SONNETRY

    The art of sonnetry may be too hard
    For many to attempt successfully,
    Especially in the shadow of the Bard,
    Whose little songs define true mastery. 
    It’s meter first that proves a stumbling block,
    Keeping and varying the iambic beat,
    Infusing music in the old tick-tock
    Where form and meaning elegantly meet.
    Then rhyme should enter unobtrusively,
    Seeming inevitable and wholly just,
    Exact in sense and sensibility,
    Arriving right on time and where it must.
         Hardest of all is holding the true mood
         Then knowing when the sonnet should conclude.

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