1. Sonnets

2. Definition and Background
The word sonnet means “little song.”
It is a poem of 14 lines with a particular rhyme scheme and logical structure.
There are different types of sonnets.

3. Italian Sonnets

4. The Italian Sonnet
Made famous in Italy by a poet named Francesco Petrarch
Sometimes called a Petrarchan Sonnet after Petrarch.
Typically about love, especially an unreachable woman. (Laura)
Divided into two parts
First part: Octave (8 lines)
Has an ABBA ABBA rhyme scheme
Often presents a problem

5. The Italian(Petrarchan) Sonnet
Second part: Sestet (6 lines)
Often has an CDE CDE rhyme scheme
Provides clarity for the problem
Has a split between the two sections
Line 9 signals a change in tone, mood, or stance of poem
The Italian sonnet was the earliest form of the genre.

6. English Sonnets

7. The English Sonnet
Shakespeare borrowed from the Italian sonnet and created what is now called a Shakespearean sonnet.
It is sometimes also called an English Sonnet, after the country in which Shakespeare lived.
He wrote 154 of them.
The poems form a sequence and are addressed to two different people.
Most of the sonnets are addressed to a handsome, talented young man.

8. The English Sonnet
Those poems urge the man to marry and have children.
25 of the sonnets are addressed to a woman dubbed the “dark lady” who seems to be romantically involved with both the speaker and the young man.
Those poems focus on the grief she causes the speaker by betraying him.

9. The English Sonnet
A Shakespearean sonnet follows a very specific form:
Has a structure of 3 quatrains (4 lines) and a rhyming couplet (2 lines)
Has a rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
Usually has five iambic feet (unstressed, stressed syllable); this means there are about 10 syllables per line.

10. The English(Shakespearean) Sonnet
Shakespeare uses the first 12 lines to present a problem, idea, or situation and resolves or emphasizes it in the final couplet.
Themes: time, death, love, friendship, immortality of poetry

11. The End