Nearly Everything You Wanted to Know About Sonnets . . . .And Probably Didn’t Want to Ask. . . .

Sonnets 14 line lyric Single stanza Iambic pentameter line Intricate rhyme scheme Often written in narrative sequences—sonnet sequence Often concerned with love and desire Diversity of sonnet models

Italian/Petrarchan Sonnet Named for Petrarch 2 main units Octave—eight line section—rhyming abbaabba Sestet—six line section—rhyming cdecde or variation (e.g. cdccdc) Octave presents problem or poses scenario that is answered or resolved in sestet Becomes imitated in English by Milton, Wordsworth, and Rossetti

Iambic Pentameter  Iambic Pentameter is a poetic form which poets and playwrights typically used to write poems in Elizabethan England. It is the meter that Shakespeare mostly uses. Meter in poetry is a rhythm of accented and unaccented syllables arranged into feet. Iamb: has the first syllable unaccented and the second accented. Shall I / com pare / thee to / a sum / mer’s day? Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18" foot

For the sound of Iambic Pentameter, think of a heartbeat it sounds like this: dee DUM, dee DUM, dee DUM, dee DUM, dee DUM. It consists of a line of five iambic feet ten syllables with five unstressed and five stressed syllables

An example of Iambic pentameter from Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet: but SOFT what LIGHT through YONder WINdow BREAKS

Iambic Pentameter – put it all together Shall I / com pare / thee to / a sum / mer’s day? foot foot foot foot foot Pentameter

English Sonnet Also known as Shakespearean sonnet Three quatrains (4 line poetic section) with a final couplet abab cdcd efef gg Presents three views of perspectives on a problem or scenario with epigrammatic conclusion in final couplet Flourishes in Renaissance—time of cultural renewal and revival in which classical texts are rediscovered and re-valued

Spenserian Sonnet Minor variation of English sonnet Still three quatrains and final couplet Quatrains linked by continuing rhyme abab bcbc cdcd ee

Poetic features of sonnet Conceits—yoking together of disparate concepts or images Metaphor—expression in which one kind of concept or activity is compared or applied to notably distinct kind of concept or activity (e.g. he’s a fox) Metonymy—literal term for one concept or action is used to denote closely related concept or action (e.g. crown)

Poetic features of sonnet Synecdoche—a part of concept or thing is used to denote the whole of concept or thing (40 head [of cattle]) Petrarchan conceit—conceits (usually about women, love, and beauty) used in love poems that were original when Petrarch used them but became hackneyed and parodied by later English writers

Things we see in the sonnet Organic form—internal form, structure, balance, and organization Stock characters—recognizably conventional figures Stock responses—recognizably conventional responses Stock situations—recognizably conventional settings

Things we see in the sonnet Antitype—New Testament correlatives to Old Testament Types Blazon—Poetic technique in which individual (often woman) is imagined or portrayed by partitioning the body into specified metaphors; mock-heraldic description Bombast—pretentious, verbose, and inflated diction that is notably inappropriate to the matter it signifies

Carpe Diem “Seize the Day!” A sentiment that is often used to indicate the fleeting nature of our existence. This can be used in a positive or a negative light—as this indicates hope for something immediate and gratifying, but it also indicates that it does not matter what we do, because it is all transitory—yippee!

Shakespeare’s Poetry Shakespeare wrote 154 Shakespearean Sonnets Shakespeare also wrote poetry that didn’t follow the Shakespearean sonnet format however he is most famous for the Shakespearean Sonnet.

Shakespeare’s Poetry Shakespeare is known for his invention of the Shakespearean sonnet. These sonnets are 14 lines long. Have an ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG rhyme scheme. Are all written in Iambic Pentameter. Iambic Pentameter has 10 syllables per line and follow an unstressed/stressed pattern. The last two rhyming lines are called a Heroic Couplet

The End. . . More or Less. . . .