English Sonnet
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14 lines
3 Quatrains and a couplet
Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
Iambic Pentameter
The first quatrain introduces a topic, problem, or
idea
• The second and third quatrain explore or
comment on the topic, problem or idea
• The couplet resolves the problem, summarizes
the idea, or takes a new outlook on the topic
– It should stand out and have independent meaning
Meter
• All words are made up of syllables
– All syllables are either stressed or unstressed
• Meter is how we arrange stressed and
unstressed sounds in a sentence or verse
of poetry
• There are several basic rhythms (patterns
of stress  METER)
Meter
The basic unit of meter/rhythm is a FOOT
/ = stressed
˘
= unstressed
Meter with 2 syllable feet:
– IAMBIC (˘ /) : That time of year thou mayst in me behold
– TROCHAIC (/ ˘): Tell me not in mournful numbers
– SPONDAIC (/ /): Break, break, break/ On thy cold gray stones,
O Sea!
Meter with 3 syllable feet:
– ANAPESTIC (˘ ˘ /): And the sound of a voice that is still
– DACTYLIC (/ ˘ ˘): This is the forest primeval, the murmuring
pines and the hemlock (a trochee replaces the final dactyl)
Iambic Pentameter
• 5 iambic feet (unstressed – stressed)
– Think of five heart beats or clock ticks!
• da DUM, da DUM, da DUM, da DUM, da DUM
• tickTOCK, tickTOCK, tickTOCK, tickTOCK, tickTOCK
• Now stomp it out
– Have your dominant foot stomp on the stressed beats
• Now with a lines of verse…
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
Sonnet 29
• Sonnet 29 is a complaint poem, a
plaintive poem that contains laments and
pleas of unrequited lovers.
• In most of Sonnet 29, the speaker
bemoans his lack of looks, ability,
prospects, and powerful friends. Beginning
with the turn, the speaker recalls the
richness that love has bestowed on him
and declines to change his place with
kings.
Sonnet 73
• In Sonnet 73, the speaker conveys his
advancing age and weakening hold on life
through metaphors of autumn, twilight, and
glowing embers. In the turn at the end of
the poem, the speaker acknowledges that
his beloved recognizes his frailties, yet
loves him more because he’ll soon be
gone.
• Sonnet 73 contains a parallel structure
that introduces the three metaphors: “You
see in me.”
Sonnet 116
• Sonnet 116 tells what love is and what it is
not. Love is not changeable, but it is fixed
and unalterable. Love doesn’t change as
time passes or when beauty fades.
• Sonnet 116 contains a synecdoche, a
figure of speech in which part of
something represents the whole. Rosy lips
and cheeks represent health and youth.
Sonnet 130
• In Sonnet 130, the speaker describes his
beloved, who he says is nothing like the
other women described in typical love
poetry. The speaker’s beloved is an
ordinary mortal. The speaker is
disappointed with poetry that contains
conventional sentiments about beauty.
• Sonnet 130 contains conceits, fanciful and
elaborate figures of speech that make a
surprising connection between two
seemingly dissimilar things.