Sonnet Form

Spencerian & Shakepearean Sonnets

Overview of the Sonnet

14 Lines

Lyric Poem A brief melodic & imaginative poem that expresses private thoughts and emotions by a single speaker who speaks in the first person

Originated in Italy in the 13th centuryMeans “little song” in Italian

Italian Sonnet

Also called the “Petrarchan Sonnet”

After the great Italian poet PetrarchLived 1304-1374

Wrote over 300 sonnets

English Sonnet

Sir Thomas Wyatt

Brought this form to the English language by translating Petrarch’s love sonnets

Poetry was encourage by Henry VIII

Henry Howard (Earl of Surrey)

Changed the rhyme scheme of the sonnet form to adapt to the English language

The Shakespearean Sonnet

The English sonnet style donned this title because Shakespeare use it se effectively.

Shakespeare used Surrey’s rhyme scheme to write with more freedom.

Shakespeare’s Focus

Not a divinely beautiful woman, but one with human defects.

Did not limit himself to loveIntroduced deep philosophical issues

Perplexing ironies

Due to his mastery of the sonnet form & broadening of its content this form has been named for him.

The Structure of a Sonnet

Length 14 Lines

Subject Lyrical- a focus on personal feelings and thoughts

Meter Iambic pentameter lines

Structure & rhyme Scheme

Either Petrarchan or Shakespearean

The Petrarchan Form

Two-Part StructureAn Octave

Rhyme scheme usually abbaabba

Establishes the speaker’s situation

Followed by a SestetThe last six lines with the rhyme scheme cdcdcd or cdecde

Resolves, draws conclusions about or expresses a reaction to that situation.

English Poets who use Petrarchan Style

John Milton

William Wordsworth

John Keats

The Shakespearean Form

The English Sonnet is Divided into three quatrains

Groups of four lines Each quatrain elaborates on a particular image

and a rhyming coupletTwo linesThe couplet is a concise statement that pulls the sonnet together Think of it as a “punchline”