2A/N: OK, so I'm going to geek out a little on forms of poetry and using different rhythm and rhyming patterns. Instead of putting up a long author's note before you get to the actual writing, I'll put it at the end.
All you need to know is that I tried my hand at the sonnet form, using the same patterns and rhythms used by Will Shakespeare (a favorite of E&D). Then, I rewrote it to use a different rhythm that seemed to come to me more easily. Which do you like better?
Traditional sonnet (Iambic pentameter)
A universally acknowledged truth
If single men overflowing with life
Have possession of great fortune, forsooth,
Therefore, they must be in want of a wife.
However unknown his feelings and views
On first entering his new neighborhood,
One or other of their daughters he'll choose;
He will settle himself down as he should.
"Neitherfield has been let by a young man.
"He has four thousand a year, I have heard.
"Oh, he came in a chaise and four so grand!
"Dear husband, what a fine thing for our girls!"
So fixed is the truth, all minds will agree,
For one local lass, he's their property.
Still a sonnet, still the same theme, but changing the rhythm up (anapestic trimeter)
Universally acknowledged truth:
Single men with abundance of life
Are possessed of great fortune, forsooth,
Then they must be in want of a wife.
However unknown his feelings, views
On first entering the neighborhood,
One of their daughters he's sure to choose,
Then settle himself down as he should
"Netherfield is let by a young man.
"Has four thousand a year, I have heard.
"He came in a chaise and four so grand!
"Husband, what a fine thing for our girls!"
Fixed is the truth, all minds will agree,
For one local lass, he's property.
A/N: Thanks for reading!
And now... Get ready to geek on poetry!
OK, so someone asked me, Why limericks? I just like them. The casualness of the limerick appeals to me when i feel like messing around. And the messing around in "Limericks of Lizzy" has been fun, but I'm not happy with my style yet. I haven't abandoned it, I just thought I'd try something new.
I thought it might be interesting to take a page from William (Shakespeare, not Darcy), and see if I can write sonnets in iambic pentameter (what Will used) that encapsulate a particular theme or event in the book. I thought the use of the summarizing couplet at the end would be an interesting challenge.
And it was. But I found I didn't feel as comfortable in iambic pentameter as I did in another rhythm format called 'anapestic trimeter'. Which, oddly enough (or not) is the meter traditionally used in limericks. So I adjusted my poem, still keeping the sonnet rhyming scheme, but changing the rhythm to anapestic trimeter. Which feels better to you, dear readers?
For the folks at home who really want to geek it…
A line in iambic pentameter looks like this: buh BUH buh BUH buh BUH buh BUH buh BUH
A line in anapestic trimeter looks like this: buh buh BUH buh buh BUH buh buh BUH
And the rhyming scheme used in a traditional sonnet looks like this: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG