Structure of a Sonnet

A sonnet is a 14-line poem that follows a specific rhyme scheme and meter.

The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCDEFEFGG.

Iambic pentameter is a type of meter in poetry that consists of five iambs (unstressed-stressed syllables) per line.

A sonnet has 14 lines.

A quatrain is a stanza or poem of four lines.

There are three quatrains in a sonnet.

A couplet is a stanza or poem of two lines.

Pentameter means a line of verse consisting of five metrical feet.

It consists of three quatrains followed by a couplet.

The volta is a turn in thought or argument, typically occurring between the octet and sestet.