1. Sonnets A sonnet… ◦ has 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

2. Stanzas 2 line stanzas: Couplets 3 line stanzas: Tercets or Triplets (aaa bbb ccc ddd) 4 line stanzas: Quatrains 5 line stanzas: Quintets 6 line stanzas: Sestets 7 line stanzas: Septets 8 line stanzas: Octaves

3. Shakespearean Sonnet It includes three quatrains and a couplet. The rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg. The turn is traditionally after ten lines.

4. Shakespearean Example Sonnet 130 My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; A Coral is far more red than her lips' red; B If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; A If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. B I have seen roses damask'd, red and white, C But no such roses see I in her cheeks; D And in some perfumes is there more delight C Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. D I love to hear her speak, yet well I know E That music hath a far more pleasing sound; F I grant I never saw a goddess go; E My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground: F Three Quatrains - Introduces the theme or problem And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rareG As any she belied with false compare. G Couplet - Solves the problem or shifts in tone

5. Petrarchan Sonnet It includes an octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six lines). The rhyme scheme must begin with abba abba, and can conclude with any variation of c, d, and e (cdecde, cdcdee, etc.). The turn must occur between the octave and the sestet.

6. Petrarchan Example "London, 1802" Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour: A England hath need of thee: she is a fen B Of stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen, B Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower, A Have forfeited their ancient English dower A Of inward happiness. We are selfish men; B Oh! raise us up, return to us again;B And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power. A Octave - Introduces the theme or problem Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart; C Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea: D Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free, D So didst thou travel on life's common way, E In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart C The lowliest duties on herself did lay. E Sestet - Solves the problem

7. Spenserian Sonnet It includes three quatrains connected by the interlocking rhyme scheme and followed by a couplet. The rhyme scheme is, abab, bcbc, cdcd, ee The three quatrains develop three distinct but closely related ideas, with a different idea (or commentary) in the couplet.

8. Spenserian Example Sonnet LXXV One day I wrote her name upon the strand, A But came the waves and washed it away; B Again I wrote it with a second hand, A But came the tide and made my pains his prey. B "Vain man," said she, "that dost in vain assayB A mortal thing so to immortalize, C For I myself shall like to this decay, B And eke my name be wiped out likewise C "Not so." quod I, "Let baser thing devise C To die in dust, but you shall live by fame; D My verse your virtues rare shall eternize C And in the heavens write your glorious name, D Where, when as death shall all the world subdue, E Our love shall live, and later life renew." E