Sonnet

Muldoon's poem is a variation on the sonnet form. The English or Shakespearean sonnet consists of fourteen lines, which follow a pattern or rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. (The rhyme scheme refers to the rhyming of the last words of each line.) "Pineapples and Pomegranates" departs from the traditional sonnet form by using rhymed couplets or two-line pairs throughout, making its general rhyme scheme aa bb cc dd ee ff gg. The first or "a" rhyme is "grapple / pineapple." The second or "b" rhyme is "breast / test," and the rhymed couplets continue in this manner.

"Pineapples and Pomegranates" also differs from traditional sonnets in its meter. Strict or traditional sonnets use iambic pentameter, which means that each line consists of ten syllables that form iambs, or unstressed-stressed syllable pairs. In this poem, the number of syllables varies from line to line, so that some lines, such...