Interlude: The 'Cambridge Sonnet'

Contrary to the standard 14-line structure of most sonnets, the 'Cambridge Sonnet' is a 13-line poem in iambic pentameter, divided into two major parts:

The first seven lines present a question or 'confusion', with the rhyme scheme ABC ABCC (the added seventh line acts as the 'volta' or central conflict of the thing -- usually a point of discord or internal mental conflict). the uneven number of lines throws the poem off balance, reinforcing the surreal, turbulent nature of the mind.

The remaining six lines follow the scheme DE DE FF; two tercets and a finishing couplet that restates the conflict and its resolution, if one can be found. In contrast to the disjointedness of the first half, the even number of lines (and consistent rhyme scheme) allow for some application of reason. The final couplet ends the train of thought on a pensive note.

 An example of usage is below:

 As I lie sleepless, staring at the wall, 

    Reminded that I have to write today,

        Exhaustion bids me leave it for a while --

Lest I be too tired to write at all --

    And even if I could, what would I say,

        That others haven't said with smoother style,

             To even the most frozen hearts beguile?

Maddening, this stint of poet's block!

    So many words, without a point to make...

No muse today (she didn't heed the knock),

    I don't know how long this drought will last.

So I sit, and wait for poem's spark,

Hoping muse will save me from the dark. 

- © Jackson Cambridge, 2016.