Understanding Sonnets

Sonnets

Shakespearean and Italian

Shakespearean Sonnet

• Must consist of 14 lines

• Must be written in iambic pentameter

Iambic Pentameter

• an iambic foot is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable

• Iambic pentameter has 5 of these Iams ina row for one line of poetry

Shakespearean Sonnet

• Must consist of 14 lines

• Must be written in iambic pentameter

• Must be written with a rhyme scheme

• abab cdcd efef gg (3 quatrains + 1 couplet)

• Must contain an argument

• 1Q = exposition of main theme - main metaphor; 2Q expand the theme + metaphor; 3Q = a twist or conflict, introduced with "but"; Couplet = summarize and leave our reader with a NEW concluding image

Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet

• Must consist of 14 lines

• Must be written in iambic pentameter

• Must have a rhyme scheme - Divided into 2 sections: 1-8 - octave - abba abba; 9-14 = sestet - flexible, cdcdcd, cddcdc, cdecde, cdeced, cdcedc - NEVER ENDS IN COUPLET

• Must contain a theme - Octave = presents theme; Sestet = develops theme