Introduction to Sonnets AP Literature & Composition Mrs. Douthit

What is a Sonnet?  A very structured type of poetry in which the author attempts to show two related but differing things to the reader in order to communicate something about them.  Almost always consists of fourteen lines and follows one of several set rhyme schemes: English (Shakespearean) Italian (Petrarchan)

Sonnet Vocabulary  Quatrain: A stanza of four lines.  Volta: The turn in thought– from question to answer, problem to solution– that occurs at the beginning of the sestet (line 9) in the Italian sonnet. Sometimes occurs in the English sonnet between the twelfth and thirteenth lines. Marked by “but,” “yet,” or “and yet.”

Sonnet Vocabulary - continued  Octave: An eight line stanza. Used primarily to denote the first eight-line division of the Italian Sonnet as separate from the last six-line division, the sestet.  Sestet: The second six-line division of an Italian Sonnet. Following the eight-line division (octave), the sestet usually makes specific a general statement that has been presented in the octave or indicates the personal emotion of the author in a situation that the octave has developed.

Italian Sonnets (Petrarchan)  Distinguished by its division into the octave and sestet: The octave rhyming abbaabba The sestet rhyming cdecde, cdcdcd or cdedce

More on Italian Sonnets…  The octave typically : Presents a narrative States a proposition Or raises a question  The sestet : drives home the narrative by making an abstract comment applies the proposition or solves the problem.

English Sonnets (Shakespearean)  Four divisions are used: Three quatrains  Each with a rhyme scheme of its own, usually rhyming alternating lines. And a rhymed concluding couplet.  The typical rhyme scheme is Abab cdcd efef gg

English (cont.)  each quatrain develops a specific idea, but one closely related to the ideas in the other quatrains.  Not only is the English sonnet the easiest in terms of its rhyme scheme, calling for only pairs of rhyming words rather than groups of 4, but it is the most flexible in terms of the placement of the volta. Shakespeare often places the "turn," as in the Italian, at L9  each quatrain develops a specific idea, but one closely related to the ideas in the other quatrains.  Not only is the English sonnet the easiest in terms of its rhyme scheme, calling for only pairs of rhyming words rather than groups of 4, but it is the most flexible in terms of the placement of the volta. Shakespeare often places the "turn," as in the Italian, at L9

Spenserian  The Spenserian sonnet, invented by Edmund Spenser, complicates the Shakespearean form, linking rhymes among the quatrains: Abab bcbc cdcd ee there does not appear to be a requirement that the initial octave sets up a problem that the closing sestet "answers", as is the case with a Petrarchan sonnet.  The Spenserian Sonnet is very rare among modern poets.

Identify the Type of Sonnet  The spring returns, the spring wind softly blowing Sprinkles the grass with gleam and glitter of showers, Powdering pearl and diamond, dripping with flowers, Dropping wet flowers, dancing the winters going; The swallow twitters, the groves of midnight are glowing With nightingale music and madness; the sweet fierce powers Of love flame up through the earth; the seed-soul towers And trembles; nature is filled to overflowing… The spring returns, but there is no returning Of spring for me. O heart with anguish burning! She that unlocked all April in a breath Returns not…And these meadows, blossoms, birds These lovely gentle girls—words, empty words As bitter as the black estates of death!

Identify the Type of Sonnet  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 dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growest: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

What is a Sonnet? Understanding the forms, meter, rhyme, and other aspects of the sonnet.

Sonnet Form  A sonnet has 14 lines.  A sonnet must be written in iambic pentameter  A sonnet must follow a specific rhyme scheme, depending on the type of sonnet.  A sonnet can be about any subject, though they are often about love or nature.  A sonnet introduces a problem or question in the beginning, and a resolution is offered after the turn.

Iambic Pentameter  A line of Iambic Pentameter is a line with ten beats.  An “Iamb” is two beats, or one “foot.”  “Penta” is five (line has five “feet”).  “Meter” is the rhythm of the poem.  A “foot” is made of an unstressed syllable and a stressed syllable (in that order).

