The Sonnet• The sonnet is a poem
steeped in tradition, and favored by some of the English language’s most honored poets.
• The sonnet is a lyric poem– Fourteen lines– Last two lines a couplet– Fixed rhyme scheme
• Closed or fixed form
Sonnet Features• Rhyme scheme:
– Shakespearean: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
– Spenserian: ABBA CDDC EFG EFG
– Italian: ABBA ABBA CDE CDE• ABBA ABBA CED CED• ABBA ABBA CD CD CD
Shakespearian Sonnet Features• Pattern is similar to a heartbeat
• weakSTRONGweakSTRONGweakSTRONG
• The Shakespearian sonnet is broken up into quatrains and ends with a rhyming couplet
Sonnet Features• The meter of a sonnet is
iambic pentameter—that’s a meter with five sets of iambs, or syllable pairs that follow an unstressed syllable by a stressed syllable.
• The “shift” in a sonnet usually comes in the final rhyming couplet.
Shall I compare thee to a summer rose?
Check out how iambic pentameter works!