Here it is. 14 lines. 10 syllables each. And a Petrarchan rhyme scheme. It was painful but it is finally done. Introducing (drum roll please) the Grin-and-Barrett Petrarchan sonnet:

Nature's Heart

I look out the window into the night
As the snow blows across the endless plains
And the wind roars echoing in refrain
The driving curtain of white is a sight
To behold, to be awed by its great might.
With powerful fury it seems to strain
Against the dark sky which tries to constrain
Nature’s forces in this victorless fight.
Much like this great clash outside that I see
With chaos and carnage equal in strength
My thoughts as my feelings battle in me.
But with the dawn’s light my hope has been found.
Like fresh fallen snow I sparkle with glee
Now knowing this peace will last a great length.


Just to be annoying and boring here it is in the rhyme scheme format. (Yes this is a little OCD, but that it actually pretty good since I tend to be very OCD.)

A: I look out the window into the night
B: As the snow blows across the endless plains
B: And the wind roars echoing in refrain
A: The driving curtain of white is a sight
A: to behold, to be awed by its great might
B: With powerful fury it seems to strain
B: against the dark sky which tries to constrain
A: nature’s forces in this victorless fight
C: Much like this great clash outside that I see
D: with chaos and carnage equal in strength
C: my thoughts as my feelings battle in me
E: but with the dawn’s light my hope has been found
C: and like the fresh snow I sparkle with glee
D: now knowing this peace will last a great length.

And with that I will bid you farewell, Petrarchan Sonnet. Never again (at least that is my most sincere hope) will I have to write another poem. There are too many rules and brain is starting to hurt. To quote from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "My brain isn't really functioning on the higher levels. It's pretty much: fire bad; tree pretty". That definitly sums up my current state. See you tomorrow!

I bet you thought you got rid of me, but here is a short summary of what I learned writing this sonnet:

• I have absolutely NO idea how Dante wrote an entire epic poem. It took me three hours to write these 14 lines, let alone hundreds of pages of lines!
• With some of these poems and sonnets maybe the authors didn't have a definitive or set purpose in mind. It may have been a more organic than we thought
• I say this because when I was writing this I didn't always know where I was going. In satisfying the form, I found content.
• It was really hard though, to always fit the themes I started developing. I think the poetry poets write is beautiful, but I wonder if they sacrifice a more accurate or true meaning in order to fit their rhyme scheme. I would imagine that they did sometimes.