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Sonnets

A sonnet is a 14-line poem typically written in iambic pentameter, with the two main forms being the Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnets. The Shakespearean sonnet consists of three quatrains and a couplet with a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg, while the Petrarchan sonnet is divided into an octave and a sestet with a rhyme scheme of ABBA ABBA. Both forms feature a 'turn' that shifts the poem's tone from setup to resolution.

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74 views2 pages

Sonnets

A sonnet is a 14-line poem typically written in iambic pentameter, with the two main forms being the Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnets. The Shakespearean sonnet consists of three quatrains and a couplet with a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg, while the Petrarchan sonnet is divided into an octave and a sestet with a rhyme scheme of ABBA ABBA. Both forms feature a 'turn' that shifts the poem's tone from setup to resolution.

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ilsa.malik2023
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Sonnet

A “sonnet” is a type of poem, consisting of fourteen lines, and written in


iambic pentameter (or ten-syllable lines alternating from unstressed to
stressed syllables). The two most common sonnet forms are the
“Petrarchan” and “Shakespearean” sonnet (named after Italian poet
Petrarch and English poet William Shakespeare

Shakespearean sonnet
The Italian sonnet tradition is modified in a Shakespearean sonnet. In
Elizabethan era, the form developed in England. Some people refer to these
sonnets as Elizabethan or English sonnets. Shakespeare wasn’t the only
author to use this poetry form, despite the fact that his sonnets have stood
out for centuries. John Donne and John Milton were only two of the well-
known English poets of the time who produced sonnets.

Shakespeare’s sonnets are composed of 14 lines, and most are divided into
three quatrains and a final, concluding couplet, rhyming abab cdcd efef gg.
This sonnet form and rhyme scheme is known as the ‘English’ sonnet.
Example
Sonnet 18 is famous

Petrarchan sonnet
The Petrarchan sonnet, also known as the Italian sonnet, is a sonnet named
after the Italian poet Francesco Petrarca,although it was not developed by
Petrarch himself, but rather by a string of Renaissance poets. Because of the
structure of Italian, the rhyme scheme of the Petrarchan sonnet is more
easily fulfilled in that language than in English.

1
The original Italian sonnet form consists of a total of fourteen
hendecasyllabic lines (in English sonnets, iambic pentameter is used in two
parts, the first part being an octave and the second being a sestet.
 It contains fourteen lines of poetry.
 The lines are divided into an eight-line subsection (called an octave)
followed by a six-line subsection (called a sestet).
 The octave follows a rhyme scheme of ABBA ABBA.
What distinguishes a Petrarchan sonnet from a Shakespearean sonnet?
A Shakespearean sonnet and a Petrarchan sonnet are primarily
distinguished by how the fourteen lines of the poem are arranged. An
octave (eight lines) and a sestet are used to split the lines in the Petrarchan
sonnet (six lines)
Conclusion
The Shakespearean sonnet, like the Petrarchan sonnet, is written in fourteen
lines. However, its lines are broken up Into three “quatrains” (i.e. groups of
four lines), followed by a two-line “couplet” at the end. The three quatrains
will usually follow the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF, while the couplet at
the end will follow the rhyme scheme GG. Both types of sonnets tend to
feature a “turn,” also known in Italian as “volta,” which shifts the tone of the
poem from the initial setup, or proposition, to a resolution. In Petrarchan
sonnets, the turn generally comes in the first line of the sestet, while in
Shakespearean sonnets it generally comes in the first line of the third
quatrain.

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