THE SONNET

CREATION

Originally created in Italy in the 1200s by the poet Lentino. In English poetry, the poet Petrarch made it popular.

DEFINITION

A sonnet is a poem of 14 lines of iambic pentameter.

The subjects of sonnets is usually love.

RHYME PATTERNSRhymes in a number of different patterns, 2 of which are:

Italian (also called Petrarchan)English (also called Shakespearean)

RHYME SCHEME

The pattern of end rhyme in a stanza or poem.

Generally denoted with small-case letters, with each letter assigned a different ending sound.

EXAMPLESing a song of sixpence, a

A pocket full of rye, bFour and twenty blackbirds,cBaked in a pie. bWhen the pie was opened, dThe birds began to sing. eWas this not a dainty dish fTo set before the king? e

ITALIAN (PETRARCHAN) SONNET

Italian (Petrarchan)

The original form of a sonnet.

Consists of an octet (a group of 8 lines) and a sestet (group of 6 lines).

Italian (Petrarchan)

Petrarch’s sonnets were usually about love and were written to a girl named Laura.

Italian (Petrarchan)

There are 3 possible rhyme schemes:

abbaabba ccddee

abbaabba cdecde

abbaabba cdcdee

ENGLISH (SHAKESPEAREAN) SONNET

English (Shakespearean)

The most common in English.

He wrote about many subjects, including his good friend, aging, immortality of poetry, a woman, and emotional problems.

English (Shakespearean)

Consists of 3 quatrains (4-line stanzas) and a couplet (2 lines that rhyme).

The rhyme scheme is:

abab cdcd efef gg