The sonnet has been one of the most widely used and well-known verse forms for over four centuries. Generally written in series, but quite effective as individual poems, they have celebrated love, death and many other expressions of private, personal feelings. Traditionally, sonnets are one of the most rigidly defined poem forms with a set pattern of breaks and rhymes, following one of several conventions. As time has passed, however, many poets have moved away from traditional rhyme and verse form and have gravitated toward free verse. Although many poets are still drawn to the sonnet today, the results are often found in a greatly altered form. Nowhere is this more apparent than in "Joy Sonnet in a Random Universe " by Helen Chasin.

In order to better understand how this poem does or does not conform to convention, let us first take a brief look at the traditional sonnet form.

The sonnet was first used in the Middle Ages in Italy and France. It was brought to England and in the late 16th and early 17th it became a dominant verse form. Sonnets are fourteen lines in length and are usually written in iambic pentameter. They generally conform to one of two conventions in divisi

on and rhyme scheme, the Italian sonnet, or the English sonnet. The typical Italian (or Petrarchian) sonnet is divided into two parts, an octave (eight line stanza) followed by a sestet (six line stanza), each with a specific rhetorical slant: the first stanza generally poses a question or problem, which the second stanza answers or resolves.

As the poem goes on, we move further away from the form. It is difficult to say where the quatrain divisions are and there is no longer an easily recognizable pattern of end rhyme. This seems especially odd, since the poem is composed mainly of "la la la" and it would seem to be a simple matter to have them coincide on the end to continue a rhyme. Nonetheless, as seen in what would be the second quatrain, the last syllable of each line : "la", "do", "la", "la" ( lns 5 to 8 respectively) do not seem to follow any preset pattern. The interjections also seem to become more lively, moving from a simple "tum tum ti tum"(ln 3) which is reminiscent of humming quietly to "Whack a doo" (ln 9) which seems to be more of an outburst. There are also more of them as the poem seems progresses. The development of this theme of happiness seems to have continued to the point were the conventions of rhyme and form no longer apply. It's as thought the poem starts off with a measure of order and then the poet, rather than using exclamation marks for emphasis, chooses to let the poem move to a certain degree of disarray as though even a form

Some common words found in the essay are:
Random Universe, Helen Chasin, English Shakespearean, Italian Petrarchian, Italy France, la la, sonnet random universe, Sonnet Random, la la la, Joy Sonnet, joy sonnet random, sonnet random, helen chasin, joy sonnet, english sonnet, random universe, rhyme scheme, italian sonnet, Universe Helen, tra la la, easily recognizable, divisions easily recognizable, tra la,
Approximate Word count = 996
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)