Sonnets
The Rise of a
New Poetic
Form
By definition
14-lines
Lyric (about thoughts & feelings)
A single theme (often romantic
love or religion)
Has a set rhyme scheme
Usually in iambic pentameter
Three Forms
Italian (a.k.a. Petrarchan)
Spenserian
English (a.k.a. Shakespearean)
The Italian Sonnet
 Also called a Petrarchan sonnet, after the
Italian poet Francesco Petrarca
 Thoughts within the sonnet are organized
into an octave and a sestet.
 The octave and sestet must work together
in order for the sonnet to have a single
theme.
Octave’s Function
Raise a question
State a problem
Present a brief narrative
Sestet’s Function
Answer the question
Solve the problem
Comment on the narrative
Italian Rhyme Scheme
Typically: abbaabba cdecde
Sometimes: abbaabba cdcdee
Or: abbaabba cdc dcd
Voi ch'ascoltate in rime sparse il suono
di quei sospiri ond'io nudriva 'l core
in sul mio primo giovenile errore
quand'era in parte altr'uom da quel ch'i' sono,
del vario stile in ch'io piango et ragiono
fra le vane speranze e 'l van dolore,
ove sia chi per prova intenda amore,
spero trovar pietà, nonché perdono.
Ma ben veggio or sí come al popol tutto
favola fui gran tempo, onde sovente
di me mesdesmo meco mi vergogno;
et del mio vaneggiar vergogna è 'l frutto,
e 'l pentersi, e 'l conoscer chiaramente
che quanto piace al mondo è breve sogno.
The Spenserian Sonnet
 Named for English poet Edmund
Spenser
 Maintained much of the structure of
the Italian or Petrarchan sonnet
including using an octave and sestet
 No break between the octave and
sestet
 Rhyme scheme: ababbcbc cdcdee
Magnificke Lord, whose vertues excellent
Doe merit a most famous Poets witt,
To be thy liuing praises instrument,
Yet doe not sdeigne, to let thy name be writt
In this base Poeme, for thee far vnfitt.
Nought is thy worth disparaged thereby,
But when my Muse, whose fethers nothing flitt
Doe yet but flagg, and lowly learne to fly
With bolder wing shall dare alofte to sty
To the last praises of this Faery Queene,
Then shall it make more famous memory
Of thine Heroicke parts, such as they beene:
Till then vouchsafe thy noble countenaunce,
To these first labours needed furtheraunce.
The English Sonnet
 Also called Shakespearean because
Shakespeare was its greatest master
 Organized into 3 quatrains and a couplet
 Each quatrain presents a different
variation on the same theme
 The rhyming couplet at the end presents
a summarizing or concluding statement
 Rhyme scheme: ababcdcdefefgg
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed:
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Sonnet Sequences
 A sonnet sequence is a series or group of
sonnets written to one person or on one
theme (can also be combined to tell a
story).
 Each sonnet can also stand alone, but the
sequence allows the poet to trace the
development of a relationship or examine
different aspects of a single subject.
 Sonnets are numbered instead of titled.
Famous Examples
Astrophel and Stella by Sir
Philip Sidney
Amoretti by Edmund Spenser
Sonnets to Laura by Francesco
Petrarca