Introduction to Sonnets Petrarch, Shakespeare and Spenser

Origins of the Sonnet A sonnet is a 14 line lyric poem with a complicated rhyme scheme and a defined structure. This form has challenged English poets ever since it was introduced in England over 500 years ago. The sonnet originated in Italy in the 13th century. Sonnet means “little song” in Italian.

Origins of the Sonnet cont... The great Italian poet Petrarch perfected the Italian Sonnet, which is now often referred to as the “Petrarchan Sonnet” in his honor. The Development of the English Sonnet The English Sonnet first began with Sir Thomas Wyatt, who translated Petrarch’s Italian sonnets, and then wrote a few of his own in the 1530’s.

Origins of the Sonnet cont... The English Sonnet is now referred to as the Shakespearian Sonnet because he wrote with such distinction. Shakespeare’s sonnets were published in Edmund Spenser also wrote sonnets, but is overshadowed by Shakespeare.

What makes a Poem a Sonnet? Length: 14 lines Subject(s): a lyrical nature--a focus on personal feelings and thoughts. Meter: iambic pentameter lines (lines containing five metrical units, each consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable). Structure and Rhyme Scheme: a particular structure and rhyme scheme, Petrarchan or Shakespearian.

In a Traditional Sonnet... There are 14 lines. The poet introduces at least one volta (or a jump or shift in direction of the emotions or thought), usually somewhat after the middle of the Sonnet. If the poet writes in the form of the Sicilian Sonnet, Italian (or Petrarchan) Sonnet, or French Sonnet, he begins with an octave and concludes with a sestet. He places the volta between the octave and the sestet. He may indicate the volta by a stanza break. In English, we are especially familiar with the English (or Shakespearean) Sonnet and the Spenserian Sonnet. In both, the poet groups lines in three quatrains followed by a closing rhymed couplet. He places a shift (a more subtle change than the volta) between the second and third quatrains.

In a Traditional Sonnet cont... In addition to the above, the English (or Shakespearean) Sonnet: Has an alternating rhyme scheme in the quatrains (e.g., "a b a b"). Has a turn between the third quatrain and the concluding couplet. Often this marks a change from the presentation of images and the building of a case (in the quatrains). After the turn, the poet often states a conclusion, sometimes the "meaning" or "purpose" of the poem.

In a Traditional Sonnet cont... Often has its greatest power in the concluding couplet. Meanwhile, the Spenserian Sonnet (in addition to features shared with the English (or Shakespearean) Sonnet) has an envelope or kissing rhyme, "abba".

The Italian Sonnet The Italian (or Petrarchan) Sonnet starts with rhyming words in the pattern of rima baciata ("kissing rhyme"), which in English we call "envelope" rhyme. It ends with a sestet in "chained rhyme", which can use a variety of sequences: a b b a a b b a - End words of lines in octet. - Volta c d e - First tercet for first three lines in sestet. c d e - Second tercet for last three lines in sestet. Variations of the last six lines include: 'c d e d c e' or 'c d c d c d'.

Italian Sonnet Form - Petrarch The original form of the sonnet was the Italian sonnet, developed by the fourteenth-century poet Petrarch. It consisted of an eight line octet (also known as the "Italian octave") and a six line sestet (also known as the "Sicilian sestet"). Each section of an Italian sestet has a specific rhyme scheme and a specific purpose.

Italian Sonnet Form – Petrarch cont... The rhyme scheme for the octet is ABBA ABBA, and the purpose of the octet is to present a situation or a problem. The rhyme scheme for the sestet can be either CDECDE or CDCDCD, and the purpose of the sestet is to comment on or resolve the situation or problem posed in the octet. When this (or any sonnet form) is used in English, it is traditionally in iambic pentameter.

The Spenserian Sonnet The Spenserian Sonnet concludes with a rhymed couplet. The resulting form is: a b a b - End words of first quatrain in alternating rhyme. b c b c - End words of second quatrain in alternating rhyme with repetition of the last rhyme in the first quatrain. - Shift. c d c d - End words of third quatrain in alternating rhyme, with repetition of the last rhyme in the second quatrain. e e - Heroic couplet.

