By Mike Garofalo
Campfire at Grayland Beach
Granted, I don't live at the sea.
I'm an inlander, you see, but
living not far from the Pacific
Ocean visited by others and me.
To watch the dark wet sand
splashed by churning surf.
To feel the cold swirling sea
bounce by my knees. Exhilarated
by wave after walls of water waves.
Later, rested, dried off, sitting still
around a campfire pit glowing red;
talking about friends who are dead.
In the cold dark night the sounds
of the surf melted the campfire light.
mpgSonnet 960, November 5, 2024
At the Edges of the West, Volume 1
Highway 101 and Hwy 1
Details on Details, Zoom In
The endless treasures of the everyday,
the uncommonness of common things;
Ordinary mind does point the way
to unspoken wonders of myriad beings.
Whether a leaf, the moon, a plastic spoon,
or a shoe, an eye, an infant's cry;
the endless parade, zoom out, in zoom,
Details on details, thick, piled high.
Cellular seedpods pulsing pure time,
Flowering brains clone families of minds
that revel in thinking to the Infinite edge,
agog over life, and love of knowledge.
Whether, a quasar, a hand, a DNA strand,
Fantastic journeys in the Minds of Man.
mpgSonnet 800, March 2005
Crash, Smashed!
In a Bakersfield tule fog we huddled indoors
waiting
for Hwy 99 to clear for travel.
Hopefully, we could safely go on to Fresno;
after that blinding opaque fog unraveled.
I had listened to tales from my nephew, a cop,
and read about
999 fatal accidents on Hwy 99, and scores more
in the Ag-Cities of the San Joaquin Valley
over many decades past.
In 1974 it became personal!
We were notified:
that my Grandmother Blaize, age 89,
had been run over and Killed
by a drunk driver on a Fresno night.
Her crushed bloody body found under a car
outside of a Church dance hall.
At Grandma’s closed casket funeral in Fresno,
the family all quiet, mourning, still—
We silently said our goodbyes.
Grandma Blaize on our minds till we too die.
Whether it’s James Dean smashed in a crash,
or Mabel Blaize run over by a drunk,
car drivers and cars and fogs are killers.
We know the risks, face the facts, shudder.
mpgSonnet 935, Jan 29, 2025
Vampires in the Hoh Forest
The Town of Forks hosts Vampires,
teenage blood suckers on the night prowl, and
teenage Werewolves howling, running fast.
Humans afraid of these creatures’ wrath.
Human, not so human, called by the Night,
confused, resisting, teenagers losing the fight
against inner demons and lusty needs
and ordinary life with real human beings.
Many beings eat, fight and kill to survive;
wily, tricky, stealthy, with a hunter’s pride.
The Horned God has history on his side.
From our Hungers there is no place to hide.
Hungers keep us all on the Edge,
ready to amorally pounce from a hedge
and slaughter or harvest creatures just ahead.
We are all Vampires rising from the dead.
Its said,
Living and dying scenes in a vivid Red.
mpgSonnet 865, Jan 13, 2025
Valentine's Day Knocked on the Door
I am gifted memories
so that I might see
a vase of yellow roses
in dreary February.
Valentine's Day knocked hard on our wood door.
She laughed at the the card I bought from the store.
Dried yellow roses in a Chinese vase by the door.
I tried very hard not to be such a bore.
Our pleasant chat went well, I thought;
very grounded, very friendly— Hot!
Beconing us both to Lust's Bonfire Blaze
burning a white hole in Valentine's day.
Later, she turned to leave, and all was well.
She left for work; and that broke the Spell.
mpgSonnet 930, February 17, 2002
You shared the spark,
You fanned the flame,
You fed the fires,
You passed the Names.
For all those known,
For all those unnamed,
We raise this Toast
With thanks this day.
May your days be pleasant,
May your love unfold,
May your community hold,
May our Earth be loved, and
Please, do good for others,
Promptly, for our time is measured cold.
mpgSonnet 855, May, 2009
More Images, Less Fluff
In 2000 time, a former colleague of mine
mailed me an anthology of Imagist poetry.
