LITERAL-SPACE with Ekemini Ita

THE SONNET
From fairest creatures we desire increase
That thereby beauty's rose must never die
But as the riper should by time decease
His tender heir might bear his memory.
But thou contracted to thine own bright eyes
Feed'st thy light's flame with self-substantial fuel,
Making a famine where abundance lies.
Thy self thy foe, to thyy sweet self too cruel:
Thou that art now the world's fresh ornament.
And only herald to the gaudy spring,
With thine own bud buriest thy content.
And tender churl mak'st waste in niggarding
Pity the world, or else this glutton be,
To eat the world's due, by the grave and thee.

Better known as "a poem of fourteen(14) lines", yet
it's root is always forgotten. A SONNET is a poetic form
which originated in Italy, invented by the SICILIAN poet,
Giacomo Da Lentini, thereby opening the way for other
great "SONNETERS" like William Shakespeare, who
wrote 154 of them(above is an example).
An English or Shakespearean sonnet consists of
fourteen(14) lines written in iambic pentameter (a
pattern in which an unstressed syllable is followed by a
stressed syllable five times). The rhyme scheme in a
Shakespearean sonnet is "a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g"
the last two lines are a rhyming couplet (a poem of two
lines with same rhyme).
ITALIAN (petrarchen) SONNET
Created by Giacomo Da Lentini, who wrote almost
250 sonnets. The structure of a typical Italian sonnet of
this includes two parts that together forms a compact
form of "argument". First, the OCTAVE, (two quatrains),
forms the "proposition", which describes a "problem" or
"question", followed by a SESTET (two tercets), which
proposes a "resolution".
Typically, the ninth line initiates what is called "the
turn" or "volta", which signals the move from
proposition to resolution. Incidentally, not all sonnets
strictly follow the problem/resolution structure, though
the ninth line still often marks a "turn" by signaling a
change in the tone, mood or stance of the poem.
The standard pattern for Italian sonnets is "a-b-ba,
a-b-b-a". For the SESTET there are two different
possibilities, "c-d-e-c-d-e and c-d-c-c-d-c". In time, other
variants on this rhyme scheme were introduced, such as
"c-d-c-d-c-d".

BOOK OF THE WEEK-Oliver
Twist by Charles Dickens.
The Paris Progress, a book popularly known world
wide as OLIVER TWIST, authored by Charles Dickens,
published by Bentley's Miscel (serial) and Richard
Bentle(book), in 1837.
This is the story of a boy (Oliver) born in a
workhouse in the first half of the nineteenth century.
Unfortunately, his mother dies during his birth and he is
sent to an orphanage (where he is badly treated). Feeding
poorly each passing day forces him to ask for more ration
which is against the rules of the home, this singular act
forces Mr Bumble( the orphanage overseer) to lock him up
in a dark room with no food or water.
Oliver runs away from the workhouse to London in
search of a greater fortune, unluckily, he falls in with a boy
named Jack Darwins, who is part of a child gang of thieves,
run by Fagin. Oliver is brought into the gang, he trains and
graduates as a pickpocket. On his first mission, he runs away
and is nearly sent to prison. However, the kindness of the
person who was being robbed saves him from the terrors of
the city gaol (jail), and instead he is taken into his savior's
home and taken proper care of.
However, as soon as he feels he is settled, Bills Sikes
and Nancy(members of his former gang) takes him back to
Fagin. Oliver is sent once more on a mission, but this time,
he is to assist Sikes on a burglary. The job goes wrong and
Oliver is shot and left behind. Once more, he is taken in (this
times by the Maylies, the family he went to rob), and he
spends a wonderful time with them. Once more, Fagin goes
after him. Nancy, who is worried about Oliver, tells the
Maylies what is happening. When the gang finds out
Nancy's betrayal, they murder her.
Finally, Oliver is reunited with the gentleman who
helped him earlier and who eventually turns out to be his
uncle. Fagin is arrested, tried, found guilty and is sentenced
to death by hanging for his crimes; Oliver then settles down
to a pampered life(reunites with his real family).