An Introduction to Sonnets By Coach Peralta

Sonnet Basics All sonnets are 14 lines long. Sonnets in English are written in iambic pentameter, which means that each line has 10 syllables, alternating in an unstressed/stressed pattern. Sonnets follow a predetermined rhyme scheme; the rhyme pattern determines if the sonnet is Petrarchan (Italian), Shakespearean, or Spenserian. All sonnets are characterized by a “turn”. In Shakespearean sonnets the turn is usually between the twelfth and thirteenth lines. Marked by “but,” “yet,” or “and yet.”

Shakespearean Sonnet Terms Key terms to know: Rhyme Scheme – the order of the rhyme at the end of lines Quatrain – a group of four lines Couplet – a pair of lines Iamb – One short syllable followed by a long or stressed syllable Pentameter – Rhythm created by five pairs of syllables in a line (10 total)

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s Day? Iambic Pentameter Shakespeare uses this style of rhythm in each line. Ten syllables, every second syllable is stressed Shall I compare thee to a summer’s Day?

Structure Shakespearian sonnets are divided by three quatrains and a couplet The quatrains are like paragraphs: each presents a different topic or focus. The couplet ends the poem and sums up the message What does this look like?

The two major sonnet forms: Petrarchan (Italian) A B A Octave (8 lines) A The TURN C D E C Sestet (6 lines) Shakespearean A B C D C 3 quatrains E F The TURN F G Rhyming G Couplet

More about the turn: Sonnet 29 When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries And look upon myself and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Featur'd like him, like him with friends possess'd, Desiring this man's art and that man's scope, With what I most enjoy contented least; Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising, Haply I think on thee, and then my state, Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate; For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings That then I scorn to change my state with kings. Note that at times the turn does NOT occur in the traditional spot. Instead of occurring at the normal line 12-13 in this sonnet by Shakespeare, the turn instead occurs between lines 8-9—where you’d normally find the turn for an Italian sonnet.

XVIII Shall I compare thee to a summer's day XVIII 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. Quatrain 1 Quatrain 2 Quatrain 3 Couplet

Rhyme Scheme Shakespearian sonnets follow the rhyme scheme of: abab cdcd efef gg Each letter represents the word at the end of the line What does this look like?

XVIII Shall I compare thee to a summer's day XVIII 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. a b c d e f g Quatrain 1 Quatrain 2 Quatrain 3 Couplet