How do you recite a sonnet?

Answer 1

One line at a time! Learn one line, then the next, then the first two together, then the third, then the second and third together, then the first three together, and so on.

The related link is a program for assisting you to learn Shakespeare's sonnets.

Answer 2

Depends. A Spenserian Sonnet is a bit harder than a Shakesperian (from a poet's view). ABAB, BCBC, CDCD, EE is a harder rhyming scheme than ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG. But basically an English sonnet is made out of fourteen lines. It's made in iambic pentameter (u-u-u-u-u- - five iambs), but can have either a feminine or a masculine rhyme (feminine - u-u-u-u-u-umasculine - u-u-u-u-u-).

Here is an example of a spenserian sonnet (authored by me, hastily and without having English my mother tongue, mind you):

And there we lay, above the noise of cars, (A) (masculine rhyme - cars)

in plain green fields away and out of sight, (B)

the night-wind blew and shone the naked stars, (A)

a cigarette unveiled the darkest night. (B)

The poet's muse then took the veils of night, (B)

and clothed nakedness and took apart, (C)

the night-born wings that quietly took flight, (B)

beneath the core of an unspoken heart. (C)

If this was not, than what can we call art, (C)

if not desire, love's companion dear, (D)

that took the will from out the lover's heart, (C)

and all the feelings preciously endear'd, (D)

to walk the earth in dark and woeful sorrow, (E) (feminine rhyme - so - rrow)

and eagerly to wish the pay of morrow. (E)

Answer 3

To recite a sonnet, first familiarize yourself with the content and structure of the poem. Practice reading it aloud multiple times to understand its rhythm and tone. Pay attention to the rhyme scheme and use appropriate pauses to emphasize key phrases and emotions. Finally, deliver the sonnet with confidence and passion to engage your audience.

Answer 4

The attached link contains some helpful hints for reciting poetry.