Sonnet
The word sonnet comes from the Italian word “sonneto,” meaning “little song.” Although there are some exceptions, sonnets are generally considered to be fourteen-line poems.
Definition
- A sonnet is a type of fourteen-line poem.
- Traditionally, the fourteen lines of a sonnet consist of an octave (or two quatrains making up a stanza of 8 lines) and a sestet (a stanza of six lines).
- Sonnets generally use a meter of iambic pentameter, and follow a set rhyme scheme.
- Within these general guidelines for what makes a sonnet, there are a wide variety of variations.
- As a poetic form, the sonnet was developed by an early thirteenth century Italian poet, Giacomo da Lentini. However, it was the Renaissance Italian poet Petrarch that perfected and made this poetic literary device famous.
- The two most common sonnet variations are the Italian sonnet (also called a Petrarchan sonnet), and the English sonnet (also called a Shakespearean sonnet).
- The main difference between the Italian and English sonnet is in the rhyme schemes they use.
- Another important aspect of both Shakespearean and Petrarchan sonnet is the turn, or volta. (A volta is a turn or transition in a sonnet’s main argument, theme, or tone.)
Sonnets, Meter, and Rhyme Scheme
Many (but not all) sonnets have a strict meter and a defined rhyme scheme. For that reason, it's helpful to have a strong grasp of what meter and rhyme scheme are. We provide more details about these terms on their own pages, but here's a quick primer:
- Meter: A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables that creates the rhythm of lines of poetry. The units of meter are called feet. Feet have different stress patterns. For instance, an iamb is a foot with an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (de-fine), while a trochee has the opposite: a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable (Po-et). Poetic meters are defined by both the type and number of feet they contain. For example, iambic pentameter is a type of meter used in many sonnets that contains five iambs per line (thus the prefix “penta,” which means five).
- Rhyme scheme: Poems such as sonnets that make use of end rhymes (rhymes at the end of each line), often do so according to a repeating, predetermined pattern. That pattern is called a rhyme scheme. Rhyme schemes are described using letters of the alphabet, so that each line of verse that corresponds to a specific type of rhyme used in the poem is assigned a letter, beginning with the letter A. For example, a four-line poem in which the first line rhymes with the third, and the second line rhymes with the fourth has the rhyme scheme ABAB.
Types of Sonnet
Sonnets have been written all over the world and in many different languages: French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Czech, Russian, Urdu, and German poets have all made significant contributions to the evolution of the form.
Since the sonnet's invention in Italy in the 13th century, new variations on the traditional form have been regularly born.
The Italian Sonnet
Although the form of the sonnet is said to have been invented by Giacomo da Lentini in the 13th century, it was popularized by a poet from Tuscany named Francesco Petrarch, who used the form to write poems expressing his unrequited love for a woman named Laura.
The original form of the Italian sonnet is therefore known as the Petrarchan sonnet. Consisting of fourteen lines total, the poem begins with two quatrains (stanzas of four lines) that make up a unit called an octave, and the poem ends with two tercets (stanzas of three lines) that make up a single six-line stanza called a sestet.
The standard rhyme scheme for the octave is ABBA ABBA while the rhyme scheme for the sestet is either CDEDCE or CDCDCD.
The typical structure of the Italian sonnet is for the octave to contain what's called a "proposition," which establishes a problem (such as unrequited love) or a question (such as, "does she love me?").
The sestet is concerned with resolving the problem or question, and it almost always contains a "turn," which signals a shift in the poem's focus from problem to resolution.
The turn is sometimes also called a "volta" (the Italian word for turn), and it usually comes at the very beginning of the sestet, in the sonnet's ninth line.
The English Sonnet
The English poet Thomas Wyatt introduced the sonnet to the English language in the 16th century by translating the works of Petrarch from Italian. Wyatt's contemporary, The Earl of Surrey, then made innovations to the form by introducing a new structure and rhyme scheme, which became the defining characteristics of the English sonnet: the fourteen lines are all written in iambic pentameter and are taken up by three quatrains of four lines followed by a two-line couplet. The lines follow the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.
In the English sonnet, the turn typically occurs in the third quatrain, but William Shakespeare broke from this rule by frequently situating the turn in the final couplet of his sonnets. In fact, Shakespeare quickly became the English sonnet's most venerated practitioner, and the English sonnet is often referred to as the Shakespearean sonnet as a result. The English sonnet is sometimes also referred to as the Elizabethan sonnet.
