To recap briefly for those who have forgotten the finer details from their schooldays the most basic description of a Sonnet is that it is 14 lines of Iambic Pentameter. An Iamb is a metric foot consisting of an unstressed followed by a stressed syllable (di-dum) and when you have five of them in a line it is known as Iambic Pentameter. Sometimes a Trochee can slip in (a reverse Iamb of a stressed followed by an unstressed syllable; dum-di) but the strict form of Iambs should return immediately. Often a Trochee will start a Sonnet as in Shakespeare’s:
Shall I/compare /thee to/ a sum/mer’s day
Dum-di/di-dum/di-dum/di-dum/di-dum
There are three main types of Sonnet – the Italian or Petrachan, the Shakespearian and the Spenserian.
The Petrachan comprises an octave (8 lines) with an end-rhyme pattern of abba abba and a sestet (6 lines) with an end-rhyme pattern of cdecde, but this can be varied to cdcdcd, or cdedee, or any other variation you can think of.
The Shakesperian Sonnet is the native English Sonnet derived from the Petrachan and consists of three quatrains (4 lines) rhyming abab cdcd efef, and ending with a couplet, gg.
The Spenserian Sonnet combines both forms although has most affinity with the Shakesperian. It rhymes abab bcbc cdcd ee.
The subject matter of a Sonnet is usually personal emotional debate. The first part stating the “problem” and the second offering the “resolution”. The point of change, or “The Turn” usually coming at the end of the octave in a Petrachan Sonnet, with slightly more flexibility in the other forms.
This is the description of a classic Sonnet but there have been examples with sometimes less or sometimes more than the 14 line requirement.
For a more complete discourse on the subject of Sonnet form I highly recommend Stephen Fry’s excellent book “The Ode Less Travelled”.
My next post will look at Jack’s Sonnet more closely. (See previous post).
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