Need a gift for Valentine's Day? How about a sonnet? Here is everything you need to know in order to write one, including an overview of the sonnet's structure and history, an explanation of rhyme and meter, and a helpful example illustrating these principles in use.
How to Write a Sonnet
It is said that Lord Byron, famous poet and ladies’ man, would, when wooing a young woman, pretend to be suddenly inspired by her beauty and begin furiously writing a poem that, in fact, he had already written—not in a fit of passion, but with the meticulous labor of a consummate craftsman. Needless to say, Byron was wildly successful with the opposite sex. Of course, he was also astonishingly handsome. And while you cannot learn to be good-looking, you can learn to write in that most romantic of poetic forms: the sonnet.
A personalized sonnet, written by you, is a perfect gift for a sweetheart on Valentine’s Day or an anniversary. It is also a well-tested and pithy way of expressing emotion, romantic or otherwise. Whether you want to praise the Lord like John Donne did, or, like Elizabeth Barrett Browning, praise your beau; whether you want to follow in Milton’s footsteps and address a political issue, or, like the Bard of Stratford-upon-Avon, admonish a friend, the sonnet may be the form for you.