The Closing Case

This is an Italian (Petrarchan sonnet). This form of sonnet can be broken down into two parts; an eight line stanza called the octave and a six line stanza called the sestet. These can be seen in the rhyme scheme: ABBAABBA CDCDCD. Usually the octave forms a question; however, in this poem, the question and goal of the poem is spelled out in the first line, "I will put Chaos into fourteen lines." (1) The meter is the classic iambic pentameter, but there were a few strong words such as "amorphous" (7) that were used to describe Chaos's struggle to escape.

The first line seems to put emphasis on Chaos with its capitalization. I found this interesting since it seems to suggest that the poem is in reference to an actual human being. In Line 2 Chaos is referred to as "him," (2) which supports the human aspect of Chaos. Chaos seems to be an imprisoned man who the speaker will not let escape. I also found the placement of the semicolon interesting since I was forced to pause at that point in the poem just as Chaos is forced to stay imprisoned. In line 4, Chaos is referred to as, "Flood, fire, demon," (4) which all carry negative connotations since they all destroy and hurt people. However, in line 6 the speaker's demeanor changes towards Chaos when she refers to him as "Of this sweet Order." (6) I feel this is a play on Chaos's submission and how she controls him now, therefore he is in "order." This line seemed to make the tone sarcastic, whereas before the tone of the poem felt hateful and undeniably furious. The theme seems to consist of revenge and the speaker wants to prevent Chaos from doing anything Chaos pleases to do, as the speaker says: "I hold his essence and amorphous shape." (7)