In 1913 time, Pound and Addington chimed:
nouns not adjectives, directness like tea,
ample individuality, precise exact words,
don’t do this or that, focused on the facts,
down to earth, pointed, a tough sharp Axe,
real, modern, urban, fresh, clear, fast.
They did not favor Rhymes most of the time
coz it was buzz love fuzz above outdoes
their calls for hard direct expression above
the rattle and skip-step of sounds abuzz.
Advocates for the perfect photograph in words.
Snapshots, Directshots, captured Blackbirds.
mpgSonnet 880, February 1, 2025
King T commanded everone to say
"Gulf of America" Not "Gulf of Mexico"
No matter what all the maps might display.
Better, Gulf of the Americas, si o no.
King T fires employees every day
Especially if you get in his way.
He knows well about bankruptcy,
Fraud, lies, legalese; so others can't see.
King T Orders: Open the Valves
Tap the "unlimited water" from
Canada and the Northwest.
Unlimited water is a myth.
King T is the Commander in Chief,
Head Honcho, President. Good grief!
mpgSonnet 955, Jan 21, 2025
Homework: Home and Work
Standing, sitting, lying down
always moving up and down.
Looking, feeling, listening now;
smelling tasty cornbread chow.
home and work
work
Two good arms and handy hands
triple the powers of ordinary man.
Combining with machines set right
we can be productive day and night.
home
Reading novels or playing games.
Listening to jazz being played.
Watching detailed TV travel docs.
Falling asleep at eleven o’clock.
Dreamt about the Big Problems at Work!
Suddenly! Woke Up! Yuck, Homework!
mpgSonnet 900, Jan 13, 2025
Stopping in Coos Bay
Over the McCollough Bridge way
I just arrived to play in Coos Bay.
Going today to my yurt camp
at Sunset Bay on Arrago Way.
As expected on a February day
rain on the roads, fog over the bay.
The winter air and brisk wind
chilled my bones and fingers thin.
The buildings were glazed green-gray
from moss, mists, fogs and rain
showing their dusty logging days
when the deep-sea cargo ships came.
I walked out on the bouncing dock walks;
gazed at the McCollough Bridge alot.
Smiled at the fishermen passing by;
sipped a cafe mocha; wistful, sighed.
mpgSonnet 870, January 2023
Freed the Criminals
King T promised to daily Strive
to cut our Government down to size
castrate Departments and Agencies
eliminate benefits people use to survive.
He grants pardons to convicted felons
MAGA Insurrectionists from Jan 6th,
Right-Wing White Boys, yelling-trashing
People injured and dying
on the Capitol floor.
King T busy telling everyone
what to Do to be in his good favor;
or else he will Do Bad This or Bad That
to your people, until you obey.
Busy, bossy, rich King T will go
until his stone-cold heart finally blows snow.
mpgSonnet 950, Jan 7, 2025
Of things mechanical
I've little ken,
I fumble and fuss
from start to end.
Where a mechanic
pushes right
I pull left till
things stick-tight.
Bending things
I shouldn't bend,
unfortunately,
till they ain't right.
It's just so, so it is,
fumble fingers my fate it is.
mpgSonnet 925, Jan 11, 2025
Awakening: Wednesday, 2/5/2025, 3:33 am
From the depths of my restless shallow sleep
My crusty eyes fluttered and blinked so slow
My fine dream scenes disappeared like snow
Melting on Rem Mountains wide and steep
I tried to remember those passing fancies
those jumbled meandering dreamlike flashes
those jerks and shudders over things fantastic
those jagged memories flowing fast
I stirred and stretched and opened my eyes
my mouth was a cotton ball of spit all dry
my back ached again on that damn left side
the bed creaked as I shifted where I lie
Too early to get up, turn on the lights, and read?
Or, fall back asleep, and birth more dream seeds?
mpgSonnet 940, February 5, 2025
25 Steps and Beyond: Collected Works
In Vancouver, the Washington rain seldom ends
in winter when the trees and shrubs are gray
and thin. We wear coats and sweaters indoors
and stay cozy warm, dry, and often High.
Highway 99 goes right through our town;
It’s Main Street, paralleling Interstate 5.
Main Street Marijuana is Open
Everyday, from 8 am to 11 pm.
Selling pot to Stoners on the prowl.
