The Sonnet The sonnet is a poem steeped in tradition, and favored by some of the English language’s most honored poets. The sonnet is a lyric poem –Fourteen lines –Last two lines a couplet –Fixed rhyme scheme Closed or fixed form

Sonnet Features Rhyme scheme: –Shakespearean: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG –Spenserian: ABBA CDDC EFG EFG –Italian: ABBA ABBA CDE CDE ABBA ABBA CED CED ABBA ABBA CD CD CD

Shakespearian Sonnet Features Pattern is similar to a heartbeat weakSTRONGweakSTRONGweakSTRONG The Shakespearian sonnet is broken up into quatrains and ends with a rhyming couplet

Sonnet Features The meter of a sonnet is iambic pentameter— that’s a meter with five sets of iambs, or syllable pairs that follow an unstressed syllable by a stressed syllable. The “shift” in a sonnet usually comes in the final rhyming couplet. Shall I compare thee to a summer rose? Check out how iambic pentameter works!