The 2016 Bayley Bulletin Sonnet Contest

The time has come for our Seton student-writers to plunge into a new form for our next contest!  Yes, we are asking for Shakespearean sonnets!

Students are asked to write on one of three possible topics:

• The Empty Tomb.
• Christ disguised as a gardener.
• Christ grilling fish for the Apostles’ picnic by the lake.

Each of these require some theological thought; they are all in Scripture for a reason, after all!

You may wish to consult commentaries, but do not be afraid to think through the incidents by yourself and develop your own personal reactions.

The deadline for submissions is April 30.  Winners will be announced and published on June 1.

When you’re ready, submit away! Any questions, post in the comments below. :)

Open to Seton high school students, grades 9-12. Pick one of three Easter-related topics, and start crafting your submission.

Sonnets are very structured, with definite patterns and length. Topic details and a sonnet tutorial is available online.

Submissions will be judged by grade level, with two finalists for each grade level (unless no entries of distinction are found).

Submission Deadline

April 30th, 2016

Prizes

1st Place: $50 | 2nd Place: $35

1st & 2nd place awarded in each high school grade level.

How to Write a Sonnet

One of our English counselors put together a handy guide to crafting a sonnet. It’s really important that you read it right here.

The form to follow is a bit complex.

The iambic foot is a simple rhythmic pattern, ta-DUM, as in perHAPS.  The number of feet in a line can vary, but Shakespeare used five feet per line, called pentameter in poetry-speak.

The rhythm of the sonnet is then iambic pentameter, which follows the sound pattern
ta-DUM ta-DUM ta-DUM ta-DUM ta-DUM, as in “I ALL aLONE beWEEP my OUTcast STATE (from Shakespeare’s sonnet XXIX).

Each line should generally follow the same iambic pattern, with a total of 10 syllables.

The sonnet consists of 14 lines, with a rhyme scheme as follows:
AB AB CD CD EF EF GG; the rhymes in Sonnet XXIX are these:
Eyes, state; cries, fate; hope, possess’d; scope, least (often pronounced “lest” here); despising, state; arising, gate; brings, kings.

It may be noticed that “despising” and “arising” do not follow the strict iambic pattern.  In fact the two lines containing these words are slight variations simply to break the routine of the sound and wake up the reader or listener; these lines actually have eleven syllables rather than ten.

Such small variations are allowable in order to keep the reader or listener on their toes.  A good poet uses such devices sparingly but tellingly, as does Shakespeare.

The indentation, to keep it simple, should be limited to only the last two lines, the concluding couplet.  There are other possibilities, but it will make judging a lot easier if all the entries are uniform.

A great help both in defining the form and in finding the rhymes is The Complete Rhyming Dictionary, edited by Clement Wood.  Find the edition that includes the detailed discussion of poetic forms; much valuable information about poetry in general is to be found in this book.

Students with even the slightest interest in poetry are urged to place this volume beside their dictionary and thesaurus.