Literary terms ...#SONNET ....

Definition of Sonnet

The word sonnet is derived from the Italian word “sonetto,” which means a “little song” or small lyric. In poetry, a sonnet has 14 lines, and is written in iambic pentameter. Each line has 10 syllables. It has a specific rhyme scheme, and a volta, or a specific turn.

Generally, sonnets are divided into different groups based on the rhymescheme they follow. The rhymes of a sonnet are arranged according to a certain rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme in English is usually abab–cdcd–efef–gg, and in Italian abba–abba–cde–cde.

A sonnet, in English poetry, is a poem of fourteen lines, usually in iambic pentameter, that has one of two regular rhyme schemes - although there are a couple of exceptions, and years of experimentation that have loosened this definition.

One of these schemes is known as the Petrarchan, after the Italian poet Petrarch; it consists of a group of eight lines, rhymed abbaabba, followed by a group of six lines with different rhymes. The distribution of these rhymes can vary, including cdcede, cdecde, cdedce, or even cdcdcd. Often, at the point where the eight-line section, known as the octave, turns into the six-line section, or sestet, there is a volta, from the Italian for 'turn' - this is a shift in the poem's tone, subject or logic that gains power from (or demands?) the matching shift in its structure.

The Shakespearean sonnet breaks into three quatrains, followed by a couplet, rhymed abab cdcd efef gg - as the name suggests, this is the form Shakespeare used for his sonnets, although he did not invent it. In Shakespeare's usage, the three quatrains tend to make an argument in three stages, which the couplet will sum up or comment on.

The main exceptions are the curtal sonnet, a form invented by Gerard Manley Hopkins that roughly maintains the 8:6 ratio over a ten-and-a-half line poem, and the Meredithian sonnet of 16 lines. The fact that these are still referred to as a curtal and a Meredithian sonnet, however, shows that they are not (yet?) considered sonnets per se. There are also innumerable individual exceptions to the form - a poet may refer to a poem as a sonnet because it meets some of the descriptions above, or even just because s/he says so. This means that calling a poem a sonnet is not necessarily to define it strictly, but to say that it stands in relation to the long tradition of sonnets.

Kit Wright's 'Sonnet for Dick' is in the Shakespearean scheme, but once the grief is admitted at the end of the first four lines, the following sentences overflow the shifts in the rhyme scheme, as grief does into life. Mimi Khalvati's 'Overblown Roses' begins with a Shakespearean scheme for its opening eight lines, then performs a volta by turning from the flower itself to what it says about mortality in a Petrarchan sestet. Brendan Kennelly's 'The Happy Grass' and J.D. McClatchy's 'My Mammogram' make similar blends of the two definitions, as does Peter Dale's 'Window', which further adapts the form by moving the second rhyme in each pair a syllable or two back into the line, muting the music of it gently.

Types of Sonnet

Sonnets can be categorized into six major types:

Italian SonnetShakespearean SonnetSpenserian SonnetMiltonic SonnetTerza Rima SonnetCurtal Sonnet.

Examples of Sonnet in Literature

Let us take a look at the examples of sonnets in literature, based on the various categories:

Example #1: Visions (By Francesco Petrarch)

Italian or Petrarchan Sonnet

Italian or Petrarchan sonnet was introduced by 14th century Italian poet Francesco Petrarch.

“Being one day at my window all alone,

So manie strange things happened me to see,

As much as it grieveth me to thinke thereon.

At my right hand a hynde appear’d to mee,

So faire as mote the greatest god delite;

Two eager dogs did her pursue in chace.

Of which the one was blacke, the other white:

With deadly force so in their cruell race

They pincht the haunches of that gentle beast,

That at the last, and in short time, I spide,

Under a rocke, where she alas, opprest,

Fell to the ground, and there untimely dide.

Cruell death vanquishing so noble beautie

Oft makes me wayle so hard a desire.”

The rhyme scheme of a Petrarchan sonnet features the first eight lines, called an octet, which rhymes as abba–abba–cdc–dcd. The remaining six lines are called a sestet, and might have a range of rhyme schemes.

That thereby beauty’s rose might never die.

But as the riper should by time decease,

His tender heir might bear his memory:

But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes,

Feed’st thy light’s flame with self-substantial fuel,

Making a famine where abundance lies,

Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel.

Thou that art now the world’s fresh ornament

And only herald to the gaudy spring,

Within thine own bud buriest thy content

And, tender churl, mak’st waste in niggarding.

Pity the world, or else this glutton be,

To eat the world’s due, by the grave and thee…”

The rhyme scheme of the Shakespearian sonnet is abab–cdcd–efef–gg, which is difficult to follow. Hence, only Shakespeare is known to have done it.

She doth attire under a net of gold;

And with sly skill so cunningly them dresses,

That which is gold or hair, may scarce be told?

Is it that men’s frail eyes, which gaze too bold,

She may entangle in that golden snare;

And being caught may craftily enfold

Their weaker hearts, which are not yet well aware?

Take heed therefore, mine eyes, how ye do stare

Henceforth too rashly on that guileful net,

In which if ever ye entrapped are,

Out of her bands ye by no means shall get.

Folly it were for any being free,

To covet fetters, though they golden be.”

The rhyme scheme in this sonnet is abab–bcbc–cdcd–ee, which is specific to Spenser, and such types of sonnets are called Spenserian sonnets.

Example #2: Sonnet 1 (By William Shakespeare)

Shakespearean Sonnet

A Shakespearean sonnet is generally written in iambic pentameter, in which there are 10 syllables in each line. The rhythm of the lines must be as below:

“From fairest creatures we desire increase,

Example #3: Amoretti (By Edmund Spenser)

Spenserian Sonnet

Sir Edmund Spenser was the first poet who modified the Petrarch’s form, and introduced a new rhyme scheme as follows:

“What guile is this, that those her golden tresses

Function of Sonnet

The sonnet has become popular among different poets because it has a great adaptability to different purposes and requirements. Rhythms are strictly followed. It could be a perfect poetic style for elaboration or expression of a single feeling or thought, with its short length in iambic pentameter. In fact, it gives an ideal setting for a poet to explore strong emotions. Due to its short length, it is easy to manage for both the writer and the reader.