What type of poetry is a sonnet

The first and most common sonnet is the Petrarchan, or Italian. Named after one of its greatest practitioners, the Italian poet Petrarch , the Petrarchan sonnet is divided into two stanzas, the octave the first eight lines followed by the answering sestet the final six lines. The tightly woven rhyme scheme, abba, abba, cdecde or cdcdcd, is suited for the rhyme-rich Italian language, though there are many fine examples in English.

Since the Petrarchan presents an argument, observation, question, or some other answerable charge in the octave, a turn, or volta, occurs between the eighth and ninth lines. This turn marks a shift in the direction of the foregoing argument or narrative, turning the sestet into the vehicle for the counterargument, clarification, or whatever answer the octave demands.

Sir Thomas Wyatt introduced the Petrarchan sonnet to England in the early sixteenth century. This structure has been noted to lend itself much better to the comparatively rhyme-poor English language.

The second major type of sonnet, the Shakespearean, or English sonnet, follows a different set of rules. Here, three quatrains and a couplet follow this rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg. The couplet plays a pivotal role, usually arriving in the form of a conclusion, amplification, or even refutation of the previous three stanzas, often creating an epiphanic quality to the end. Milton freed the sonnet from its typical incarnation in a sequence of sonnets, writing the occasional sonnet that often expressed interior, self-directed concerns.

He also took liberties with the turn, allowing the octave to run into the sestet as needed. The Spenserian sonnet, invented by sixteenth century English poet Edmund Spenser , cribs its structure from the Shakespearean—three quatrains and a couplet—but employs a series of "couplet links" between quatrains, as revealed in the rhyme scheme: abab, bcbc, cdcd, ee.

The Spenserian sonnet, through the interweaving of the quatrains, implicitly reorganized the Shakespearean sonnet into couplets, reminiscent of the Petrarchan.

One reason was to reduce the often excessive final couplet of the Shakespearean sonnet, putting less pressure on it to resolve the foregoing argument, observation, or question. The following poets, as well as many others, are known for their work in the sonnet form. The earliest major practitioner of the sonnet, Petrarch is credited with the development and popularization of the Italian sonnet.

William Shakespeare : William Shakespeare, who was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, in , published a sequence of sonnets all written in the form of three quatrains and a couplet that is now recognized as Shakespearean. Elizabeth Barrett Browning : Born in Durham, England, in , Elizabeth Barrett Browning is best known for her poetry collection Sonnets from the Portuguese , a series of love lyrics dedicated to her husband, the poet Robert Browning.

Edna St. Vincent Millay : Edna St. Vincent Millay was born in Maine in and published many sonnets and sonnet sequences over the course of her life, including Collected Sonnets in There are several types of sonnet groupings, including the sonnet sequence, which is a series of linked sonnets dealing with a unified subject.

La Corona by John Donne is comprised of seven sonnets structured this way. What's more, this sonnet form uses a type of meter called sprung rhythm , which differs from iambic pentameter in that each line starts with a stressed instead of unstressed sound and usually contains four stressed syllables.

One famous curtal sonnet written by Hopkins is "Pied Beauty. In this section, we'll give you our six best tips for writing a great sonnet.

The first step to writing a great sonnet poem is to get more acquainted with sonnets and their characteristics as a whole, including how they sound in terms of both rhythm and rhyme, what kinds of themes and subjects they focus on, and what types of volta they employ.

Another option is to search for sonnets in online databases, such as Poets. On this website, you can search for a specific sonnet or poet, or browse all available sonnets by choosing "Sonnet" under "Forms" and letting the page load. I recommend reading several sonnet forms not just Shakespearean! Traditional sonnets are love poems, but you shouldn't feel limited to romance. Many people have written sonnets that discuss things such as faith, social or political matters, tensions or problems, mundane situations, etc.

Ultimately, the topic you want to write about in your sonnet is entirely up to you. You can write about anything for your sonnet—even this adorable fox!