I shop there every Thursday for Cannabis,
sativa and indica, mixes, pre-rolled, on Sale;
10 1/2 gram pre-rolled joints for $15.00.
Redbird Sour Diesel for $1.50 a spliff; Yes!
At home: comfy, dry, relaxing, reading, Stoned.
Mainstreetmarihuana is a small part
of my much larger Home.
mpgSonnet 920, Jan 30, 2025
Gleaming Gas Pumps in the fluorescent night.
Silent Slaves of the Almighty Dollars,
Pouring high-priced high-octane gallons
Into the bellies of Chevies.
Ding! Ding! Gallons go down.
Wallets open and fold.
Customers piss, buy coffee, stretch and go.
Less waiting lately from more oil embargos.
Headlights come and go, flashing
By the drying Lakes of Petro.
Acid fogs melt steel-belted moons.
Smog smothers a baby soul.
A Dead End ahead, everywhere,
For US, for OPEC, for Fords. Beware!
mpgSonnet 910, January 7, 2025
25 Steps and Beyond: Collected Works
Patrotism ripens till rotten
and the Stink of Revenge
Perfumes the victory prayers
or pathetic platitudes intoned.
Flesh falls from bones.
Sons become toomstones.
Mothers moan, Fathers groan.
Broken hearts in empty homes.
The military graveyard
needs mowing now—
not a soul in sight
until after midnight.
America Attacks—
flags hang at half-mast.
mpgSonnet 915, April 2002
the pleasures of masochistic conundrums
the fact is that some philosophers enjoy
the rush of mental masochism,
the bondage to fashionable ideas,
the titillations of traditions,
the painful flagellation with
the keen, clear, sharp cutting words,
the bowing to Mistress Logic,
the humiliation of utter confusion,
the euphoria of the games,
the charms of the fantastic
theaters of thought alluring,
the submission to
the non-experiential concepts,
the fetishes of errors and illusions.
mpgSonnet 850, October 2004
No Guarantees that to the End
Our cherished ideals will survive,
Our great great grandchildren will thrive,
Our monuments stand ...
Our guarantees?
This tree my great great grandmother planted,
This dog-eared Leaves of Grass on my desk,
This classic folksong on my breath,
This heirloom apple in my hand ...
This day,
no guarantees
for or against.
Good! So we strive on,
Their and our hopes in our hands now.
mpgSonnet 810, October 2005
In the bowels of darkness, grim and cold,
the heads of the hunted turned,
young and old;
Fearing the rattle in the weeds.
White teeth,
Prowling predators, hard claws unsheathed.
Ears up listening, listening, still as knives,
Fangs barred, dripping tongues, hungry eyes.
Coyotes did their yap-yap howl
Mice and rabbits in holes hide
Racoons and possums growled
Bats flew fast from side to side
The Killer-Hunters are on duty now
In the night, the Night, knowing how.
mpgSonnet 810, October 2005
Flipped Over in the Turning Sands
affecting all the molecules in me
the pull of the moon and sea
feeling the call to walk the shore
Smiled, opened the door
tides and time sent signals to me
to step nimbly over epiphanies
seen flipped over in the turning sands
Surprised, opened my hands
waiting for nobody but me
a fleck of cold fire
flung out on this fleck of space
Sang out, Loved this Place
I picked up a shiny pebble
intricate, Green with Spots of Yellow
mpgSonnet 835, January 11, 2025
A Game of Words Working
Can one play chess without a Queen?
Can one play soccer without a ball?
Can we think without using words?
Can we Be without the All?
One idea-thing stands on Many Things.
Part and parcel ain’t enough it seems
to satisfy the Whole Purists in any scene.
Gestaltist's try to clarify what they mean.
Take something away, something new stays.
Change the Rules, a fresh game ensues.
Play with a handicap, no Queen for you.
Draw a picture and just view and stew.
A web of the uses of words in daily life
Entangles our understandings. Right?
mpgSonnet795, Feb 3, 2025
The Bottom Line
"Caress the detail, the divine detail."
- Vladimir Nabokov
“We think in generalities, but we live in details.”
- W. H. Auden
"The idea of one overbearing truth is exhausted."
