The unrepentant ruffian — a sonnet

Unconfessed yet self-despised and drained of hope
he stands here stripped to ugly naked truth
he’s chained and with derision whipped as proof
that god is now uncouth and wields the rope
he sings apologies still held aloof
from remorseful stings inside his soul
he starts to glow by faking some control
with shameless shame he seems to stow reproof
in this black hole the outraged lie as dead
outside without a tongue or face to plead
as if the truth has died and law decreed
disgrace to be the hero here instead
he must in silence bleed denying need
grief grinds unsaid a captive never freed.

The unrepentant ruffian — a ballad

Unconfessed yet self-despised and drained
of hope he stands here stripped
to ugly naked truth he’s chained
and with derision whipped

as proof that god is now uncouth
and wields the rope he sings
apologies still held aloof
from remorseful stings

inside his soul he start to glow
by faking some control 
with shameless shame he seems to stow
reproof in this black hole

the outraged lie as dead outside
without a tongue or face
to plead as if the truth has died
and law decreed disgrace

to be the hero here instead
he must in silence bleed
denying need grief grinds unsaid
a captive never freed.

Explanatory notes

This poem began with the observation that a sonnet has fourteen rhyming lines of ten syllables each (total 140 syllables), and that a ballad could be written in five four-line stanzas of alternating eight-syllable and six syllable lines (total 140 syllables), so that in theory a poem could be constructed that was both a sonnet and a ballad, provided that the writer was prepared to find a rhyme scheme that accommodated the requirements of both forms.

So: the sonnet and the ballad above both contain the same words. The sonnet uses the rhyme scheme ABBA BCCB DEEDEE. The ballad uses the rhyme scheme FGFG BHBH ICIC JKJK DEDE. There is a superfluity of rhymes (ie, rhymes within the lines) in both the sonnet and the ballad.

What is interesting to me is the way changing the line breaks does make subtle differences to the reading of the poem, so that the meanings of each version are slightly different. This could have been enhanced by giving each poem different punctuation, but I have not.

If this doesn’t excite your interest, I apologise. I can tell you that it isn’t easy to pull off the mechanics of this double form, but I worked out a passable technique in the end. I may do another.

An endeavour such as this is a kind of creativity engine. See also accidence. The difference between a creativity engine and other expressions of creativity is only in the formality of the approach. All the usual yeasts (hidden motivations, cultural roots, circumstantial prompts, invention, and so on) are fermenting away in the pot.

© 2023 Craig Bingham