the rites for Cousin Vit

Brooks's poem is, more or less, a sonnet. Like a sonnet, the poem contains 14 lines, a rhyme scheme, and a meter approximating pentameter. However, Brooks doesn’t create a by-the-book sonnet. Much like Cousin Vit escapes the clutches of death, Brooks evades the proscriptions of the traditional sonnet form. It’s hard to figure out a way to pronounce the words in Lines 2, 3, and 13 to keep them within five metrical feet or ten syllables. These lines feature an extra syllable. They go beyond ten, similar to how Cousin Vit is beyond death’s grasp. Cousin Vit shows that she can overtake death. Meanwhile, Gwendolyn Brooks demonstrates that she can impose her will on the sonnet form.

Although the poem looks neat, Brooks mirrors life’s messiness with a zigzagging rhyme scheme. In the first eight lines, Lines 1 and 4 rhyme, Lines 2 and 3 rhyme, Lines 5 and 8 rhyme, and Lines 6 and 7 rhyme. However, in the final six lines, Lines 9 and 13 rhyme, Lines 10 and 13 rhyme, and Lines 11 and 12 rhyme. The somewhat unpredictable rhyme scheme reflects the chances or accidents of Cousin Vit’s fortuitous life.