Once you have an idea for what you want to write about, you'll want to start seriously considering the sonnet form you believe will best fit the vision you have for your sonnet poem. Or, if you find it hard to write 14 rhyming lines, the curtal sonnet might be a good sonnet form to try working with. A huge part of sonnets is being able to use words that rhyme or mostly rhyme, as we'll discuss more in the next tip.

If you ever get stuck or just want to browse possible words that share a certain meaning, use a thesaurus. Many online versions exist; I suggest using Thesaurus. The "s" sound in "ways" is more like a "z" sound and clearly differs from the "s" sound pronounced at the end of "grace.

Another rhyme you could use in your sonnet poem is a consonant rhyme in which the vowels are different but the consonants are the same e. The point here is that although rhyming is an important part of the sonnet form, this rule, too, can be bent to better fit the overall image you wish to paint.

Generally speaking, poetry welcomes rule-breaking and creativity, so feel free to try to come up with your own sonnet form or ways to improve upon the traditional sonnet structure. For example, you could develop a new rhyme scheme or try out meters other than iambic pentameter. Oftentimes, the risk is worth the reward. The major sonnet forms are the Petrarchan Italian sonnet and the Shakespearean English sonnet.

Other sonnet forms include the Spenserian sonnet, the Miltonic sonnet, the terza rima sonnet, and the curtal sonnet. Writing a sonnet poem entails a lot of preparation. Once again, here are our six tips for writing a fantastic sonnet:. What is iambic pentameter exactly? This guide explains what the most common poetic meter is and how you, too, can write a poem using it. Whether you're writing a sonnet poem or a story, you'll likely want to use some literary devices to make your writing stand out.

What is personification? Get all the info you need on this useful literary device with our guide. She is passionate about education, writing, and travel. Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub. See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. Ask questions; get answers. The first three quatrains contain four lines each and use an alternating rhyme scheme. The final quatrain consists of just two lines, which both rhyme.

Each quatrain should progress the poem as follows:. Since its introduction into English in the 16th century, the line sonnet form has remained relatively stable, proving itself a flexible container for all kinds of poetry, long enough that its images and symbols can carry detail rather than becoming cryptic or abstract, and short enough to require a distillation of poetic thought. For more extended poetic treatment of a single theme, some poets have written sonnet cycles, a series of sonnets on related issues often addressed to a single person.

Another form is the sonnet crown, a sonnet series linked by repeating the last line of one sonnet in the first line of the next until the circle is closed by using the first line of the first sonnet as the last line of the last sonnet. The most well-known and important sonnets in the English language were written by Shakespeare. These sonnets cover such themes as love, jealousy, beauty, infidelity, the passage of time, and death. The first sonnets are addressed to a young man while the last 28 are addressed to a woman.

The sonnets are constructed with three quatrains four-line stanzas and one couplet two lines in the meter of iambic pentameter like his plays. By the third couplet, the sonnets usually take a turn, and the poet comes to some kind of epiphany or teaches the reader a lesson of some sort.

Of the sonnets Shakespeare wrote, a few stand out. Sonnet 18 is probably the most well known of all of Shakespeare's sonnets:. This sonnet best exemplifies the three-quatrain-and-one-couplet model, as well as the iambic pentameter meter.

While many people assumed Shakespeare was addressing a woman, he is, in fact, addressing the Fair Youth. He compares the young man to the beauty of a summer's day, and just as the day and seasons change, so to do humans, and while the Fair Youth will eventually age and die, his beauty will be remembered forever in this sonnet. Sonnet is about the Dark Lady , the object of the poet's desire, and is more overtly sexual:. In this sonnet, Shakespeare first asks the Dark Lady to not admonish him for his sin, as she is also "sinning" with him and the Fair Youth.

He then speaks to how he feels betrayed by his own body because he is merely following his base instincts, which have enslaved him to Dark Lady. Actively scan device characteristics for identification.