SONNETS
English
Bermudez
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Identify a Shakespearean sonnet
Identify and label the rhyme scheme
Identify and label iambic pentameter
Identify and label a Shakespearean sonnet's divisions
Write a definition for a Shakespearean sonnet
Write a definition for paraphrase and its purpose
Paraphrase a Shakespearean sonnet
WHEN DID HE WRITE THEM?
• The writings in this lesson come from
Shakespeare's early years and were probably
composed between 1592 and 1597. It is
reasonable then to suppose that the inspiration
came from the time between when he left
Stratford and popped up on the literary scene in
London. (154)
SONNET
• The name sonnet comes
from the Italian word
“sonnet” which literally
means “little song.”
WHAT IS A SONNET?
• A 14 line poem
• Usually written in iambic pentameter…has one of two
basic structures
• Petrarchan (also called the Italian sonnet) or
• English, Elizabethan, or Shakespearean sonnet
PETRARCHAN SONNET
• Consists of an 8-line octave followed by a 6-line sestet.
• The octave and sestet in this sonnet are usually related
• The octave introduces the poem’s subject, and the
sestet responds to it
• The octave (first 8 lines) contains a question or
problem.
• The sestet (last 6 lines) proposes an answer or
solution.
ELIZABETHAN / SHAKESPEAREAN
• Consists of three quatrains (four-line
stanzas) followed by concluding
couplet (two rhyming lines).
IAMBIC PENTAMETER
• Lines in poetry written in iambic pentameter contain five
iambs.
• Iamb (~’): is an unstressed syllable followed by a
stressed syllable
• Ex: protect
• Shall I/ compare/ thee to/ a sum/ mer's day
Thou art/ more lov/ly and/ more temp/orate
IAMBIC PENTAMETER
• In order to write a sonnet you have to be able to write iambic
pentameter. “Iambic pentameter” is the name given to a certain type of
rhythm.
An “iamb” is two syllables. The first syllable is un-stressed, and the
second syllable is stressed or emphasized. When the two syllables
are spoken out loud, they sound like a fall and rise.
Many single words are iambic. Say the following words out loud and
listen to how you naturally emphasize or stress the first syllable of the
word and then how you naturally let the second syllable fall.
• within
forgive
myself
explain
begin
IAMBIC PENTAMETER
• To make the idea of the iamb more visual, let’s use CAPITAL
letters for stressed syllables and lower case letters for
unstressed syllables.
• The list above would look as follows:
• withIN
forGIVE
mySELF
exPLAIN
beGIN
THE TURN OR “VOLTA”
• The word “volta” is the Italian word for “turn.”
• Placing a volta in a sonnet is the most difficult part for many people.
• To help visualize a volta or turn in your sonnet, think of this:
• When you are walking through a field, you may at some point decide to
change direction by turning.
• You might turn one small degree from your previous direction, or you might
turn all the way around, 180 degrees and head in the opposite direction. You
may do the same thing in a sonnet. Where the turn comes in the sonnet also
sometimes depends on what type of sonnet you are attempting to write. In a
Shakespearean sonnet the turn usually comes at the ninth line.
VOLTA
• An easy example of a turning point would
be, lines 1-8 ask a question or series of
questions and lines 9-14 answer the
question or questions.
RHYME SCHEME ? ? ?
Petrarchan
• Abba, abba, cde, cde
Shakespearean
• Abab, cdcd, efef, gg
• (most common)
•
aa bb cc dd ee ff gg
PARAPHRASE
A paraphrase takes difficult language
and explains it in easier, more
understandable, language. It is usually
as long as and often longer than the
original piece. It does not contain any of
the original language.
ALL SONNETS HAVE FOURTEEN LINES. WHAT
MAKES A SONNET A SHAKESPEAREAN SONNET
IS THAT ITS FOURTEEN LINES RHYME LIKE THIS:
• Line 1 rhymes with line 3
Line 2 rhymes with line 4
Line 3 rhymes with line 1
Line 4 rhymes with line 2
Line 5 rhymes with line 7
Line 6 rhymes with line 8
Line 7 rhymes with line 5
Line 8 rhymes with line 6
Line 9 rhymes with line 11
Line 10 rhymes with line 12
Line 11 rhymes with line 9
Line 12 rhymes with line 10
Line 13 rhymes with line 14
Line 14 rhymes with line 13
SONNET 18
•
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed; But thy eternal summer shall not
fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest,
Nor shall death brag thou wanderest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest. So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
SONNET 18
•
OOOOH Baby I think I shall compare you to a summer day
But, you know, you're prettier and even better, even calm
Because sometimes it gets windy and the buds on the trees get shaken off
And sometimes summer doesn't last very long
Sometimes it's too hot
And everything gorgeous loses its looks
By getting hit by a truck Or just because everyone and everything gets old and
ugly and shabby
BUT (and here's the turn) you're going to keep your looks for ever
Your beauty will last for ever
I'm going to make sure that you never lose your good looks
And that nasty old Death can never brag about owning you
Because I shall write this poem about you
As long as men can breathe (are you breathing?)
As long as men can see (are you looking at this poem?)
Then this poem lives, and it gives life and memory to your beauty.
THE ARGUMENT OF SONNET 18 GOES LIKE THIS:
•
First quatrain: Shakespeare establishes the theme of comparing "thou" (or "you") to a
summer's day, and why to do so is a bad idea. The metaphor is made by comparing his beloved
to summer itself.
•
Second quatrain: Shakespeare extends the theme, explaining why even the sun, supposed to
be so great, gets obscured sometimes, and why everything that's beautiful decays from beauty
sooner or later. He has shifted the metaphor: In the first quatrain, it was "summer" in general,
and now he's comparing the sun and "every fair," every beautiful thing, to his beloved.
•
Third quatrain: Here the argument takes a big left turn with the familiar "But." Shakespeare
says that the main reason he won't compare his beloved to summer is that summer dies — but
she won't. He refers to the first two quatrains — her "eternal summer" won't fade, and she won't
"lose possession" of the "fair" (the beauty) she possesses. So he keeps the metaphors going,
but in a different direction.
•
And for good measure, he throws in a negative version of all the sunshine in this poem — the
"shade" of death, which, evidently, his beloved won't have to worry about.
•
Couplet: How is his beloved going to escape death? In Shakespeare's poetry, which will keep
her alive as long as people breathe or see. This bold statement gives closure to the whole
argument — it's a surprise.
BLANK VERSE SONNET
• There is a type of sonnet which doesn’t
rhyme, called a blank verse sonnet. “Blank
verse” is un-rhymed iambic pentameter.
So, a blank verse sonnet is 14 lines of unrhymed iambic pentameter.
• This what you will be writing ;)
SONNET: QUICK REVIEW 
• First quatrain: An exposition of the main theme and main
metaphor.
• Second quatrain: Theme and metaphor extended or
complicated; often, some imaginative example is given.
• Third quatrain: Peripeteia (a twist or conflict), often introduced
by a "but" (very often leading off the ninth line).
• Couplet: Summarizes and leaves the reader with a new,
concluding image.