Analyzing Billy Collins 'Sonnet'
198 Words1 Page
“Sonnet” is an Italian sonnet, written in iambic pentameter with end rhyme. It is a satire of other and classic sonnets such as Shakespearean poems. Billy Collins uses form and allusion to convey his attitude of incisive mocking.
Collins forms his sonnet “Sonnet” by progressively describing a sonnet while he writes the poem. For example, his first line begins with “All we need is fourteen lines” which is the form of a sonnet. Going forth from here, Collins also comments in the next line as only needing another “dozen”, which ironically still follows the form of a sonnet. He then mentions the Elizabethan Era, which is heavily associated with sonnets and poetry of that type. “Sonnet” strays from the traditional form of sonnets. The first eight