Background:
Sonnetto Poesia ISSN 1705-4524, apparently the only poetry journal the world devoted almost exclusively to sonnets, was a quarterly e-zine from 2001 to winter 2004. In its first three years as an e-zine, Sonnetto Poesia published a number of established as well as up and coming contemporary sonneteers, such as:
from Canada: Eric Linden (Linden’s Lines)
from the UK: Richard James, editor, Ancient Heart Magazine ISSN 1742-6049; Sara Russell, founding editor & Robin Ouzman Hislop, current editor of Poetry Life && Times; the Potato of Terror (no kidding)
From the USA:
Poetry E-zines: are they worth it?
One of major drawbacks of e-zines is that they are free. This is all the more critical for academic e-zines, such as Sonnetto Poesia (2001-2004). Anyone unscrupulous enough on the Internet can plagiarize with impunity any poems from any e-zine, claiming them as their own, thus breaking every convention of the international copyright laws. This is a very serious criminal offense (See Citation Practice below). Vallance Review 48 August 2005 [1] enumerates most of the other problems of publishing e-zines. Yet it seems the most glaring drawback to publishing Sonnetto Poesia as an e-zine is:
Lamentably, today, in a world where slipshod poetry writing dominates the Internet,the primary medium for the transmission of knowledge in our day and age, evenfewer poets, professional or amateur, ever bother trying to acquire even the rudimentsof sonnet composition. [2] Sadly, there is very wide latitude for so-called formal poets and “sonneteers” to publish what they personally consider to be “good” poetry merely by their own standards, however rudimentary. Under the circumstances, we were loathe to publish Sonnetto Poesia as an e-zine, given our much more stringent standards we required for acceptable sonnets. More on this in, “Guidelines for Sonnetto Poesia” below in “The mission of Sonnetto Poesia”. While Sonnetto Poesia, even as an e-zine, was able to attract a few talented contemporary sonneteers, the journal's very limited “targeted audience” meant that it was quite unlikely that as an e-zine it would attract many online visitors, let alone readers. I addressed this conundrum in Vallance Review 48 (cited above):
SP is not only a poetry journal, which automatically limits it to a very small targetedaudience, viz; only persons truly interested in reading poetry... passim... but it is, toput our finger squarely on it, a sonnet journal only.... passim... In the general popu-lation of readers worldwide, it is more than likely that only a very small percentageread poetry on a regular basis, while far fewer ever bother to read sonnets. [3]But all this was to change dramatically once we went to print.
Pros and Cons of publishing Sonnetto Poesia in print:
Before we turn to the mission of Sonnetto Poesia, we need to address the pros and cons of
publishing a literary journal in print.
As of the spring 2004 issue (Vol. 4 nos. 1&2) in print, which reissued our last e-zine issue, Vol. 4 no. 1(winter 2004) , Sonnetto Poesia has been a quarterly literary journal in print, focusing primarily on the sonnet, but also open to alternative formal genres, uch as quatrains, villanelles, rondeaux and the like. We have found that it is to our advantage to publish in print, for several practical reasons thoroughly addressed in Vallance Review 48. There are the main pros & cons to taking this route:
1. CON Publishing any poetry journal in print seriously restricts its actual base of subscribers. In the case of Sonnetto Poesia that readership base is bound to be very small if it is published only as a print periodical.
2. PRO & CON Although e-zines are really inexpensive to administer and run, the result is often editorial sloppiness or even literary abuse, whenever e-zine editors succumb to the temptation to publish any poems, good, bad or indifferent (See also 2. above). With journals, due to the costs of so many physical factors and variables involved in the intensive labour demanded for layout, editing and publishing, investiment costs run considerably higher than for e-zines.
3. PRO On the other hand, we are bound to attract some of the best contemporary sonneteers and readers truly devoted to the sonnet. Although we do receive submissions from poets previously published in e-zines, often their writing skills leave much to be desired. These are precisely the poets we do not publish. We are looking for truly talented, even exceptional sonneteers and writers of formal poetry.
4. PRO It is vital that accredited journal editors find their niche in the most appropriate
publishing market. Publication directories are one of the tools poetry editors can make
the most of. A journal editor needs to select a publishing directory as closely matched as possible to his or her publication. So Sonnetto Poesia is best listed in poetry journal directory subject indexed for rapid access to journals by thematic content or poetry genre(s), and Poet’s Market admirably fills the bill. By listing your poetry journal in a reputable directory such as Poet’s Market you ensure that library users and researchers, and online Internet subscribers to the directory will have access to all the bibliographic information on the journal itself, along with its submission guidelines.
