What is a sonnet?
A sonnet is a 14-line poem with a specifc rhyme scheme and meter
(usually iambic pentameter). This poetry format–which forces the poet to
wrap his thoughts in a small, neat package–originated in Sicily, Italy, in
the 13th Century with the sonnetto (meaning little song), which could be
read or sung to the accompaniment of a lute. When English poets began
writing poems in imitation of these Italian poems, they called them
sonnets, a term coined from sonnetto. Frequently, the theme of a sonnet
was love, or a theme related to love. However, the theme also sometimes
centered on religion, politics, or other topics. Poets often wrote their
sonnets as part of a series, with each sonnet a sequel to the previous one.
For example, William Shakespeare (1564-1616) wrote a series of 154
sonnets on the theme of love.
Browning's Sonnet Series
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) wrote a series of 44 sonnets, in
secret, about the intense love she felt for her husband-to-be, poet Robert
Browning. She called this series Sonnets From the Portuguese, a title
based on the pet name Robert gave her: "my little Portugee." "Sonnet 43"
was the next-to-last sonnet in this series. In composing her sonnets, she
had two types of sonnet formats from which to choose: the Italian model
popularized by Petrarch (1304-1374) and the English model popularized
by Shakespeare (1564-1616). She chose Petrarch's model.
Petrarch developed the Italian sonnet pattern, which is known to this day
as the Petrarchan sonnet or the Italian sonnet. Because of the structure of
Italian, the rhyme scheme of the Petrarchan sonnet is more easily fulfilled
in that language than in English. The original Italian sonnet form divides
the poem's 14 lines into two parts, an octave (first eight lines) and a sestet
(last six lines). The rhyme scheme for the octave is typically a b b a a b b
a. There are a few possibilities for the sestet, including c d d c d d, c d e c
d e, c d c d c d, c d d c e e, c d d c c d (as in Wordsworth's "Nuns Fret Not
at Their Convents Narrow Room" poem). This form was used in the
earliest English sonnets by Wyatt and others. For background on the
pre-English sonnet, see Robert Canary's web page, The Continental
Origins of the Sonnet.
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Sonnet 43 Meter
"Sonnet 43" is in iambic pentameter (10 syllables, or five feet, per line
with five pairs of unstressed and stressed syllables), as Lines 2 and 3 of
the poem demonstrate.
I LOVE..|..thee TO..|..the DEPTH..|..and BREADTH..|..and HEIGHT
My SOUL..|..can REACH,..|..when FEEL..|..ing OUT..|..of SIGHT
This poem is an Italian sonnet, because of it's rhyming patterns, shown
below.
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
A
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
B
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
B
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace
A
I love thee to the level of everyday's
A
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
B
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
B
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
A
I love thee with the passion put to use
C
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith
D
I love thee with a love I seem to lose
C
With my lost saints, - I love thee with the breath,
D
Smiles, tears, of all my life! - and, if God choose,
C
I shall but love thee better after death.
D
-----Rhyming Pattern
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.......The following presentation of Sonnet 18, one of Shakespeare's most
famous, will help you visualize the rhyming pattern of the sonnets. I
capitalized the last part of each line and typed a letter to the left of the
line to indicate the pattern. The meaning of each line appears at right.
Sonnet XVIII (18)
Addressed to the Young Man
Quatrain 1 (four-line stanza)
If I compared you to a
summer day
I'd have to say you are more
beautiful and serene:
By comparison, summer is
rough on budding life,
And doesn't last long
either:
A Shall I compare thee to a
summer's DAY?
B Thou art more lovely and
more temperATE:
A Rough winds do shake
the darling buds of MAY,
B And summer's lease hath
all too short a DATE:
Comment: In Shakespeare's time, May (Line 3) was considered a summer
month.
Quatrain 2 (four-line stanza)
C Sometime too hot the eye At times the summer sun
[heaven's eye] is too hot,
of heaven SHINES,
And at other times clouds
D And often is his gold
dim its brilliance;
complexion DIMM'D;
Everything fair in nature
C And every fair from fair
becomes less fair from time
sometime deCLINES,
to time,
D By chance or nature's
changing course
unTRIMM'D;
No one can change [trim]
nature or chance;
Comment:."Every fair" may also refer to every fair woman, who
"declines" because of aging or bodily changes.
Quatrain 3 (four-line stanza)
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E But thy eternal summer
shall not FADE
F Nor lose possession of
that fair thou OWEST;
E Nor shall Death brag thou
wander'st in his SHADE,
F When in eternal lines to
time thou GROWEST:
However, you yourself
will not fade
Nor lose ownership of
your fairness;
Not even death will claim
you,
Because these lines I write
will immortalize you:
Couplet (two rhyming lines)
G So long as men can
breathe or eyes can SEE,
G So long lives this and
this gives life to THEE.
Your beauty will last as long
as men breathe and see,
As Long as this sonnet lives
and gives you life.
The meter of Shakespeare's sonnets is iambic pentameter
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