SONNETS
Everything you need to know summarized by yours truly
ABOUT THE SONNET
 Comes from the Italian word “sonnetto” which means “little song”
 Invented in the 12th century in Italy
 Famous sonnet writers: Wordsworth, Shakespeare, Elizabeth
Barrett Browning
THEMES OF SONNETS
 Love-written usually in a male’s perspective
 Praises a woman’s beauty then criticizes her for not loving him
back
 Compares his beloved to a star or other celestial body (courtly
love).
TWO TYPES OF SONNETS
 Italian Sonnets and English Sonnets
 Both are 14 lines and written in iambic pentameter
 Iamb: rhythm of poem; short unstressed syllable followed by a
long stressed syllable
 Each iamb equals one foot
 Example: unCLEAR
I
G O T T H E “ I A M B ” PA R T, BU T
W H AT ’ S “ P E N TA M E T E R ” ?
 Meter=number of feet in a single line
 PENTA= five
 Pentameter= 5 feet (beats per line)
 - / -/ -/ -/ -/
 Let’s practice. Read the following line and mark it with iambic pentameter:
My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun
How many syllables in all?
ANSWER:
-
/
-
/
-
/
-
/
-
/
My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun
ITALIAN SONNET
Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet: 2 parts
1 Octave (group of 8 lines) followed by
1 Sestet (group of 6 lines)
Rhyme Scheme:
abbaabba
cdccdc
ENGLISH SONNET
English (Shakespearean Sonnet)
4 parts:
• 3 quatrains (3 groups of 4 lines)
• 1 rhyming couplet (2 lines that rhyme)
Rhyme Scheme:
abab cdcd efef gg