ENG1DB Poetry Analysis Unit:
A Focus on Sonnets
IMPORTANT TERMS AND DEFINITIONS:

A Quatrain: A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four
lines.

An Octave: An octave is a poetic form consisting of eight lines of iambic
pentameter. The most common rhyme scheme for an octave is abba abba.

A Sestet: A sestet is the name given to the second division of a
Petrarchan sonnet, which must consist of an octave, of eight lines, followed by a
sestet, of six lines.

A Rhyming Couplet: Two lines of poetry (side by side) that rhyme and have the
same metre (rhythm).

Iambic Pentameter: In a line of poetry, an iamb is a foot or beat consisting of an
unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. An example of an iamb is the
word comPARE. Interestingly enough, the beat of an iamb is meant to sound like
a human heartbeat. Pentameter is a line of poetry consisting of five metrical feet
(there are are two beats/syllables in each foot, so there are ten beats/syllables in
a line of poetry that follows iambic pentameter). When put together, iambic
pentameter can be defined as a line of poetry consisting of five metrical feet
(ten beats) in which each foot consists of an unstressed syllable and a stressed
syllable. For example:
“Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,”
– Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare (Prologue 1)
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A SONNET:
From the Italian “sonetto”, which means “a little sound or song," the sonnet is a popular
classical form that has compelled poets for centuries. Traditionally, the sonnet is a
fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter, which employ one of several rhyme
schemes and adhere to a tightly structured thematic organization. Two sonnet forms
provide the models from which all other sonnets are formed: the Petrachan and the
Shakespearean.
A Petrarchan Sonnet
The first and most common sonnet is the Petrarchan, or Italian Sonnet. Named after one
of its greatest practitioners, the Italian poet Petrarch, the Petrarchan sonnet is divided
into two stanzas, the octave (the first eight lines) followed by the answering sestet (the
final six lines). The tightly woven rhyme scheme, abba, abba, cdecde or cdcdcd, is
suited for the rhyme-rich Italian language, though there are many fine examples in
English. Since the Petrarchan presents an argument, observation, question, or some
other answerable charge in the octave, a turn, or volta, occurs between the eighth
and ninth lines. This turn marks a shift in the direction of the foregoing argument or
narrative, turning the sestet into the vehicle for the counterargument, clarification, or
whatever answer the octave demands.
A Shakespearean Sonnet
The second major type of sonnet, the Shakespearean, or English sonnet, follows a
different set of rules. Here, three quatrains and a couplet follow this rhyme scheme:
abab, cdcd, efef, gg. The couplet plays a pivotal role, usually arriving in the form of a
conclusion, amplification, or even refutation of the previous three stanzas, often
creating an epiphanic quality to the end.
A Spenserian Sonnet
The Spenserian sonnet, invented by sixteenth century English poet Edmund Spenser,
cribs its structure from the Shakespearean--three quatrains and a couplet--but employs
a series of “couplet links” between quatrains, as revealed in the rhyme scheme: abab,
bcbc, cdcd, ee. The Spenserian sonnet, through the interweaving of the quatrains,
implicitly reorganized the Shakespearean sonnet into couplets, reminiscent of the
Petrarchan. One reason was to reduce the often excessive final couplet of the
Shakespearean sonnet, putting less pressure on it to resolve the foregoing argument,
observation, or question.
EXAMPLE #1: How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)
5
10
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
By Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1806 - 1861
EXAMPLE #2: What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why (Sonnet XLIII)
5
10
What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,
I have forgotten, and what arms have lain
Under my head till morning; but the rain
Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh
Upon the glass and listen for reply,
And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain
For unremembered lads that not again
Will turn to me at midnight with a cry.
Thus in winter stands the lonely tree,
Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one,
Yet knows its boughs more silent than before:
I cannot say what loves have come and gone,
I only know that summer sang in me
A little while, that in me sings no more.
By Edna St. Vincent Millay, 1892 – 1950
EXAMPLE #3: ‘When all the others were away at Mass’
[from Clearances in memoriam M.K.H., 1911-1984]
5
10
When all the others were away at Mass
I was all hers as we peeled potatoes.
They broke the silence, let fall one by one
Like solder weeping off the soldering iron:
Cold comforts set between us, things to share
Gleaming in a bucket of clean water.
And again let fall. Little pleasant splashes
From each other’s work would bring us to our senses.
So while the parish priest at her bedside
Went hammer and tongs at the prayers for the dying
And some were responding and some crying
I remembered her head bent towards my head,
Her breath in mine, our fluent dipping knives–
Never closer the whole rest of our lives.
By Seamus Heaney (1929-2013)
EXAMPLE #4: Sonnet 130

In Sonnet 130 of William Shakespeare’s epic sonnet cycle, the first twelve lines
compare the speaker’s mistress unfavourably with nature’s beauties. But the
concluding couplet swerves in a surprising direction.
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
By William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
EXAMPLE #5: Composed Upon Westminister Bridge, September 3rd, 1802
Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!
By William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
Poetry Analysis Questions: Please answer these questions for TWO sonnets out of the
five provided on this handout (you may choose the two
sonnets that you would like to analyze)…

Answer all of the poetry analysis questions in complete sentences on a separate
sheet of lined paper. (6 questions X2 = 12 in total)
1. What is this sonnet about? Summarize clearly and accurately.
2. Identify the tone of the sonnet (the tone is the author’s attitude towards the
subject of the poem). How does the tone match (or contribute to) the meaning
of the sonnet?
3. In sonnets, there is often a moment of shift in the focus or the tone. Find and
explain the shift in this sonnet.
4. How do the final two lines of the sonnet impact the meaning of the sonnet?
5. Which lines of the sonnet do you find the most powerful? Explain how the use of
specific figurative language/poetic devices help to contribute to the power of
these lines.
6. What kind of sonnet is it? Prove your position by connecting to the characteristics
of the Petrarchan, Shakespearean and Spenserian sonnets provided in this
handout.