Sonnets
ENGLISH I-HONORS
M R S . O UA L L I N E
Sonnets
 14-line poems
 Originated in Italy
 Follow strict rhyme scheme
 Usually has ten syllables to a line
 The poet uses the sonnet to examine the nature of two
usually contrastive ideas, emotions, states of mind, beliefs,
actions, events, images…etc., by juxtaposing the two
against each other.
 The Volta (turn) – a rhetorical shift or dramatic change in
thought or emotion.
Sonnets
Petrarchan
Shakespearean
 One octave (8 rhyming lines)
 ABBAABBA
 Four quatrains
 ABAB
 CDCD
 EFEF
 One sestet (6 rhyming lines)
 CDCDCD, or
 CDECDE, or
 CDDCDC, or
 CDECED, or
 CDCEDC, or
(4 rhyming lines)
 One couplet (2 rhyming lines)
 GG
Sonnets
Petrarchan
Shakespearean
When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide,
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide;
“Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?”
I fondly ask; but Patience to prevent
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.
That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need
Either main’s work or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o’er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait.”
I have seen roses damask’d, 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
Sonnets
Petrarchan
When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide,
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide;
“Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?”
I fondly ask; but Patience to prevent.
(A)
(B)
(B)
(A)
(A)
(B)
(B)
(A)
Octave
Eight lines
That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need
Either main’s work or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o’er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait.”
(C)
(D)
(E)
(C)
(D)
(E)
Sestet
Six lines
Volta turns from problem to solution
Sonnets
Shakespearean
Quatrain
four lines
(A)
(B)
(A)
(B)
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.
Quatrain
four lines
(C)
(D)
(C)
(D)
I have seen roses damask’d, 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.
Quatrain
four lines
(E)
(F)
(E)
(F)
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
Couplet
two lines
(G)
(G)
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare
Volta turns from harsh critique to praise
Write Your Own Sonnet
Petrarchan
Shakespearean
 One octave (8 rhyming lines)
 ABBAABBA
 Four quatrains
 ABAB
 CDCD
 EFEF
 One sestet (6 rhyming lines)
 CDCDCD, or
 CDECDE, or
 CDDCDC, or
 CDECED, or
 CDCEDC, or
(4 rhyming lines)
 One couplet (2 rhyming lines)
 GG