Sonnets are poems that usually explore one idea. The early sonnets used love as their theme. It is a very old form of poetry imported into England by Sir Thomas Wyatt in the early part of the sixteenth century. The name sonnet came from the Old French word for 'little song'. It has remained a popular form with poets because it is long enough to explore one idea, yet remains a challenge to the poet's craft.
Sonnets always have fourteen lines and usually rhyme.
They are usually written in iambic pentameter – ten syllables to each line arranged in 'feet' - a 'foot' is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. It sounds like a heartbeat:
The cur-few tolls the knell of par-ting day. (the bold means a stress)
There are two main forms of sonnet. They both have fourteen lines and rhyme. The difference is in the pattern of the rhymes, this pattern is known as the rhyme scheme.
Modern poets still use the sonnet form but they often break the rules. They use half-rhymes or no rhyme at all and use different rhythms; sometimes the only thing that makes them sonnets is the fact that they have fourteen lines.
The Two Main Types Of Sonnet
The Petrarchan, or Italian sonnet:
- 8 lines (an octave) asking a question, posing a problem, stating a difficulty or conveying a mood
- 6 (a sestet) lines answering the problem, resolving the problem or concluding the mood
- a rhyme scheme of a-b-b-a-a-b-b-a in the octave and c-d-e-c-d-e or c-d-c-d-c-d in the Sestet.
- 3 four-line chunks or quatrains. Each four-line quatrain adds a new point to an argument. A quatrain is often just one sentence.
- 1 two-line rhyming couplet. The couplet usually resolves the problem or argument, sometimes it reverses it.
- A rhyme scheme in the quatrains of a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f and g-g in the rhyming couplet.
2 comments:
I have read this and noted this sir.
Soma
yh i checked out the brief history of sonnets sir it was really intresting :)
Daniel
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