- Thomas Mann
“A profound attention to the details of this world.”
- George Levine
“Cherish the minutes heureuses.”
- Charles Baudelaire
“The vast and unsuspected reality of small things
- Robert Nozick
“We are better satisfied in particulars.”
- Wallace Stevens
"God is in the details." - Mies Van Der Rohe
“Details are all there are.” - Maezumi Roshi
“Focus on small worlds of order.” - Paul Valery
“No ideas but in things." - William Carlos Williams
"To study the self is to forget the self.
To forget the self is to be enlightened
By the ten thousand things." - Zen Master Dogen
mpgSonnet790, Feb 3, 2013
Double Visions
An eager face staring into the Rich silence
Of mirrored space devoid of mind;
Not projecting or connecting, but reflecting.
Supreme non-fictions, Things
Naked as they are, as they are.
Inevitably, as sunshine blares on stones,
Green erupts from Brown.
Curious George swings across the mind
past junkyards of ideas, peeling metaphors,
rusting rhymes, and concrete cliches,
into the Center of Imagination City.
We are as we are:
Twofold,
Realities and Possibilities.
mpgSonnet 905, June 2003
Clear Cut
I. Before and Ongoing
Clear-Cut ------------------------------------
sunburnt shrubs, oozing stumps,
raw bulldozer Ruts ::::::::::::::
II. Now and Ongoing
We replant more seedling trees every year:
52 million a year in Washington forests,
158 million
a month all around the world,
7 thousand replanted every minute.
I planted 200 trees in my lifetime.
Others saved treasured trees in cities.
Julia Butterfly Hill lived for 738 days
high on a redwood branch in protest.
Kenny Chaplin, Wangari Maathai, Li Xiuzhu,
Johnny Appleseed, Constantino Aucca Chutas,
Aila Keto, John Muir, Jadav Payeng,
Saalumarada Thimmakka, Adrien Taylor ...
Tree Huggers, Tree Heroes, Tree Savers,
Tree Planters!! I Salute these Green saviors.
mpgSonnet 805, February 10, 2024
Contents Listed in Alphabetical Order
The Gushen Grove Sonnets
By Mike Garofalo
Altar at Bandon Jetty 895
Awakening: Wednesday 3:33 am 940
Bookstore by the Bay 965
Camas on the Columbia 915
Campfire at Grayland Beach 960
Details on Details, Zoom In 800
Flipped Over in the Turning Sands 835
Fog over the Willamette 875
Pleasures of Masochistic Connumdrums 850
Sunset Bay Blues 945
Surprise Unraveling 895
Tide Pools at Hecate 890
Vampires in the Hoh Forest 865
Valentine's Day Knocked on the Door 930
Vancouver Fort at Dusk 940
Will Cherished Ideals Survive 810
Contents Listed in Numerical Order
The Gushen Grove Sonnets
By Mike Garofalo
800 Details on Details, Zoom In
810 Will Cherished Ideals Survive
815 Throwing Popcorn on the Pond
820 Fishing at the Potholes
825 Brinnon's Bright Rhododendrons
835 Flipped Over in the Turning Sands
840 Chrysanthemum's from China
845 Bloodbaths on Middle East Shores
850 Pleasures of Masochistic Conumdrums
860 Homeless Camp at the Burnt Creek Trail
865 Vampires in the Hoh Forest
875 Fog over the Willamette
890 Tide Pools at Hecate
895 Altar at Bandon Jetty
930 Valentine's Day Knocked on the Door
940 Awakening: Wednesday 3:33 am
945 Sunset Bay Blues
960 Campfire at Grayland Beach
965 Bookstore by the Bay
975 At the Edges of the West, Volume 1
Highway 101 and Hwy 1
980 At the Edges of the West, Volume 2
Highway 99 and Interstate 5
Thematic Index, Topics, Subjects
Index
The Gushen Grove Sonnets
By Mike Garofalo
In your web browser or PDF viewer,
press Ctrl + F to open the Search
Box. Type in the number listed below,
to go the the bottom of the poem
with the subject that you want to read.
