Sonnets

With both Ted Berrigan and Shakespeare, the sonnets hold to a form. Shakespeare’s form is much more strict, so the ideas in each line have to surrender to the formula. I think this is responsible for some of the best lines he wrote. Like in more modern forms of writing, putting regulations on a piece can force new thought processes that couldn’t be conjured up in free form. It’s hard to tell what parts of Shakespeare’s sonnets are awkwardly phrased and which flow normally because the language used then has evolved so much, that most all of it is a bit foreign. With Berrigan, the guidelines are less strict but also promote interesting, fresh phrasing. I appreciate how Berrigan doesn’t tell a chronological story necessarily. His language is thoughtful and thought-provoking. I understand how both poets influenced much of what came afterwards.