Spenserian Sonnet Form A sonnet variation developed in the sixteenth century by English poet Edmund Spenser. While few poets have used this form, it serves as a bridge between the Italian sonnet and the form used by Shakespeare. In a Spenserian sonnet, the rhyme scheme used is ABAB BCBC CDCD EE, and there does not appear to be a requirement that the initial octet sets up a problem which the closing sestet answers. Instead, the form is treated as three quatrains (linked by the connected rhyme scheme described above) followed by a couplet. Again, iambic pentameter is used.

The English (or Shakespearean) Sonnet) contains three quatrains, each with an independent pair of alternating rhymes. Both a shift and a turn (as noted in forms of the Sonnet) occur respectively before and after the third quatrain. Like the Spenserian Sonnet, the English Sonnet concludes with a rhymed couplet. The resulting form is: a b a b - End words of first quatrain in alternating rhyme c d c d - End words of second quatrain in alternating rhyme. - Shift e f e f - End words of third quatrain in alternating rhyme. - Turn g g - Heroic couplet.

English Sonnet Form - Shakespeare The English Sonnet is a form developed by Shakespeare himself to accommodate the Italian sonnet to relatively-rhyme poor English, avoiding the requirement for triple rhymes in the sestet. The content of an English Sonnet is not coupled as closely to the form as it is in the Italian Sonnet. The rhyme scheme of the English sonnet is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.

English Sonnet Form - Shakespeare cont... One of the interesting elements of Shakespeare's sonnets is the "enjambment" of "phrases" with "sonnet lines." This is done frequently in Shakespeare's plays (which use a great deal of non-rhymed iambic pentameter, a form known as "blank verse"); less frequently in the sonnets. In an "enjambed" line, the textual phrases extend beyond the end of the sonnet lines, and a textual phrase begins or ends in the middle of a line of iambic pentameter.

Sonnet Vocabulary

Blank Verse Poetry that is in meter but not rhymed. Spenser's early sonnets and much of Milton's poetry are in blank verse.

Couplet a pair of lines of poetry that are usually rhymed

English Sonnet (also known as the Shakespearean Sonnet or Elizabethan Sonnet) Also Elizabethan sonnet or Shakespearean sonnet. Form in which the rhyme scheme is abab,cdcd,efef,gg. This adaptation of the Italian model allowed for the sparser rhymes of the English language and also encouraged a "summing up" couplet at the end. This change probably contributed to the development of the sonnet as a dramatic form.

Iambic Pentameter A meter in which there are five iambs (pairs of unstressed and stressed syllables) in each line. An iamb is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one. The word "deceive" is an iamb. Most sonnets are in iambic pentameter, though Shakespeare's Sonnet 145 and a few sonnets by Thomas Hardy are in tetrameter (four iambs per line), and some of Sir Philip Sidney's sonnets (see Loving in truth...") use hexameter (six iambs). Ideally, the poet will temper the iambic pentameter pattern by occasionally substituting for an iamb another type of foot whose stress is different, thus avoiding a metronomic effect.

Octave/Octet The first eight lines of a sonnet, usually found in the Petrarchan sonnet. The octave presents a problem or raises a question. The rhyme scheme is usually abbaabba.

Petrarchan Sonnet Original Italian sonnet form in which the sonnet's rhyme scheme divides the poem's 14 lines into two parts, an octet (first eight lines) and a sestet (last six lines). The rhyme scheme for the octet is typically abbaabba. There are a few possibilities for the sestet, including cdecde, cdcdcd, and cdcdee. This form was used in the earliest English sonnets by Wyatt and others. For background on the pre-English sonnet, see Professor Robert Canary's informative web page, The Continental Origins of the Sonnet.

Sestet The last six lines of a sonnet, usually found in the Petrarchan sonnet. The sestet answers the resolves the problem presented in the octave. The rhyme scheme of the sestet is usually cdecde or cdccdc

Sonnet From the Italian for "little song," a poem usually rhymed, 14 lines long, and in iambic pentameter.

Spenserian Sonnet Sonnet with the interlocking rhyme scheme used by Edmund Spenser as follows: abab,bcbc,cdcd,ee. For an example, see "Happy ye leaves, whenas those lily hands".

Quatrain Four line units of a stanza