As a traditionalist, I wouldn't insist, but a rhyme royal in two stanzas could very well have a volta--a high-voltage volta--set up by the two septets instead of an octet and a sextet. The difference between a Petrarchan and a Shakespearen sonnet seems more radical to me than the difference between a Shakespearean sonnet and a two-stanza rhyme royal. The latter are close siblings, while the former are European cousins.
Last edited by Tim McGrath; 05-06-2014 at 01:11 PM.
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