“Sonnet,” I said, “your depth and breadth and height
are less than a breadbox. Your flat metric feet
march out of step with now. You’re obsolete;
still you persist. Free verse zooms in flight
in weightless jets; but you are poured concrete,
rigid and set. So, face this and accept defeat.
Go, gentle sonnet, into that last goodnight.”

“You think to write me off?” replied the sonnet.
“Child, I’m historic; revered with the sons of Priam.
But where did you get this bee inside your bonnet?
Whence such ill will toward such a form as iamb?

I know I’m out of style, so I forgive you.
Despise me; castigate me; I’ll outlive you.”

Sonnet Sonnet by June B. Carter

The sonnet: Monument of praise, field of play, chamber of sudden change. Sonneteers cross boundaries of time, style, religion, nationality, and race. We will read sonnets from ancient to modern, including those by Shakespeare, Keats, Hopkins, Yeats, Frost, Rich and Collins, exploring how poets use imagery, metaphor, passion, reason, rhyme, meter and form to engage minds and overwhelm our hearts.

Format: Class members will lead discussions about sonnets suggested by the coordinators. Discussion leaders will provide brief historical context for the poet, plus questions to help us delve into the selected poems.

Resources/Expenses: The Penguin Book of the Sonnet, ed. Phillis Levin is available at Amazon, new $25 and used from $5.87.