Speaking as someone who writes almost nothing but sonnets I have to say that they are about the right length for a poem: not too long to be daunting; but not too short to fully develop an idea. They are also traditionally very intimate. And you can always write a sonnet sequence. Also there is the soneta caudata as well as the curtal sonnet.
The fact of the matter is that the more rigorous the form of any art the more inventive you can be with it. Whereas with formlessness there's not really anything you can do. Picasso said something like 'learn the traditions like a professional and then break those traditions like an artist'.
There is so much more to any art than mere self-expression. There is playfulness. And that requires rules.
Speaking as someone who writes almost nothing but sonnets I have to say that they are about the right length for a poem: not too long to be daunting; but not too short to fully develop an idea. They are also traditionally very intimate. And you can always write a sonnet sequence. Also there is the soneta caudata as well as the curtal sonnet.
The fact of the matter is that the more rigorous the form of any art the more inventive you can be with it. Whereas with formlessness there's not really anything you can do. Picasso said something like 'learn the traditions like a professional and then break those traditions like an artist'.
There is so much more to any art than mere self-expression. There is playfulness. And that requires rules.