Shakespeare’s Sonnets
Literary Focus: Shakespearean Sonnet
A sonnet is a fourteen-line lyric poem, usually
about love.
The English, or Shakespearean, sonnet consists
of three quatrains (rhyming four-line units)
followed by a couplet (a pair of rhyming lines) at
the end.
• The three quatrains often express related
ideas.
• The couplet sums up the poet’s message.
Literary Focus: Shakespearean Sonnet
Like most sonnets, the Shakespearean sonnet is
written in a particular meter, or rhythmic pattern,
called iambic pentameter:
Each line consists of five unstressed syllables
alternating with five stressed syllables.
˘ ′˘ ′
˘
′
˘ ′ ˘
′
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven’s gate
—Sonnet 29, line 12
˘ = unstressed syllable ′ = stressed syllable
Literary Focus: Shakespearean Sonnet
The typical rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean
sonnet is abab cdcd efef gg.
First quatrain
When, in disgrace with Fortune and men’s eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate
—Sonnet 29, lines 1–4
a
b
a
b
Literary Focus: Shakespearean
Sonnet
Shakespearean sonnets, like most all
sonnets, will contain a turn or volta.
The turn (volta) indicates a shift in thought
or focus of the poem.
Some turns are very pronounced others are
more subtle.
As you read the sonnets, try to locate the
turn in each one.
Sonnet 29
by William Shakespeare
At the beginning of Sonnet 29,
the speaker describes some
volatile emotions: envy, selfpity, and self-hatred.
• Consider what you know about Shakespeare
and about poetry.
• Do you think the entire poem will be about
envy and self-pity? If not, what do you think it
will end up being about?
Sonnet 29
Literary Focus: Shakespearean Sonnet
As you read Sonnet 29, notice
• where each quatrain begins
and ends
• which words rhyme in the
quatrains
• how the couplet is used to
sum up the message
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