1. THE SONNET

2. CREATION  Originally created in Italy in the 1200s by the poet Lentino. In English poetry, the poet Petrarch made it popular.

3. DEFINITION  A sonnet is a poem of 14 lines of iambic pentameter.  The subjects of sonnets is usually love.

4. RHYME PATTERNS  Rhymes in a number of different patterns, 2 of which are:  Italian (also called Petrarchan)  English (also called Shakespearean)

5. RHYME SCHEME  The pattern of end rhyme in a stanza or poem.  Generally denoted with small-case letters, with each letter assigned a different ending sound.

6. EXAMPLE  Sing a song of sixpence, a A pocket full of rye, b Four and twenty blackbirds,c Baked in a pie. b When the pie was opened,d The birds began to sing. e Was this not a dainty dish f To set before the king? e

7. ITALIAN (PETRARCHAN) SONNET

8. Italian (Petrarchan)  The original form of a sonnet.  Consists of an octet (a group of 8 lines) and a sestet (group of 6 lines).

9. Italian (Petrarchan)  Petrarch’s sonnets were usually about love and were written to a girl named Laura.

10. Italian (Petrarchan)  There are 3 possible rhyme schemes:  abbaabba ccddee  abbaabba cdecde  abbaabba cdcdee

11. ENGLISH (SHAKESPEAREAN) SONNET

12. English (Shakespearean)  The most common in English.  He wrote about many subjects, including his good friend, aging, immortality of poetry, a woman, and emotional problems.

13. English (Shakespearean)  Consists of 3 quatrains (4-line stanzas) and a couplet (2 lines that rhyme).  The rhyme scheme is:  abab cdcd efef gg