Shall I Compare Thee (Sonnet 18)

By William Shakespeare

Sonnet The term sonnet comes from the Italian word ‘sonetto’, meaning ‘little

song or sound’. In a sonnet a poet expresses his thoughts and feelings in fourteen

lines. It was popularized by the fourteenth century poet Petrarch. The first poet to introduce sonnet to England was Sir Thomas Wyatt. The pattern of English sonnet comprised of three quatrains (four lines)

and a couplet (two lines) with rhyming scheme: ABAB-CDCD-EFEF-GG.

This is the sonnet form that Shakespeare inherited, and indeed it is often referred to as Shakespearean sonnet.

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William Shakespeare(baptized 1564-1616)

English poet and playwright