Download 1 sonnet 1 Extended Metaphor

H onors E nglish II
Write 1 Sonnet and 1 Extended Metaphor Poem
1.
Shakespearean Sonnet
Write a Shakespearean sonnet. Rhyme scheme is abab, cdcd, efef, gg. Line length is 10 syllables (iambic
pentameter). Suggestion—Write a sonnet comparing your beloved (crush, friend, parent, pet) to a different season.
Read Shakespeare’s famous Sonnet 18 for inspiration:
Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare
SHALL I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course,
untrimmed:
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall Death brag thou wand'rest in his shade
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st.
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Student Example
Driscoll’s First Sonnet by Lauren Driscoll
The light of the moon danced on the river
On which I did stand on the soggy sand
The moon hung amongst stars in a sliver
And my one true love took in his my hand
Our clothes draped carelessly in river reed
The cool clear water lapped at our bare skin
Early summer and with current with greed
Carried my one true love under within
As I did watch in his struggle the breath
The glistening river wanton did cheat
Seduced my one true love to his death
Never again to hold my charming sweet
In marshy grave with river stones he slept
On that bank for my one true love I wept.
2.
Extended Metaphor Poem-- Write a gorgeous extended metaphor poem. Poem should
be a minimum of 20 lines and employ figurative language 3 times in addition to the extended
metaphor. Avoid BE verbs, except in similes or metaphors. You may use the poem below as stylistic
model for your poem if you wish.
Identity
by Julio Noboa Polanco
Let them be as flowers,
always watered, fed, guarded, admired,
but harnessed to a pot of dirt.
I'd rather be a tall, ugly weed,
clinging on cliffs, like an eagle
wind-wavering above high, jagged rocks.
To have broken through the surface of stone,
to live, to feel exposed to the madness
of the vast, eternal sky.
To be swayed by the breezes of an ancient sea,
carrying my soul, my seed,
beyond the mountains of time or into the abyss of the bizarre.
I'd rather be unseen, and if
then shunned by everyone,
than to be a pleasant-smelling flower,
growing in clusters in the fertile valley,
where they're praised, handled, and plucked
by greedy, human hands.
I'd rather smell of musty, green stench
than of sweet, fragrant lilac.
If I could stand alone, strong and free,
I'd rather be a tall, ugly weed.
Hint—Try following the grammatical structure of this poem! You can use this structure to create an
extended metaphor about anything you wish.
Student Example:
Pots and Pans
Let them be as bells,
Always polished, tuned, silvered
But bland without a soulful melody
I’d rather be a battered copper pot
Keeping my own rhythm, like a beating heart . . .
Other ideas for extended metaphor poems—Try a Family Metaphor poem or an I Am poem
First Stanzas of Student Models:
The Back Pack by J. Baird
My family is the contents of a high schooler’s backpack,
Packed together in close quarters, yet we all get along.
My father is the calculus textbook, big and daunting, until you discover
Spiderman comics hidden between the pages. Greasy Cheeto and chocolate stains
mar the paper-bag book cover and reveal a laid-back nature.
My mother is the notebook, poems and stories remaining unshared. . .
Fifth of July by J. Moore
My family is an expired firecracker
Set off by the blowtorch of divorce. We lay
Scattered in many directions.
By father is the wick, badly burnt
But still glowing softly.
My mother is the blackened paper fluttering down,
Blowing this way and that, unsure where to land. . . .
Human by C. Blair
I’m the wonder and magic of an acoustic jam outside the market,
The little boy who timidly drops the money from his mommy in the had on the ground,
The smile and nod of the musician as he continues to play,
The inspiration seared into the boy’s heart. . . .
I Am Me by K. M.
I am a tsunami,
Stubborn and unpredictable,
I may cause havoc and hardship,
But I make way for the
Future . . . .
I am a rave,
Cavorting carelessly to the beat,
Mesmerized by the flash of the strobe,
Pulsating with life,
Staying up to see the sun climb
High in the sky . . . .