As with © Suzette Prime 2012, syllable counts have often tripped me up and I rather eschewed poetic forms where it was a set requirement. I knuckled down and investigated the various poetic forms at our disposal to establish what appeals to me and why they do. Without fail, the most pleasing of the forms were not stylized formats, but rather those with a lyrical element to them. Time and again, I came back to the classic sonnets, and the newer formats also fascinated me – a total of 180 sonnets, including pseudo sonnets (quatorzains/’gadget’ sonnets).
What sets poetry apart from regular prose, or everyday communication, is that it has an element of rhythm, and has its own unique language, for example, the use of alliteration. Historically speaking, songs came first before the written word. As with many poetic forms which have their roots in the spoken word and songs, for example, sijo (stresses and not syllable counts are paramount), jueju (phonetics have been employed to westernise this classic Chinese poetic form), chant (where alliteration plays an important role and repetition establishes a rhythm), etc, rhythm and tonal quality are paramount. Therefore, rhythm and sound have primacy over meaning. Metre lends rhythm to the poetry penned and as such, I designed ™Suzette sonnet with this in mind and introduced it here on Poetry.Soup.com by posting the sonnet, Ineffable Mysteries, below.
How does one write poetry? Systematically. One step at a time by placing one metrical foot in front of the other. Syllable counts, as well as stressed vowels, may vary from one app to another on the Internet. The word ‘deleterious’, for example, would be written in a British English dictionary as deleter’ious, with the stress on the second ‘e’. However, per the American based app, www.howmanysyllables.com, it scans as follows:
Del-e-te-ri-ous: Primary syllable stress ‘-te’ and 2nd syllable stress ‘del-’.
There are close to 180 sonnet forms, of which about 75 are pseudo forms, for example, Terza Rima sonnet, haiku sonnet, etc. Of the remaining ‘true sonnets’ all have specific designs and are identified by their distinctive names, for example, Saraband sonnet (see my poem OUT OF THE DARKNESS, posted 15 August 2021), American Forte, Lannet, etc.
Tried and Tested: Sonnets are traditionally written as a single stanza of 14 lines, but there are notable exceptions where poets break them into multiple stanzas—Byron’s two-stanza sonnet, Milton’s caudate sonnet in three parts, and modern experimental forms like the Beymorlin sonnet in four stanzas. The Meredithian sonnet, on the other hand, is a fascinating extension: George Meredith’s sequence Modern Love (1862) uses 16-line sonnets instead of the traditional 14. [Edited 17/7/2026]
™Suzette sonnet 2021 (Suznet for short)
©THE DESIGN
-
A 14-line sonnet of alternating triplets and couplets, concluding with a quatrain.
- Rhyme scheme: aaa (b1–b2)(b3–b4) ccc (d1–d2)(d3–d4) abcd
- The triplets are iambic pentameter [*/|*/|*/|*/|*/].
- The alexandrine couplets are iambic hexameter [*/|*/|*/—*/|*/|*/], and include an internal rhyme scheme and end rhyme. Mid-line punctuation is optional and may be replaced by a conjunction.
- Concluding with a quatrain in iambic pentameter that resolves the poem. The rhyme scheme is not progressive but must echo the previously established rhyme anchors.
- The volta is at L9, OR the couplets may define pivots, but not both used in the same poem.
[Edit – 15/2/2026] The said quatrain in iambic pentameter that should act as a resolution or twist, tying together the theme explored earlier, while echoing the established rhyme sounds ‘abcd’—not refrains, but fresh end-line rhymes in tandem with those established in the triplets and couplets. The triplets and couplets set the rhythm and establish the theme, but the final quatrain is the reveal: it’s where the poet’s true intention crystallises. That’s why it is the trickiest part—it’s not just about rhyme and metre, it’s about steering the reader toward resolution, paradox, or surprise.
My example:
INEFFABLE MYSTERIES
We paid the price for hasty choices made
and cried our tears for dreams put to the blade.
The lessons learned a hefty price we paid.
Against our woes, we rail — the urgency to bail.
Excuses very stale — comparisons must fail?
With truthful knowledge, man must themselves arm,
protecting him from possible great harm,
as ignorance deceptively would charm.
Lament will take its toll — do travel to-wards goal.
Some silver tongues extol — their lavish lyrics roll.
Plumose-like memories that tease then fade.
A fair comparison to current ails,
the signs of growing rapprochement disarm.
Ineffable the mysteries of t’ soul.
© Suzette Richards 9 April 2021
NB No part of my designed poetic forms may be copied/used in any manner, including the unique names of the poetic forms—it would constitute Paraphrasing plagiarism.
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The moral rights of the author have been asserted.