Prompt for Day 16:
Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a curtal sonnet. This is a variation on the classic 14-line sonnet. The curtal sonnet form was developed by Gerard Manley Hopkins, and he used it for what is probably his most famous poem, “Pied Beauty.” A curtal sonnet has eleven lines, instead of the usual fourteen, and the last line is shorter than the ten that precede it. Here are two other examples of Hopkins’ curtal sonnets: “Ash Boughs,” and “Peace.”
Curtal Sonnet: It’s never too late!
You say the time has slipped by,
The spring of your journey has passed,
But the length and breadth of the road of life,
None can really foretell
It’s never too late to live your dreams,
Your passions needn’t follow a season,
The clouds of happiness float freely in the sky,
Dawn, dusk or night doesn’t matter
Intention is all, what life asks,
To shape your dreams, to sprinkle joy
Take that leap!
©Vandana Bhasin
16.04.2022