English Sonnet  An English Sonnet is also called a Shakespearean Sonnet.  It includes three quatrains (groups of four lines) and a couplet (two lines).  The rhyme scheme is often abab cdcd efef gg.  The turn is either after eight lines or ten lines.

Italian Sonnet  An Italian Sonnet is also called a Petrarchan Sonnet.  It includes an octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six lines).  The rhyme scheme must begin with abbaabba, and can conclude with any variation of c, d, and e (cdecde, cdcdee, etc.).  The turn must occur between the octave and the sestet.

What type of sonnet is “What the Sonnet Is”?  What are the groupings of the lines (how many lines are in each group)?  What is the rhyme scheme?  Where is the turn?  Based on your answers, what kind of sonnet is it? Write these questions on your paper and answer them when the sonnet is shown.

“What the Sonnet is” Fourteen small broidered berries on the hem Of Circe’s mantle, each of magic gold; Fourteen of lone Calypso’s tears that rolled Into the sea, for pearls to come of them; Fourteen clear signs of omen in the gem With which Medea human fate foretold; Fourteen small drops, which Faustus, growing old, Craved of the Fiend, to water Life’s dry stem. It is the pure white diamond Dante brought To Beatrice; the sapphire Laura wore When Petrarch cut it sparkling out of thought; The ruby Shakespeare hewed from his heart’s core; The dark, deep emerald that Rossetti wrought For his own soul, to wear for evermore. ~Eugene Lee-Hamilton

What type of sonnet is “What the Sonnet Is”? Lines are in an octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six lines). Fourteen small broidered berries on the hem Of Circe’s mantle, each of magic gold; Fourteen of lone Calypso’s tears that rolled Into the sea, for pearls to come of them; Fourteen clear signs of omen in the gem With which Medea human fate foretold; Fourteen small drops, which Faustus, growing old, Craved of the Fiend, to water Life’s dry stem. It is the pure white diamond Dante brought To Beatrice; the sapphire Laura wore When Petrarch cut it sparkling out of thought; The ruby Shakespeare hewed from his heart’s core; The dark, deep emerald that Rossetti wrought For his own soul, to wear for evermore.

What type of sonnet is “What the Sonnet Is”?  Rhyme scheme is abbaabba cdcdcd. Fourteen small broidered berries on the hem Of Circe’s mantle, each of magic gold; Fourteen of lone Calypso’s tears that rolled Into the sea, for pearls to come of them; Fourteen clear signs of omen in the gem With which Medea human fate foretold; Fourteen small drops, which Faustus, growing old, Craved of the Fiend, to water Life’s dry stem. It is the pure white diamond Dante brought To Beatrice; the sapphire Laura wore When Petrarch cut it sparkling out of thought; The ruby Shakespeare hewed from his heart’s core; The dark, deep emerald that Rossetti wrought For his own soul, to wear for evermore.

What type of sonnet is “What the Sonnet Is”?  The turn in this sonnet is between the octave and the sestet, or after eight lines.  The period at the end of line eight is a clue that this is the turn, especially because it is one of only two periods in the sonnet.  Before the turn, the speaker is telling of groups of fourteen; after the turn, he tells of who wrote the sonnets.

What type of sonnet is “What the Sonnet Is”? “What the Sonnet Is” is an Italian/Petrarchan Sonnet!

Pretest  What is “iambic pentameter?” A.) A single file line of five people, each person with two feet. B.) A ten syllable line, consisting of five iambic feet.  What is a “sonnet?” A.) a poem consisting 10 lines. B.) a poem consisting of 14 lines  What are the main types of sonnets? A.) English and Italian B.) Shakespearean and Petrarchan C.) Both A and B.  What is a poetic “foot?” A.) the most important line in the poem B.) The last line in a poem C.) A group of two syllables.

Pretest continued  Identify the following as true or false. An Octave is a sentence with eight syllables. A Quatrain is a stanza of four lines. The sestet is found at the end of the sonnet. “Volta” is another name for the title. A couplet is a group of three lines.