The poem is a one-stanza 14-line sonnet with a rhyme scheme of- abba abba cdcd ee (see below). We love how the cat is the speaker in the poem, and from a superior position, addresses and critiques humans for their slothful forgetfulness. With wit and in the voice of an angry cat (because the poet slept too late), Jones brings together God and cats in the sonnet form. Donne’s “Holy Sonnets” is one of his most dramatic devotional lyrics.
Donne wrote 19 “Holy Sonnets” in direct address to God – and he employed violent and sexual imagery. Poet, Mollycat Jones (Christine Potter), in her title is riffing on metaphysical poet, John Donne’s “Holy Sonnets or Divine Meditations” originally published in the first edition of his Songs and Sonnets (1633).
Amongst contemporary poets, the sonnet is alive and well! Before we get into specifics about the history, traditions and forms of the sonnet, let’s look at a contemporary example & think about the various ways poets continue to work in the form, as well as break with its traditions and “rules.” Here is a link to Mollycat Jones’ “Unholy Sonnet Number One.” Follow this link: “Unholy Sonnet Number One” by Mollycat Jones