5. PRO Any serious minded literary journal has as its primary aim and mission, not profit
making or “cashing in” on its subscribers, but introducing a poetic genre as refined as the sonnet to poetry appreciative literate readers.
7. PRO Any literary journal worth its salt invariably should have its own ISSN (International Standard Serial Number), equivalent of the ISBN for books. The only unique identifier for any magazine, journal, periodical or e-zine is its ISSN. There is no other. Identical titles such as “Time” or “Life” without ISSNs only lead to great confusion, except for those assigned their own unique ISSN. In other words, if there are 3 different magazines or journals with the title “Time”, and each one is assigned its own ISSN, it is literally impossible to confuse them. But if any or all 3 do not have a unique ISSN, how can you tell which one is which? You can’t. The rule of thumb is, get yourself an ISSN for your literary review, and save yourself a lot of headaches.
8. PRO Even though your poetry journal or review is published in print only, it is still highly
advisable for you to have a home page for it on the Internet. Even more importantly than this, you will to advertise your new print periodical’s home page URL on the inside front cover of each issue.
The Mission of Sonnetto Poesia:
Beginning in 2007, in each quarterly issue of Sonnetto Poesia there is a brief statement of the journal's mission, as follows:
Sonnetto Poesia’s mission is to encourage established sonneteers as well as newcomers from all over the world to submit poetry for possible publication in our quarterly journal. Our main criteria are: we are looking for originality in themes, imagery and structure, even to the point of experimentation, provided that poets are consistently true to their own style. Modern sonnets should exemplify contemporary twenty first century language and idiom, regardless of the language in which they are composed. We accept sonnets in all languages, but sonnets in English and French, Canada's official languages, are preferred. We do not accept sonnets written in archaic language or on historically rehashed themes. Sentence inversions with terminating verbs to achieve rhyme, and forced rhyme are signs of weak composition.
If you are a new contributor to Sonnetto Poesia, you may contact the Editor-in-Chief, Richard Vallance, and submit a digest of no more than 5 sonnets, which our editorial board will evaluate. Should we consider your work germane to Sonnetto Poesia, we will eventually reply in about 3 to 6 months.
The above is merely a summary of Sonnetto Poesia’s mission as a poetry journal. We shall now focus on the main criteria for the journal’s mission statement. But before doing so, we strongly recommend you carefully read Vallance Review Canada 62 (summer 2007),
“When is a Sonnet not a Sonnet?”
[4] If this seems to you like a rather strange hypothetical question, it is not a rhetorical one. In view of the highest literary standards for contemporary poetry, which are reinforced by the inexorable processes of (meta)linguistic change; adjustment of literary standards to the contemporary social and cultural values of the early Third Millennium (which are surely no longer those of the twentieth century); and novel experimentation with tried and tested literary forms, it is hardly surprising that some sacred cows of formal poetry composition are no longer sacred. Just like poets and writers in any literary genre, we sonneteers need to keep pace with the times.
While it is a relatively straightforward matter to ascertain when a so-called sonnet is not a sonnet [4], the guidelines, if any, for identifying the quintessential qualities of the modern sonnet typifying the literary norms of the early twenty-first century are quite another matter. There are undoubtedly as many opinions on the qualities of the sonnet which are not strainede and on norms for evaluating the same as there are self-professed poets and poetry critics. I for one do not consider myself intrinsically qualified to venture out on the stormy sea of “literary definitions” and values. I merely offer my own limited insights. I don’t expect anyone to take my views too seriously; yet at the same time, I sincerely hope I have shed some light on the nature of a well-crafted sonnet.
On this particular point I am convinced there is no one living who can be so bold as to prophesy whether any sonnet by any contemporary poet is likely to stand the test of time. We are in the thick of things. We cannot see the forest for the trees. All the same, we can offer some insight into the qualities of a “good” sonnet, based on a few reasonably well founded subjective, and consequently arbitrary standards each of us assigns in our best judgement. It is these standards which are the foundation of “The mission of Sonnetto Poesia”. Our mission statement, of which the synopsis above is given in each quarterly issue of Sonnetto Poesia, takes all of our own basic criteria into account.
