An Introduction to Sonnets
ENGLISH IV
Apple
TAYLOR HIGH SCHOOL
What is a sonnet?
• Sonnets are poems that meet the following
rules:
1. All sonnets are 14 lines long.
2. Sonnets in English are written in iambic pentameter,
which means that each line has 10 syllables,
alternating in an unstressed/stressed pattern.
3. Sonnets follow a predetermined rhyme scheme; the
rhyme pattern determines if the sonnet is Petrarchan
(Italian), Shakespearean, or Spenserian.
4. All sonnets are characterized by a “turn” located at a
designated point in the sonnet.
Meter in Poetry
Disyllables
˘ ¯ iamb - That time of year thou mayst in me behold
¯ ˘ trochee - Tell me not in mournful numbers
¯ ¯ spondee – Mayday, football, heartbreak, etc.
Trisyllables
¯ ˘ ˘ dactyl - This is the forest primeval, the murmuring pines
and the hemlock (a trochee replaces the final dactyl)
˘ ˘ ¯ anapest - And the sound of a voice that is still
What are these examples of?
•
•
•
•
•
Apple
Asparagus
Broccoli
Cucumber
Mandarin
The two major sonnet forms:
Petrarchan (Italian)
A
B
B
A
A
B
B
A
C
D
E
C
D
E
Octave (8 lines)
The TURN
Sestet (6 lines)
Shakespearean
A
B
A
B
C
D
C
D
E
F
E
F
G
G
3 quatrains
The TURN
Rhyming
Couplet
Composed Upon Westminster Bridge
by William Wordsworth
Earth hath not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendor, valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! The very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!
Sonnet Type ___________________
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Sonnet 73
by William Shakespeare
That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou seest the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west,
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed whereon it must expire
Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by.
This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
Sonnet Type ___________________
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The Turn of the Sonnet
A sonnet’s turn is the point in the
sonnet where the poet
changes perspective or alters
his/her approach to
description. This often
results in a sonnet following
a “position-contrasting
position” type of structure,
or occasionally a “change of
heart” in the poet at the end
of the verse. Look at this
sonnet as an example:
Notice that the poem’s turn is a
change from discussing what
Sleep itself is to what the
poet will offer Sleep as
tribute if Sleep comes to him.
“Come Sleep, O Sleep!”
Come, Sleep! O Sleep, the certain knot of peace,
The baiting-place of wit, the balm of woe,
The poor man's wealth, the prisoner's release,
Th' indifferent judge between the high and low;
With shield of proof shield me from out the press
Of those fierce darts Despair at me doth throw!
O make in me those civil wars to cease! I will good tribute pay if thou do so.
Take thou of me smooth pillows, sweetest bed,
A chamber deaf of noise and blind of light,
A rosy garland, and a weary head;
And if these things, as being thine in right,
Move not thy heavy grace, thou shalt in me,
Livelier than elsewhere, Stella's image see.
Composed Upon Westminster Bridge
by William Wordsworth
Earth hath not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendor, valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! The very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!
What is the octave making
a statement about?
Where is the turn?
How is the sestet different
from the octave?
Sonnet 73
That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
Quatrain 1: Old age is compared to
In me thou seest the twilight of such day
________________________
As after sunset fadeth in the west,
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Q2: Old age is compared to
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
________________________
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed whereon it must expire
Q3: Old age is compared to
Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by.
________________________
This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
What is the purpose of the concluding
couplet? What statement is it making?