To write these all in sonnet form
has made me somewhat dreary.
Objection! None of these are sonnets true,
unless you use a bitter form obscure.
I pray my words you do not misconstrue
I only seek to foster sonnets pure.
A sonnet's soul is more than just its rhyme,
its craft must count for more than sound and song.
It walks a measured pace, iambic time,
five feet each phrase to hold the rhythm strong.
Three quatrains we must have to fill the form,
a final couplet serves to close the verse*.
A shorter piece leaves readers but lukewarm,
dissatisfied with writers far too terse.
Your effort bold and true I must applaud,
but sonnets these are not! I name thee:
fraud!
* There are forms that use a different structure, such as the Petrarchan sonnet with two quatrains and a sestet, but all the common forms still come out to 14 lines.