1. First and foremost, Sonnetto Poesia welcomes submissions of sonnets, as well as other formal rhyming poetry genres: quatrains, villanelles, rondeaux and the like. But it is essential that poets intending to send sonnets or formal rhyming verse recognize the absolute necessity of submitting poems of real literary merit. Otherwise, you are wasting our time. But how do you determine whether your own sonnets or formal rhyming poems are indeed of noteworthy literary calibre? You can of course rely on your own intuition and submit to us those poems of yours which you feel are amongst your “best”. But it is advisable you rely on external feedback to help you better assess whether your poems are really up to par for a literary journal such as Sonnetto Poesia (as opposed to a popular magazine). Additionally, a catholic knowledge of the sonnet as a firmly ensconced historical poetry genre is very much to your credit. The more one knows about a literary genre, the more likely he or she can form a decent grasp on the demands of that genre. What possible harm can come from reading as many famous sonneteers and sonnets as you can, and then setting out to become your own sonneteer in your own right?
2. External criteria for evaluation of the literary quality of sonnets and poems you submit for possible publication in Sonnetto Poesia are are thoroughly addressed in Vallance Review Canada 62 (summer 2007) [4], which I highly recommend you thoroughly read before considering your poetry to us. As I have already confirmed, it is much easier to assess the literary quality of the contemporary sonnet by what it is not, rather than by what it is, taking into consideration the positive merits of sonnet composition as outlined in 1. above.
2.1 Conventional definitions of the sonnet, however useful they may be, do not really serve any practical yardstick of the merit of any sonnet in particular, although of course these standards should be taken seriously. Anyone can apply the basic “rules” for sonnet writing, and still end up composing a mundane sonnet. However, the any finely crafted sonnet almost always imaginatively applies the fundamental defining criteria of the sonnet. “Rules” are rules; but guidelines, however cast in “stone”. can be chipped at, just as the finest sculptor chips away at his work to achieve a masterpiece. Michelangelo's “David” is a stellar example. In the same vein, most (but not all) of Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets and John Keats’ sonnets, are masterpieces in their own right. [5]
2.2 Getting down to the nitty gritty, we can easily enough isolate writing practices which are symptomatic of mediocre or fair sonnet writing, but which fall short of real mastery of the medium. I enumerated all of the markers of such conventional sonnet writing in Vallance Review Canada 62 [4], but here they are in point form:
2.2.1 Never use archaic or arcane language foreign to modern English in your sonnets
(thee,thou,methinks,e’er,o’er etc.) unless it is purely for special effects which can be instantly recognized by your readers, and more importantly, by those with a critical eye for good composition. The obverse of this criterion is fairly obvious. Use contemporary twenty-first century English, and you can’t go wrong... well, not usually.
2.2.2 Be extremely careful to avoid monotonous, commonplace rhymes that have been beaten to death over the history of the sonnet’s evolution. Such rhymes are almost always monosyllabic: me/be/see/sea; light/bright/sight/night (!); clear/dear (!)/fear,cheer;love/dove (!)/above... you get the picture. Again the rule of thumb is: be imaginative. Your own unique imagination is like no one else's. If your rhyming schemes (however simple) are not truly effective, you are probably relying too much on “tried and tested” rhymes. Be adventurous.
2.2.3 Also, rhymes should be so obvious that they always cause your readers to pause or stop at the end of every single line, especially if you always end each line as a complete sentence or clause (end stopped rhyming). Using imaginative enjambement usually leads to better rhyming. In the best contemporary (and historical) sonnets, rhyme should not be intrusive. You should be able to recite a well-crafted sonnet from beginning to end to an attentive audience, leaving them with a pleasant awareness of subtle rhyme. Tough call? Sure is.
2.2.4 In he same vein, beware of over-reliance on trite and hackneyed poetic words and phrases such as: angel, blessed, charming, cloudy, crystal (this one pops up all over the place in ‘modern’ sonnets), delightful, my darling, dearest, flower (instead of a specific flower... but not a rose), gorgeous, marvelous, misty, nice, plain, rose, rosy, sky, sunny, sweetheart, wonderful, winged etc. etc. ... which leads us to the next point:
2.2.5 Avoid pedestrian images and symbols. Far too many poets and sonneteers rely on imagery which well verse poetry readers have encountered over and over ad nauseam. Images such as “the beautiful sunset”, the “lovely stars” and the “stormy sea” have all been worked to death. To my mind, one of the most abused of modern images is the use of the word “crystal”.... crystal clear, crystal stars, crystal skies etc. Aaaaaaargh.
2.2.6 Far far too many poets and sonneteers still rely on sentence inversions, the most common of which is placing the verb at the end of a line merely to achieve rhyme. This is what I call easy rhyme or lame rhyme. For instance, these lines will simply not do:
the sun on the soft horizon rose (lame image & lame rhyme)correct: the sun rose on the horizon... but not “soft horizon”the pianist the old piano played
