What is a Sonnet? Understanding the forms, meter, rhyme, and other aspects of the sonnet.

Sonnet Form Must have 14 lines. must be written in iambic pentameter must follow a specific rhyme scheme, depending on the type of sonnet. can be about any subject, though they are often about love or nature. introduces a problem or question in the beginning, and a resolution is offered after the turn (VOLTA)

Iambic Pentameter A line of Iambic Pentameter is a line with ten beats. An Iamb is two beats, or one foot. Penta is five (line has five “feet”). Meter is the rhythm of the poem. A the iambic foot is made of an unstressed syllable and a stressed syllable (in that order). Very common pattern in general

Side note: other meters that sometimes appear on AP exam: Trochaic (traitors) opposite of iambs, so stressed, unstressed Anapestic, 3 syllables Unstressed, unstressed, stressed Dactylic, 3 syllables, Stressed, unstressed, unstressed

English Sonnet An English Sonnet is also called a Shakespearean Sonnet. It includes three quatrains (groups of four lines) and a couplet (two lines). The rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg. The turn/shift (volta) is either after eight lines or ten lines.

Italian Sonnet An Italian Sonnet is also called a Petrarchan Sonnet. It includes an octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six lines). The rhyme scheme must begin with abbaabba, and can conclude with any variation of c, d, and e (cdecde, cdccdc, etc.). The turn/shift (volta) must occur between the octave and the sestet.

Sonnets in your poetry packet: Pg. 3 – “Sonnenizio . . .” Pg. 13 – “Sonnet 18” Pg. 19 – “Love is not all” Pg. 29 – “Since there’s no help” Pg. 31 – “Bright Star” and “Sonnet 138” Pg. 34 – “Sonnet 130” Pg. 36 – “Sonnet 73” Pg. 39 – “Sonnet 116”

Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 Examine: diction, imagery, shift, metaphor, personification Find examples that add to the meaning of the poem Let those help you arrive at theme – what is the theme? To what effect do the poetic devices lead to or enhance the theme?

Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 Read through twice Any vocabulary unknown? Find significant diction, metaphors, personification, imagery, shift What is the theme? Compare to previous sonnet (18)

Two more Shakespeare Sonnets: Sonnet 130 (what is the TONE?) Sonnet 138

Homework: Love is not All pg. 20 Death, Be not Proud pg. 39

What type of sonnet is “What the Sonnet Is”? What are the groupings of the lines (how many lines are in each group)? What is the rhyme scheme? Where is the turn? Based on your answers, what kind of sonnet is it? Write these questions on your paper and answer them when the sonnet is shown.

“What the Sonnet is” Fourteen small broidered berries on the hem Of Circe’s mantle, each of magic gold; Fourteen of lone Calypso’s tears that rolled Into the sea, for pearls to come of them; Fourteen clear signs of omen in the gem With which Medea human fate foretold; Fourteen small drops, which Faustus, growing old, Craved of the Fiend, to water Life’s dry stem. It is the pure white diamond Dante brought To Beatrice; the sapphire Laura wore When Petrarch cut it sparkling out of thought; The ruby Shakespeare hewed from his heart’s core; The dark, deep emerald that Rossetti wrought For his own soul, to wear for evermore. ~Eugene Lee-Hamilton

What type of sonnet is “What the Sonnet Is”? Lines are in an octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six lines). Fourteen small broidered berries on the hem Of Circe’s mantle, each of magic gold; Fourteen of lone Calypso’s tears that rolled Into the sea, for pearls to come of them; Fourteen clear signs of omen in the gem With which Medea human fate foretold; Fourteen small drops, which Faustus, growing old, Craved of the Fiend, to water Life’s dry stem. It is the pure white diamond Dante brought To Beatrice; the sapphire Laura wore When Petrarch cut it sparkling out of thought; The ruby Shakespeare hewed from his heart’s core; The dark, deep emerald that Rossetti wrought For his own soul, to wear for evermore.

What type of sonnet is “What the Sonnet Is”? Rhyme scheme is abbaabba cdcdcd. Fourteen small broidered berries on the hem Of Circe’s mantle, each of magic gold; Fourteen of lone Calypso’s tears that rolled Into the sea, for pearls to come of them; Fourteen clear signs of omen in the gem With which Medea human fate foretold; Fourteen small drops, which Faustus, growing old, Craved of the Fiend, to water Life’s dry stem. It is the pure white diamond Dante brought To Beatrice; the sapphire Laura wore When Petrarch cut it sparkling out of thought; The ruby Shakespeare hewed from his heart’s core; The dark, deep emerald that Rossetti wrought For his own soul, to wear for evermore.

What type of sonnet is “What the Sonnet Is”? The turn in this sonnet is between the octave and the sestet, or after eight lines. The period at the end of line eight is a clue that this is the turn, especially because it is one of only two periods in the sonnet. Before the turn, the speaker is telling of groups of fourteen; after the turn, he tells of who wrote the sonnets.

What type of sonnet is “What the Sonnet Is”? “What the Sonnet Is” is an Italian/Petrarchan Sonnet!