How to Write an English Sonnet

Sonnet 18, William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?Thou art more lovely and more temperateRough winds do shake the darling buds of MayAnd summer's lease hath all too short a dateSometime too hot the eye of heaven shinesAnd often is his gold complexion dimm'dAnd every fair from fair sometime declinesBy chance or nature's changing course untrimm'dBut thy eternal summer shall not fadeNor lose possession of that fair thou owestNor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shadeWhen in eternal lines to time thou growestSo long as men can breathe or eyes can seeSo long lives this and this gives life to thee.

Useful terminology: Stanza Rhyme scheme Quatrain Couplet Syllables The Foot Iamb Pentameter

What is a Stanza?

Stanza In poetry, stanza refers to a

grouping of lines, set off by a space, that usually has a set pattern of meter and rhyme. See also line, meter, rhyme.

Sonnet 18, William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?Thou art more lovely and more temperateRough winds do shake the darling buds of MayAnd summer's lease hath all too short a date

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shinesAnd often is his gold complexion dimm'dAnd every fair from fair sometime declinesBy chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd

But thy eternal summer shall not fadeNor lose possession of that fair thou owestNor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shadeWhen in eternal lines to time thou growest

So long as men can breathe or eyes can seeSo long lives this and this gives life to thee.

The Proper Rhyme Scheme?English (Shakespearian) Sonnet:

Rhyme Scheme abab/cdcd/efef/gg

Sonnet 18, William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?Thou art more lovely and more temperateRough winds do shake the darling buds of MayAnd summer's lease hath all too short a date

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shinesAnd often is his gold complexion dimm'dAnd every fair from fair sometime declinesBy chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd

But thy eternal summer shall not fadeNor lose possession of that fair thou owestNor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shadeWhen in eternal lines to time thou growest

So long as men can breathe or eyes can seeSo long lives this and this gives life to thee.

Quatrain A Sonnet has 3 quatrains A four-line stanza

Sonnet 18, William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?Thou art more lovely and more temperateRough winds do shake the darling buds of MayAnd summer's lease hath all too short a date

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shinesAnd often is his gold complexion dimm'dAnd every fair from fair sometime declinesBy chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd

But thy eternal summer shall not fadeNor lose possession of that fair thou owestNor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shadeWhen in eternal lines to time thou growest

So long as men can breathe or eyes can seeSo long lives this and this gives life to thee.

What is a Couplet?

Couplet A Sonnet has 1 couplet Two consecutive lines of

poetry that usually rhyme and have the same meter.

Sonnet 18, William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?Thou art more lovely and more temperateRough winds do shake the darling buds of MayAnd summer's lease hath all too short a date

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shinesAnd often is his gold complexion dimm'dAnd every fair from fair sometime declinesBy chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd

But thy eternal summer shall not fadeNor lose possession of that fair thou owestNor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shadeWhen in eternal lines to time thou growest

So long as men can breathe or eyes can seeSo long lives this and this gives life to thee.

Syllables?

Syllables Shall I com-pare thee to a

sum-er´s day = 10 syllables

Sonnet 18, William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?Thou art more lovely and more temperateRough winds do shake the darling buds of MayAnd summer's lease hath all too short a date

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shinesAnd often is his gold complexion dimm'dAnd every fair from fair sometime declinesBy chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd

But thy eternal summer shall not fadeNor lose possession of that fair thou owestNor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shadeWhen in eternal lines to time thou growest

So long as men can breathe or eyes can seeSo long lives this and this gives life to thee.

Foot

Foot  The metrical unit by which a line of

poetry is measured. A foot usually consists of one stressed and one or two unstressed syllables. An iambic foot, which consists of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable ("away"), is the most common metrical foot in English poetry. A trochaic foot consists of one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable ("lovely"). An anapestic foot is two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed one ("understand"). A dactylic foot is one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed ones ("desperate"). A spondee is a foot consisting of two stressed syllables ("dead set"), but is not a sustained metrical foot and is used mainly for variety or emphasis. See also iambic pentameter, line, meter.

Sonnet 18, William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?Thou art more lovely and more temperateRough winds do shake the darling buds of MayAnd summer's lease hath all too short a date

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shinesAnd often is his gold complexion dimm'dAnd every fair from fair sometime declinesBy chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd

But thy eternal summer shall not fadeNor lose possession of that fair thou owestNor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shadeWhen in eternal lines to time thou growest

So long as men can breathe or eyes can seeSo long lives this and this gives life to thee.

Iamb?

An iamb, or iambic foot, consists of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.)

Sonnet 18, William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?Thou art more lovely and more temperateRough winds do shake the darling buds of MayAnd summer's lease hath all too short a date

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shinesAnd often is his gold complexion dimm'dAnd every fair from fair sometime declinesBy chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd

But thy eternal summer shall not fadeNor lose possession of that fair thou owestNor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shadeWhen in eternal lines to time thou growest

So long as men can breathe or eyes can seeSo long lives this and this gives life to thee.

Iambic Pentameter?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iambic_pentameter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iambic_pentameter