“[Bleep] the Sonnet” Jennings Says
In the newest issue of Arc Poetry Magazine, Chris Jennings takes on the sonnet in his like-named essay “On the Sonnet.” He begins: “I haven’t dedicated many musty hours to counting rather than reading poems. I’m willing to bet, though, that no one can readily dispute the fact that more poets attempt sonnets, create variants of sonnets, publish sonnets, anthologize sonnets, dive headlong into sequences of sonnets, or come to have their reputation rest on sonnets than any other set form in the English language. This used to intrigue me, then it began to puzzle me, and now it annoys me so much that the right stimulus sends me into a rage. Frankly, I am done with sonnets.”
Arc Poetry Magazine‘s website includes the opening paragraphs of Jenning’s attack of the sonnet form (the end lines of which I can at least say you won’t find repeated on FCC airwaves) – for the full text, you need to get a hold of a copy of Arc.