Automobiles 935, 910
Awe 800
Bay 870, 945
Beach-combing 945, 835, 975
Beginner 969
Bridge 870
Campfire 960, 855
Cannabis 920
Clumsy 925
Cape Disappointment WA 930, 975
Coos Bay OR 945, 870
Concrete Poetry 935
Conservation 910
Crash, Smash! 935
Criminals 950, 935
Death 969, 935, 865, 915
Details 800, 790
Donald Trump 955, 950
Dream 900, 940
Drunk Driving 935
Dusk 870
Environment 910
Fire 855
Forest 865 805
Gasoline 910
Homework 900
Humor 925
Hunters 830
Games 795
Grayland Beach 960
Highway 99: 920, 980
Highway 101: 865, 870, 975
Ideals 810
Imagination 905
Imagist Poetry 880
King T 955, 950
Language 795
Light Verse 925
Lists 790
Logging 805
Marijuana 920
Masochism 850
Meaning 795
Mysticism 835
News 950, 955
Night 960, 830
Pacific Ocean 975
Particulars 790
Philosophers 850
Planting Trees 805
Poetry 880
Politics 950, 955, 915
Resources 910, 955
Romance 930
Seashore 960, 835
Science 810
Sleep 940
Spells 930
Sunset Bay OR 945
Survive 810
Things 790
Toasts 855
Topical Current 955, 950
Trees 805
Valentine's Day 930
Vampires 865
Vision 905
War 915
Wonder 810
Work 900
Yurt Camping 945
Writing Exercises: Sonnets
Ongoing Daily Practice Efforts
Beginner's Efforts in 2025
Sonnets in Progress and Incomplete
Both current and past revised efforts
In Progress - Revisions
Sunset Bay State Park, Oregon
Near Charleston and Coos Bay
February 10-13, 2025
On the Trail to Arrago Point
Crooked cane, big backpack
Two bottles with fresh water
Trail food gorp in a blue bag
Compass and phone at hand
Map in my front pocket
Extra clothes in the pack
Tools for nature studies
Time for it to happen.
Warm coat, cabby cap
Good boots, wool socks.
Steep trails to tidepools
Tired back, cricky knee
So, I stopped the hike at last,
being sensible, headed back.
mpgSonnet Feb 10, 2025
A Down’s Talking: Da Da Da Da ...
Two brothers and one sister playing
on the campground park paths.
Laughing and running very fast.
Howling like coyotes courting.
One shouts “Run!” The others laugh.
The little girl stutters,
“dada dada dada dada
rara rara rara rara”
Likely, a Down’s special-mind child.
At 4am the girl screams in her yurt.
Night terrors wrenched her soul.
Her mother tried her best to console.
Her brothers woke up and looked hurt.
Unaware of her handicapped future,
families try their best to fill in for her.
mpgSonnet Feb 11, 2025
Snow on Bastendorff Beach
A final word from the cold yurt camp:
the bitter stiffness comes and goes,
21 degrees is just too damn cold,
my fingers burn from Winter’s stamp.
Yesterday, three fishermen talking
in a Charleston cafe
told of the snow coming tomorrow,
Thursday;
Snow on Bastendorff Beach
beyond the north jetty of Coos Bay.
You have got to be kidding,
glassy snow on the way?
I gathered up all my camping gear
well before daybreak and packed;
found a way to get it all stacked
in tightly in the old Ford’s rear.
I confess, the Hard Cold Beat me Down.
So I quit, and
left the Sunset Cove yurt campground
on that Wednesday morn
in the chilly daybreak without making
hardly a sound.
Headed to my warm home in Vancouver now!
mpgSonnet Feb 12, 2025
Arbitrary Associations Impeding
Combining useful and not
was an activity he often fought.
Because, frequent repetition of
two variables, often led to
associations undesirable
He ate fried foods while he wrote,
soon he could not write sans Fritos.
He smoked while he worked,
soon he could not continue to work
without taking many a toke.
Associations like glue sticks and binds
creating connections and habits
he never expected at any time,
they multiplied like mice in his mind.
Break connections, divorce associations,
rally behind a his new he.
Avoiding these random associations,
he becomes free.
mpgSonnet Feb 5, 2025
Paradoxical Considerations
Dividing by math into the decimal’s depths
Leaves the Tortoise always one-step less.
