What Is a Sonnet? A sonnet is a 14-lined lyric poem with a complicated rhyme scheme, a defined structure, and usually written in iambic meter. Pentameter is simply penta, which means 5, meters. So a line of poetry written in pentameter has 5 feet, or 5 sets of stressed and unstressed syllables. In basic iambic pentameter, a line would have 5 feet of iambs, which is an unstressed and then a stressed syllable.

The Four Criteria for a Sonnet 14-lines Pattern for the rhyme of the words at the end of each line Structure that is dependent on sonnet type Rhythm to the poem stressing every other syllable (Each pair of stressed and unstressed syllables is called an iamb. The number of iambs in each line determines the structure of the poem (5 iambs per line is iambic pentameter; 3 iambs per line is iambic trimeter and the like.)

What are the Origins of the Sonnet? The Sonnets originated in Italy in the 13 th century. “Sonnet” comes from the Italian word meaning “little song.” The great Italian poet Francesco Petraraca (Petrarch) perfected the Italian sonnet.

Who Was Petrarch? Born in Arezzo, Italy on July 20, 1304, to Sir Petracco Was a scholar, a poet, and an early Renaissance humanist Called the FATHER OF HUMANISM For example, Petrarch struggled with the proper relation between the active and contemplative life, and tended to emphasize the importance of solitude and study.

What is Humanism? A belief that human needs and values are more important than religious beliefs, or the needs and desires of humans. An example of humanism is the belief that the person creates his/her own set of ethics. A philosophy of joyous service for the greater good of all humanity in this natural world and advocating the methods of reason, science, and democracy

Petrarch and His Poetry He felt that the sonnet with its brevity and musical rhymes was a perfect median for an expression of emotion, especially love. Because of his involvement with the sonnet, the Italian Sonnet is also called the Petrarchan Sonnet in his honor.

Petrarch and Laura Although Italian sonnets are not restricted to the topic of love, Petrarch wrote over 300 love sonnets to a woman named Laura. Laura was a beautiful, unobtainable lady whom Petrarch was devoted to. She was, also, the subject of many of his poems.

Petrarchan Form Two-part structure---octave followed by sestet Octave – first 8-lines, consisting of two quatrains with a rhyme scheme of either “abab” or “abba” Sestet – last 6-lines, consisting of two tercets with a rhyme scheme of either “cde ” or “cdc

Petrarchan Form ( continued ) Usually, the octave establishes the speaker’s situation, proposition, or problem. The sestet provides a resolution, expresses a reaction, or draws conclusions about that situation. Typically, the ninth line is a “turn” or volta which signals the move from proposition to resolution.

On His Being Arrived to the Age of Twenty-three John Milton How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth, (a) Stolen on his wing my three and twentieth year! (b) My hasting days fly on with full career, (b) But my late spring no bud or blossom shew'th. (a) Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth, (a) That I to manhood am arrived so near, (b) And inward ripeness doth much less appear, (b) That some more timely-happy spirits indu'th. (a) Yet be it less or more, or soon or slow, (c) It shall be still in strictest measure even (d) To that same lot, however mean or high, (e) Toward which Time leads me, and the will of Heaven. (d) All is, if I have grace to use it so, (c) As ever in my great Task-master's eye. (e)