Introduction to Divvyrian Sonnets & Style Rules

This is a new weekly feature beginning February 2018 I hope to keep up with: hammering out a completely new sonnet every Sunday to be posted here on Divvyry. I can also include various notes about its process, rhymes I liked but ultimately decided against, and other bits of interest about sonnets in general.

My preferred version of a sonnet is comprised of 10 lines, each line with 10 syllables, accented on the even beats. The last word of each line will rhyme with the last word of another line, in the form of AB, AB, CD, CD, EE.

For example, if I were to cut off the ends of the lines, they might rhyme like this:

.. scorch,
.. work.

.. torch,
.. clerk.

.. rank,
.. seat.

.. clank,
.. treat.

.. stuffed,
.. tuft.

..but the line pairs need not necessarily form strictly one sentence. Each line could be its own sentence, or contain multiple sentences, or the whole thing could be one long sentence, or any variation thereof, as long as the even-beat still sounds right to my ear.

A few of the more established forms of sonnets include:

>> Spenserian sonnets have 14 lines,
> in pattern ABAB BCBC CDCD EE

>> Petrarchan/Italian sonnets have 14 lines,
> in either ABBAABBA + CDECDE, or ABBAABBA + CDCDCD.

>> English/Shakespearan sonnets have 14 lines,
> in ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG.

I can’t really find an established version of this particular sonnet type, so until I do, I’m calling this a Divvyrian (div-EAR-e-an) sonnet form. My use of 10 lines instead of 14 is a preference of a 10×10 visual concept (ten lines, ten syllables each) as well as my own natural sense of its flow, whereas 14 lines feels a little excessive.

There is a fairly exhaustive compilation of around 175+ sonnet forms listed here, if you’re considering devising your own unique sonnet form =)