Stopped by a perplexed infinite regress;
The Hare’s running to a marathon death.
She knows heroin and cocaine will kill her,
Her pleasures propel her to pay for more.
She can hardly stand, sits on the floor.
Finally, dying suddenly, payback occurred.
Supreme Fictions live on and on for most
who say they believe in Holy Ghosts who
will escort them to Heaven to get their due
for doing nothing but buttering toast.
Lots of puzzles and problems at Life’s door.
Paradoxically, we always crave for more.
Marriage Misaligned
A gold ring dulled by time
Marking one marriage misaligned.
Broken promises rip up minds.
Lies increased but did not rhyme.
Overspending broke the weakened chains.
Yelling and cussing split their brains.
Arguing for hours to make their claims.
They seldom agreed and were not ashamed.
Sonnets: Bibliography, Research Tools
In January of 2025, I selected and purchased books with anthologies of Sonnets, books with critical commentaries, and guides and introductions to Sonnets. In 2025, I planned to use these books for researching, sonnet poetry reading, studying, modeling, reflecting upon, composing commentary on, and writing Sonnets. This webpage will reflect my ongoing Sonnet studies.
I have written many sonnets in the past. Particularly, from our days of living in Red Bluff, CA, from 1998-2017. I will include some of those sonnets in this webpage.
The books listed below would be my teachers, my guides, my aides, my pointers in 2025 to Sonnet poems.
These and other books would be my classroom assigned reading for under $400.
Fortunately, for me, many of these books were used book purchases.
No class fees for me to study at home alone.
Here is a list of the Sonnet books that are currently in my home library in Vancouver, WA.
I study these books the most:
The Penguin Book of the Sonnet: 500 Years of a Classic Tradition in English. Edited by Phyllis Levine. Penguin, 2001, 528 pages. Index, Biographical Notes, Commentary. VSCL.
New Oxford Rhyming Dictionary. Oxford Quick Reference. Oxford University Press, 2013, 2nd Edition, 448 pages. Rhymes for over 45,000 words. This dictionary for rhymes is my favorite to use. The end of this book (pp. 230-448) is an index of English words and the numerical key to organized rhymes for each word in the front of the book. I go to this book every day for rhyme ideas. VSCL - 2 paperback copies for two desks.
The Making of a Sonnet: A Norton Anthology. Edited by Eavan Boland and Edward Hirsch. Reprint Edition. Norton, 2009, 512 pages. VSCL.
American Sonnets: An Anthology. Edited by David Bromwich. American Poets Project. Library of America, 2007, 224 pages. VSCL.
Shakespeare's Sonnets. Edited by Katherine Duncan-Jones. The
Arden Shakespeare, 1997, index, 488 pages. VSCL.
The Sonnet: An Anthology. A Comprehensive Selection of British and American Sonnets from the Renaissance to the Present. Edited by
Robert M. Bender and Charles L. Squier. Washington Square Press, 1985, 428
pages. VSCL.
The Cambridge Companion to the Sonnet. Edited by A. D. Cousins and Peter Howarth. Cambridge University Press, 2011, 296 pages. VSCL.
The Art of the Sonnet. Edited with commentary by Stephanie Burt and David Mikics. Belknap Press, 2010, 464 pages. Bibliography, Index. VSCL.
How to Write a Form Poem: A Guided Tour of 10 Fabulous Forms: Includes Anthology and Prompts: Sonnets, Sestinas, Haiku, Villanelles, Pantoums, Ghazals, Rondeus, Odes and More plus Variations. By Tania Runyan.
25 Steps and Beyond: Collected Works of Mike Garofalo
At the Edges of the West, Volume 2
Memories of Pacific Coast Places
Sonnets: Supplementary Texts, Links, Articles, Books
The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms
A Little Book on Form: An Exploration into the Formal Imagination of Poetry. By Robert Hass. pp.121-186.
The American Sonnet: An Anthology of Poems and Essays. Edited by Dora Malech and Laura Smith. University of Iowa, 2023, 383 pages.
The Prosody Handbook: A Guide to Poetic Form. By Robert Beum and Karl Shapiro. Dover, 2006, 240 pages.
A Poet's Guide to Poetry. By Mary Kinzie.
