The Sonnet Sonnet

A sonnet is the clever use of rhyme
In patterns such as Petrarch might employ
Or Shakespeare's playful whimsy intertwine
For centuries of lovers to enjoy.
A sonnet is an unrelenting beat,
The blood's intrinsic pulse of weak and strong,
That runs full-tilt for five iambic feet
In three times four, plus two, a discipline of song.
A sonnet is a message of the heart,
Of Wordsworth's wonder, Milton's heavy hand,
Of Keats' classic skill, of Shelley's art,
Of Browning's love songs from a foreign land.
While others seek the chessboard of a day,
The sonnet is my choice of game to play.