Advice on Writing a Shakespearean Sonnet

                               by Peter Shor

                   
When you at first sit down to write a poem,
And it feels like an overwhelming task,
You think there must be tricks that, once you know 'em,
Will make it easy; “Well, what are they?” you ask.
There are no tricks to writing a good sonnet;
The thing you need to do is tune your ear:
Read poetry, spend many hours on it,
And gradually you will learn to hear.
Then, once you apprehend iambic meter,
The verses will start flowing from your quill,
And because practice makes you even better,
Quite soon you’ll be almost as good as Will.
But in this age, rhymers are treated worse
Than madmen: leave off sonnets, write free verse.