Poems Translations: The Early Italian Poets and Dante's Vita Nuova. Translations and editing by Dante Gabriel Rosetti. Classic Reprint. Forgotten Books, 2019, 510 pages. Kindle EBook.
The Essential Poet's Glossary. By Edward Hirsch. 2017, 385 pages.
On the Elasticity of the Sonnet and the Usefulness of Collective Experimentation.
frank: sonnets. By Diane Seuss. 2020, 154 pages, Won the Pulitzer Prize.
Art of the Sonnet. By Stephanie Burke. Belknap, 2011, 464 pages.
Sonnets to Orpheus. By Rainer Marie Rilke. Bilingual Edition. Translations and editing by Mark S. Burrows. Monkfish, 2024, 190 pages.
The Sonnets: By Jorge Luis Borges. A Bilingual Edition. Edited by Jill Levine, et. al. 2010, 335 pages.
Sonnet Forms, Models, Frames Notes by Mike Garofalo.
I also use books from the FVRL = Fort Vancouver Regional Library System, Clark County, WA.
Poets Writing Sonnets:
William Baer (150), Jorge Luis Borges, Elizabeth Barrett Browning (44),
Eugene Lee-Hamilton (100),
John Milton (523), Rainer Marie Rilke,
Diane Seuss, William Shakespeare (154),
Lope de Vega (over 3,000)
Sonnets: Models, Structures, Rhyme Schemes
SM - Sonnet Model [Lines, Rhyme Scheme, Prosody, Notes)
RS = Rhyme Scheme
Types of Sonnets: American, Curtal, Caudate, English, French, German, Miltonic, Occitan, Petrarchian, Shakespearian, Spanish, Universal
SM 1 Sonnet Model 1
8+6 = 14 Lines
RS = abbacddc efeeff
RS = abba abba cde cde
RS = abba abba cdccdc
RS = abba cddc efeeff
RS = abab cdcd ece cff
RS = abba abba cddcee
RS = ababcdcdee fgfgaa
RS = abab cdcd efef gg
Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374) Italian Renaissance Author
"Italian or Petrarchan Sonnet: Named for the Italian Renaissance lyrical poet Francesco Petrarch, this sonnet pattern consists of an eight-line Octave with the rhyme scheme ABBA ABBA, followed by a six-line Sestet that follows one of two rhyme schemes, CDE CDE or CDC CDC."
The Turn, the summary, the Volta, the concluding lines begin at the start of the final 6 lines.
SM2 Sonnet Model 2
4+4+4+2 = 14 Lines
RS = abab abab abab aa
RS = abab cdcd efef gg
English, Shakespearian, American
"English or Shakespearean Sonnet: Named for William Shakespeare and a variation of the Italian sonnet, this sonnet pattern consists of three four-line Quatrains and a concluding coupletwith the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG."
The Turn, the summary, the Volta, the concluding lines begin at the start of the final couplet.
The last two lines nearly always finish in an end rhyme.
SM3 Sonnet Model 3
14 Lines
Free Verse, Square Block Rectangle,
No Stanzas, No Breaks, Unryhmed,
Fits in a Frame
RS = abcdefghijklmn
SM4 Sonnet Model 4
14 Lines
RS = abbacddceffegg
RS = ababcdcdefefgg
RS = abcdabcdabcdee
RS = abcdefghijklmn
Rhymed end words or Free Verse,
Square Block Rectangle Shape,
Fits in a Frame.
Many Internal Variations:
14, 8+6, 4+4+8,
6+8,
4+4+4+2, 8+6, etc, for
turns-twists-voltas.
Used Worldwide
Petrarch, English, American, French,
Modern, Renaissance
SM5 Sonnet Model 5
4+4+3+3 = 14 Lines
RS = abab cdcd eee eff
Petrarch, Italian, French
SM6 Sonnet Model 6
4+4+6 = 14 Lines
RS = abba abba cddceee
English, American
SM7 Sonnet Model 7
Longer 'Sonnets' up to 20 lines.
Usually free verse.
SM8 Sonnet Model 8
SM9 Sonnet Model 9
SM10 Sonnet Model 10
Prosody (Patterns of rhythm and sound)
Meter: Iambic.
