Allegory of the Cave Sonnet

The world dances in a shadowy sway
And I know nothing but this wall's dark face
Freedom is simply a few steps away
But I will not break the shackle's embrace
Suddenly I am dragged into the light
It burns and it blinds but after some time
My vision resolves and I see my plight:
Our complacency; the prisoner's crime
I rush back to that decrepit cavern
My mind filled with wondrous enlightenment
But despite my joy they could not discern
What the words that they heard truthfully meant
The comfort of ignorance is a curse
Those who dwell in it are all for the worse

(I attempted iambic pentameter, but could not really figure out the stressed/unstressed structure, so I simply did 10-syllable lines.  Any tips on iambic pentameter would be much appreciated!)

Sonnet Analysis Part I

• A sonnet is a form of poem that typically has 14 lines
• The most common type of sonnet is a "Shakespearean" sonnet
• 14 lines
• 10 syllables per line
• iambic pentameter
• usually deals with the juxtaposition of two ideas by either showing tension or resolving it
• Rhyme scheme:

a b a b
c d c d
e f e f
g g

• 3 quatrains of alternating rhyme and a couplet 
• Other sonnet types:
• Italian/Petrarchan Sonnet:
• First eight lines:

a b b a a b b a

• Remaining six lines 

c d c d c d
c d d c d c
c d e c d e
c d e c e d
c d c e d c 

Sources:
 http://www.sonnets.org/basicforms.htm
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/English+sonnet
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/sonnetstyle.html

Sonnet

Admittedly, I did not even know Edgar Allen Poe wrote sonnets until I saw the one Ubi Kim posted (which I saw while checking his blog to reference him in the previous post).  I thought Poe would be a welcome break from all the Shakespeare we've been doing recently.  I chose this particular one of his because while I enjoyed the imagery, there are plenty of allusions in there worthy of discussion.

"Sonnet - To Science"

Science! true daughter of Old Time thou art!

Who alterest all things with thy peering eyes.

Why preyest thou thus upon the poet's heart,

Vulture, whose wings are dull realities?

How should he love thee? or how deem thee wise,

Who wouldst not leave him in his wandering

To seek for treasure in the jewelled skies,

Albeit he soared with an undaunted wing?

Hast thou not dragged Diana from her car?

And driven the Hamadryad from the wood

To seek a shelter in some happier star?

Hast thou not torn the Naiad from her flood,

The Elfin from the green grass, and from me

The summer dream beneath the tamarind tree?