THE SONNET
A contradictory tale of love and
structure
What does a Shakespearian Sonnet and Teenage
Angst Have in Common?
• My-So-Called-Life clip, “self-esteem” (episode 12)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rCAUs5GRbc
Sonnets ~ An Overview
• Derived from Italian word sonetto, meaning “little
song”
• Most structured of all poetic forms
• 14 lines
• Strict rhyme scheme
• Iambic pentameter
The Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet
• The Italian sonnet was made truly famous by the Italian poet
Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374)
• Original Sonnet
• Wrote a series of them to his great love Laura who never returned
Petrarch's affection
• The sonnet is often associated with unrequited love
• The Italian sonnet is often called the Petrarchan sonnet in the
poet's honor.
Elements of the Petrachan Sonnet
• A fourteen line poem with a strict rhyme scheme
• The Italian sonnet begins with an octave— the first eight lines which set up the
problem or issue that the poet wants to talk about.
• Then there's a turn (major shift in thought, typically in line 9) to the sestet.
• Sestet—the final six lines that represents a solution to the problem or issue
introduced by the octet.
• So remember: Octet (8) + Sestet (6) = Sonnet (14 lines).
• The meter is iambic pentameter
• Iambic pentameter is a ten syllables per line made up of five two-syllable feet
called iambs.
• One iamb is a unstressed syllable followed by an stressed syllable.
• Rhyme Scheme: ABBAABBA / CDECDE or ABBAABBA / CDCDCD or
ABBAABBA / CDCCDC
• Rhetoric: ABBAABBA (octet –sets up problem or issue) / CDECDE or CDCDCD or
CDCCDC (sestet – solution)
Themes of the Italian Sonnet
• The main purpose of sonnets is to express love, however it is
a bit more specific than this.
• If the author is male you can assume the speaker is male.
• If a male is the speaker the sonnet is usually about the man
feeling unworthy of the woman and as a result he is unable to
be with her.
• If the author is female, assume the speaker is female.
• If this is the case, she will be writing about something has
been lost, or will eventually be gone.
Sonnet 292 ~ Petrarch (1336-1374)
• Those eyes, 'neath which my passionate rapture rose,
The arms, hands, feet, the beauty that erewhile
Could my own soul from its own self beguile,
And in a separate world of dreams enclose,
The hair's bright tresses, full of golden glows,
And the soft lightning of the angelic smile
That changed this earth to some celestial isle,
Are now but dust, poor dust, that nothing knows.
• And yet I live! Myself I grieve and scorn,
Left dark without the light I loved in vain,
Adrift in tempest on a bark forlorn;
Dead is the source of all my amorous strain,
Dry is the channel of my thoughts outworn,
And my sad harp can sound but notes of pain.
5
10
Sonnet 292 ~ Petrarch (1336-1374)
1. Those eyes, 'neath which my passionate rapture rose, a
2. The arms, hands, feet, the beauty that erewhile b
3. Could my own soul from its own self beguile, b
4. And in a separate world of dreams enclose, a
(octave – problem pose)
5. The hair's bright tresses, full of golden glows, a
6. And the soft lightning of the angelic smile b
7. That changed this earth to some celestial isle, b
8. Are now but dust, poor dust, that nothing knows. a
9. And yet I live! Myself I grieve and scorn, c (TURN)
10. Left dark without the light I loved in vain, d
11. Adrift in tempest on a bark forlorn; c
(sestet – solution)
12. Dead is the source of all my amorous strain, d
13. Dry is the channel of my thoughts outworn, c
14. And my sad harp can sound but notes of pain. d
The English Sonnet
• Just like the Italian sonnet can be traced to one inventor, so can the
English sonnet.
• The English poets Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard (active
during the 1500s) translated Petrarch's sonnets into English,
retaining the Italian sonnet rhyme scheme.
• However, when he wrote his own sonnets, Henry Howard
introduced the rhyme scheme and structure that the English sonnet
still has today.
• Shakespeare is the most famous writer of the English sonnet form,
so the English sonnet is often called Shakespearean sonnet in his
honor.
• There is no evidence that Shakespeare ever published an Italian
sonnet.
Defining Characteristics of the English Sonnets
• The English sonnet is made up of three quatrains
(four-line sections) plus a final couplet (two-line
section).
• Quatrain (4) + Quatrain (4) + Quatrain (4) + Couplet (2)
= Sonnet (14 lines).
• The meter is iambic pentameter
• Rhyme Scheme: ABAB/CDCD/EFEF/GG
Argument Established in TWO ways
Rhetoric #1
Rhetoric #2
• The problem can be introduced
in the first two quatrains
• Shift in thought (the turn)
comes in the third quatrain
• Solution found in the couplet.
• Rhetoric: ABAB/CDCD (quatrains
1 & 2 –set up problem or issue)
and EFEF/GG (quatrain 3 &
couplet – solution)
• The problem can be set up in
quatrains 1, 2, and 3
• Turn and solution coming
together at the end with the
couplet.
• Rhetoric: ABAB/CDCD/EFEF
(quatrains 1, 2, & 3 – set up
problem or issue) and GG
(couplet – turn and solution)
Sonnet 130 ~ William Shakespeare
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 damask'd, red and white, 5
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; 10
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.
Sonnet 130 ~ William Shakespeare
1. My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; a
2. Coral is far more red than her lips' red; b
3. If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; a
4. If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. b
5. I have seen roses damask'd, red and white, c
Q1: Lines 1-4 (problem)
Q2: Lines 5-8
(problem)
6. But no such roses see I in her cheeks; d
7. And in some perfumes is there more delight c
8. Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. d
9. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know e
Q3: Lines 9-12 (problem)
10. That music hath a far more pleasing sound; f
11. I grant I never saw a goddess go; e
12. My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground: f
13. And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare g couplet: line 13 (turn), line 14 (solution)
14. As any she belied with false compare. g
Spenserian Sonnet
• The Spenserian sonnet was invented by the English poet
Edmund Spenser (1552? – 1599)
• He took the English sonnet and the Italian sonnet,
combined them, and the Spenserian sonnet was born.
• The Spenserian sonnet basically uses the first twelve
lines (three quatrains) to set up the problem and the final
two lines (the couplet) to come up with a solution.
• Rhetoric: ABAB/BCBC /CDCD (quatrains 1, 2, & 3 –set up
problem or issue) EE (couplet – solution)
• The turn won't come until the couplet (like some English
sonnets).
• Meter: Iambic Pentameter (obviously)
Spenserian Rhyme
• What's important to note about the Spenserian sonnet is
that the rhyme scheme is a combination of English and
Italian.
• It's ABAB/BCBC/CDCD/EE.
• The rhyme is more connected, more intricate, and more
complex.
• Only Spenser writes like this, so it is same to assume if
the rhyme scheme is not obviously Italian or English it is
Spenser!