Short then long syllable, unstressed then stressed, downbeat then upbeat.
Iambic Examples: unknówn, abóut, of árt,
"Iamb: a two syllable metrical foot, the first unstressed, the second stressed.
Upbeat followed by downbeat.
"
"Foot = A group of syllables forming a metrical unit."
The English language iamb fits the natural stress patterns of
English words and phrases.
"Iambic pentameter = A five-stress, roughly decasyllabic line."
"To wáke the sóul by tender strókes of árt." - Alexander Pope
Meter:
Trochee
Thoraic Examples: únknown, Dadum, póet; Stressed/Unstressed, Downbeat/Upbeat.
"Trochee: A metrical foot of two syllables, the first stressed, the second unstressed.
It starts with a downbeat." Marching or Walking pace rhythm.
Literary Devices: Definition and Examples of Literary Terms
My personal stylistic and webpage considerations
for when writing sonnet poems:
1.
Arrange text to fit on a cellphone screen at
14px font. Since, my line length is limited, I will
stop a longer
line
and then indent the next line
to finish that line. I will look carefully at all
webpages I create on my Android cellphone.
2. Generally, I favor punctuation (, . ; ! - —)
and capitalization rather than not. But, some
free verse sonnet poems eschew the use of
such common conventions.
3. Generally, I use the Verdana font in
14px size. However, using other fonts
or font sizes in the same or different
poems would be interesting. Such variety
might be used for a group of poems on
a theme, to focus attention within a
single poem, or just to artistically
alter
the visual appearance for change.
I use Dreamweaver
for webpage work.
Read, read, read ... a LitHead's disease.
Beginner's Luck and Junior's Gone: I Move On.
I began studying Sonnets for the first time in my life in the winter of 2025.
I studied the literary commentators, teachers, and Sonnet master guides.
I was an old man in 2025, 78 years old and surprised that I was still alive.
I could still lift a pencil, walk, garden, read, write, laugh, listen, thrive.
My brother-in-law, Junior P, died today, in Indiana, at the age of 87.
Mr. Alzheimer and Mrs. Pneumonia escorted him to Baptist Heaven.
I imagined my self becoming an English Major student at WSU Vancouver.
I pretended I was a poet, a Lit-Head Hip hipster, a cool author in disguise.
We know a few who said a prayer to the good Babtist God, before Junior died.
We hope God listened and told Barbara, Junior's late wife, that God too cried.
I read and read, listened, took notes, memorized phrases, studied hard.
I thought about Sonnets, their history, their forms, their great bards.
So, I picked up a pencil and started to write a amateur's sonnet;
Floundered, could not get the words just right;
so I let it stew for awhile. Then, returned to write.
mpgSonnet 970, Jan 2, 2025
Reading is the best road to success
for beginners ready to be the best.
- mpg
Michael Peter Garofalo (1946-) grew up in East Los Angeles, was educated in Catholic Schools, lived with two other brothers, graduated (B.A., M.S.) from local universities, married Blanche Karen Eubanks, served in the US Air Force, worked in and managed many City and Los Angeles County Public Libraries, raised two children, socialized, traveled, and learned. Retired as the Regional Administrator, East Region, Los Angeles County Public Library in 1998. We moved to a rural 5 acre property in Red Bluff, in the North Sacramento Valley, CA. Webmaster since 1999. Worked part-time for the Corning School District (Technology and Media Services Manager); and as a yoga, Taijiquan, and fitness club instructor until 2016. Traveled extensively in Northern California, Oregon, and Washington. We both retired, and we moved to Vancouver, WA, in 2017. Currently in 2025: reading, writing, gardening, harmonica playing, string figures playing, home chores, yurt camping, activities with grand children, exercise, learning to read Spanish, traveling in the Northwest, web publishing, family events, poetry research, photography, Northwest research, Nature mysticism, walking, sports events, and other projects.
25 Steps and Beyond: The Collected Works of Mike Garofalo
Exhibits at the Cyber Gazebo: Text Art and Concrete Poetry
By Michael P. Garofalo
This document was last edited, revised,
reformatted, added to, relinked,
changed, improved, or modified
by Mike Garofalo
on February 16, 2025.