Spenserian
Miltonic
Occitan sonnets
Occitan is a somewhat obscure Romance language that was spoken in parts of Italy, France, and Spain. Many sonnets were written in Occitan during the 13th and 14th centuries, and these sonnets had their own form, which differs from Italian sonnets in that the sestet of an Occitan sonnet has a CDCDCD rhyme scheme.Caudate sonnets
Sonnet Cycles and Crowns
Sonnets are often written as parts of larger groups of sonnets. In such groupings, each poem can stand alone, but the collection of sonnets is meant to be greater than the sum of its parts. There are two different types of sonnet groupings, and here is a quick definition of each:
- Cycles and sequences: A cycle or sequence of sonnets is a group of sonnets that are united by a single theme. The terms "cycle" and "sequence" are used interchangeably to refer to a suite or series of sonnets that work as stand-alone poems but that deal with the same theme or are addressed to the same person. Inspired by the sonnets of Petrarch, sonnet cycles usually take unrequited love as their subject or are otherwise addressed to lovers. William Shakespeare wrote a sequence of 154 sonnets, becoming the sonnet's most famous practitioner as a result.
- Sonnet crowns: A crown is a sequence of sonnets in which the first line of each sonnet is carried over from the last line of the previous sonnet, and the first line of the first sonnet is repeated as the last line of the final sonnet. A "heroic crown" is a specific kind of crown that follows the same rules as a typical crown of sonnets, but the final sonnet is composed of the first lines of all the preceding sonnets in sequence. John Donne's sequence entitled "Corona" follows the form of a heroic crown. Marilyn Nelson's book A Wreath for Emmett Till is another, more recent example of a heroic crown of sonnets.
Why Do Writers Choose to Write Sonnets?
As an early practitioner of the sonnet, the 13th century Italian poet Francesco Petrarch defined the sonnet's subject matter for centuries to come: until the 17th century, virtually all sonnets that were written in any language were, like Petrarch's sonnets, expressions of unrequited love. The sonnet's structure was well-suited to the subject because the octave's "proposition" and the sestet's "resolution" together comprise a sort of call and response, two pieces of a conversation in miniature. This enables the poet to converse with himself in his lover's absence, thereby offering a temporary release from the pain and frustration of romantic rejection.
John Donne and John Milton's pioneering sonnets of the 17th century took on subjects beyond unrequited love. This expanded the scope of what could be addressed in a sonnet, and since that time poets have used the form to write about every subject imaginable. Poets may choose to write in the form of a traditional sonnet (including meter and rhyme scheme) as a way of making their language more musical (through rhythm and rhyme) and therefore more beautiful. Some people choose to write in fixed forms, such as the sonnet, because they like imposing restrictions on what they write, since many artists of all fields and practices find it helpful to the creative process to work within set guidelines. Others might write sonnets that vary the traditional form in all sorts of ways, because breaking guidelines can also aid the creative process and make a statement. In addition, a poet may choose to write a sonnet because of the form's incredibly rich and extensive history as a poetic form, thereby situating their own writing in the tradition of writers, such as Shakespeare and Keats.
Sonnet Examples
Sonnet in Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet"
The prologue to Shakespeare's famous verse drama Romeo and Juliet is written in the style of an English or "Shakespearean" sonnet, in iambic pentameter and with a rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.
Milton's "When I Consider How My Light is Spent"
Milton wrote sonnets that were not about unrequited love, breaking with the Petrarchan and Shakespearean traditions. Rather, Milton's sonnets were often meditations on life and death. This sonnet follows the traditional Petrarchan rhyme scheme of ABBA ABBA CDECDE.
Milton's "On the New Forcers of Conscience under the Long Parliament"
This 1646 sonnet is an example of the sonnet variation Milton created, known as "caudate sonnet," in which the traditional 14-line sonnet is followed by a brief concluding stanza or stanzas called a "coda." Notice Milton's use of indentation to denote places where the traditional sonnet's stanza breaks would occur—accentuating the first, fifth, ninth, and twelfth lines that would traditionally be the first lines of stanzas. The six lines of the coda are indented inversely to the system of indentation Milton uses to define stanzas in the rest of the poem, signifying the coda's difference from the rest of the sonnet. The caudate sonnet was used most often for satirical subjects, as with this political poem.
Wordsworth's "The World Is Too Much with Us"
This famous sonnet is an example of the Petrarchan form, though it was written in the 19th century in English. William Wordsworth modeled his sonnets after the sonnets of John Milton, likewise following the Petrarchan rhyme scheme of ABBA ABBA CDCDCD.
Shelley's "Ozymandias"
Percy Shelley uses an entirely new rhyme scheme for this poem, another departure from the traditional form of the sonnet. This variation's rhyme scheme is ABABACDC EDEFEF.
Gerard Manley Hopkins' "Pied Beauty"
This is one of the few examples of Gerard Manley Hopkins' variation on the sonnet, which is known as the curtal sonnet. Hopkins wanted to "shrink" the sonnet to precisely 3/4 its usual size, reducing the octave to a six-line stanza and the sestet to a four and a half-line stanza. This poem follows a rhyme scheme of ABCABC DBCDC.