Poetry: Sonnets

Meter A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry. Foot A metrical unit of poetry Iamb A metrical foot in poetry that has an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable

Fourteen Line Poem Usually written in Iambic pentameter Sonnet

Octave An eight-line stanza Sestet A six line stanza

Petrarchan Sonnet (Italian Sonnet) Divided into two parts –Octave (eight lines) With the rhyme scheme abbaabba –Sestet (six lines) With the rhyme scheme cdecde or cdcdcd ABBAABBACDECDEABBAABBACDECDE ABBAABBACDCDCDABBAABBACDCDCD

Quatrain A four line stanza or poem or a group of four lines unified by a rhyme scheme Couplet Two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry

Shakespearean Sonnet (English Sonnet) Three Quatrains Quatrain= four lines One Couplet Couplet= two lines Rhyme Scheme abab cdcd efef gg ABABCDCDEFEFGGABABCDCDEFEFGG

Spenserian Sonnet Like the Shakespearean Sonnet but w/ a different rhyme scheme abab bcbc cdcd ee Rhyme scheme links quatrains Three Quatrains Quatrain= four lines One Couplet Couplet= two lines ABABBCBCCDCDEEABABBCBCCDCDEE