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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


DESIGN FOR A SONNET by BETTY CAROTHERS DILL

First Line: HOW MAY I BUILD A SONNET? I AM TOLD
Last Line: THAT, NEVER BEING BORN, HAS NEVER DIED?
Subject(s): SONNET (AS LITERARY FORM);

How may I build a sonnet? I am told
It must be made of passion and of death,
It must be fired with love's tumultuous breath
To live. Heart pressed to heart -- like old, old
Tales of Paris-Helen; of Isolde
And Tristram; of Endymion's long rest
Upon Selene's white enchanted breast;
Of Romeo and Juliet retold.
From loves like these I should mold sonnets! Strange --
My fingers tremble, having learned no art
That traces passion. Years of love denied
Make yesterdays that no tomorrows change.
How can I build a sonnet from a heart
That, never being born, has never died?



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