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    Definition of Sonnet

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    marine ella munar
    The document defines and describes different types of sonnets. It begins by explaining that a sonnet is a 14 line poem written in iambic pentameter with a specific rhyme scheme. It then describes the two main types: the Italian or Petrarchan sonnet which has an octet rhyme scheme of abba abba and a sestet of cde cde, and the Shakespearean sonnet which has a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. Examples of each type are also provided.

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    Definition of Sonnet

    Uploaded by

    marine ella munar
    59 views8 pages
    The document defines and describes different types of sonnets. It begins by explaining that a sonnet is a 14 line poem written in iambic pentameter with a specific rhyme scheme. It then describes the two main types: the Italian or Petrarchan sonnet which has an octet rhyme scheme of abba abba and a sestet of cde cde, and the Shakespearean sonnet which has a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. Examples of each type are also provided.

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    The document defines and describes different types of sonnets. It begins by explaining that a sonnet is a 14 line poem written in iambic pentameter with a specific rhyme scheme. It then describes the two main types: the Italian or Petrarchan sonnet which has an octet rhyme scheme of abba abba and a sestet of cde cde, and the Shakespearean sonnet which has a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. Examples of each type are also provided.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    59 views8 pages

    Definition of Sonnet

    Uploaded by

    marine ella munar
    The document defines and describes different types of sonnets. It begins by explaining that a sonnet is a 14 line poem written in iambic pentameter with a specific rhyme scheme. It then describes the two main types: the Italian or Petrarchan sonnet which has an octet rhyme scheme of abba abba and a sestet of cde cde, and the Shakespearean sonnet which has a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. Examples of each type are also provided.

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    Definition of Sonnet

    The word sonnet is derived from the Italian word “sonetto,” which means a
    “little song” or small lyric. In poetry, a sonnet has 14 lines, and is written in
    iambic pentameter. Each line has 10 syllables. It has a
    specific rhyme scheme, and a volta, or a specific turn.

    Generally, sonnets are divided into different groups based on the rhyme
    scheme they follow. The rhymes of a sonnet are arranged according to a
    certain rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme in English is usually abab–cdcd–
    efef–gg, and in Italian abba–abba–cde–cde.
    Italian or Petrarchan Sonnet

    Italian or Petrarchan sonnet was introduced by 14th century Italian poet Francesco Petrarch.
    “Being one day at my window all alone,

    So manie strange things happened me to see,

    As much as it grieveth me to thinke thereon.

    At my right hand a hynde appear’d to mee,

    So faire as mote the greatest god delite;

    Two eager dogs did her pursue in chace.

    Of which the one was blacke, the other white:

    With deadly force so in their cruell race

    They pincht the haunches of that gentle beast,

    That at the last, and in short time, I spide,

    Under a rocke, where she alas, opprest,

    Fell to the ground, and there untimely dide.

    Cruell death vanquishing so noble beautie

    Oft makes me wayle so hard a desire.”

    The rhyme scheme of a Petrarchan sonnet features the first eight lines, called an octet, which rhymes as
    abba–abba–cdc–dcd. The remaining six lines are called a sestet, and might have a range of rhyme
    schemes.

    Shakespearean Sonnet

    A Shakespearean sonnet is generally written in iambic pentameter, in which there are 10 syllables in each
    line. The rhythm of the lines must be as below:

    “From fairest creatures we desire increase,

    That thereby beauty’s rose might never die.

    But as the riper should by time decease,

    His tender heir might bear his memory:


    But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes,

    Feed’st thy light’s flame with self-substantial fuel,

    Making a famine where abundance lies,

    Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel.

    Thou that art now the world’s fresh ornament

    And only herald to the gaudy spring,

    Within thine own bud buriest thy content

    And, tender churl, mak’st waste in niggarding.

    Pity the world, or else this glutton be,

    To eat the world’s due, by the grave and thee…”

    The rhyme scheme of the Shakespearian sonnet is abab–cdcd–efef–gg, which is difficult to follow. Hence,
    only Shakespeare is known to have done it.

    Example #3: Amoretti (By Edmund Spenser)

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