be not proud

NaPoWriMo 2022 – April 17

Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a curtal sonnet. This is a variation on the classic 14-line sonnet. The curtal sonnet form was developed by Gerard Manley Hopkins, and he used it for what is probably his most famous poem, “Pied Beauty.” A curtal sonnet has eleven lines, instead of the usual fourteen, and the last line is shorter than the ten that precede it. Here are two other examples of Hopkins’ curtal sonnets: “Ash Boughs,” and “Peace.”

He used it thrice and yet they called it "form";
     That's IT to namesake something wrought?
          If so, I am Creator, say my Name aloud.
I must proclaim this shortened sonnet form - lukewarm.
     Did they name the water "Luke" from what he brought?
          Of fame and recognition be not proud.

Our fleeting flights of fandom are but folly;
     It's just recycled stuff beneath the sun.
          And yet, some reclaimed words and rhymes hold riches.
What I pull out may render sad or jolly;
                         Too big for my britches?