Sonnet essay

Sonnet


The word Sonnet is derived from the Italian word Sonnetto which means little sound or music. It is a fourteen lined poem expressing a single thought or feeling.

Italian Sonnet

The Italian Sonnet is also known as Petrarchan Sonnet. It is named after the Italian poet Petrarca. This Sonnet consists of Octave (8lines) and Sestet (6lines). The rhyme scheme is abba abba, cde cde or cdc dcd.

1.     The octave may be divided into two stanzas called quatrains.

2.     The sestet may be divided into two of three lines each called tercets.

3.     At the end of octave there is a pause or caesura.

4.     Caesura is followed by volta, a turn in thought.

The English Sonnet

English Sonnet was introduced by Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey during the 16th century. English Sonnet is named after Shakespeare.

       English sonnets have three quatrains with the rhyming scheme ab ab, cd cd, ef ef, gg. As it in a quatrain form there is no caesura or volta.

Spenserian Sonnet

Quatrains in Shakespearean sonnet are unconnected. Spenser formed a new variety in which the quatrains was linked to the other by an intermixture of the rhyme.

Subject of the Sonnet

Shakespeare – theme of love, friendship and the dark lady.

Milton – Any theme with the range of human feelings and experience.

 

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