By
William Shakespeare
Sonnet
 The term sonnet comes from the Italian word ‘sonetto’, meaning ‘little
song or sound’.
 In a sonnet a poet expresses his thoughts and feelings in fourteen
lines.
 It was popularized by the fourteenth century poet Petrarch.
 The first poet to introduce sonnet to England was Sir Thomas Wyatt.
 The pattern of English sonnet comprised of three quatrains (four
lines) and a couplet (two lines) with rhyming scheme: ABAB-CDCDEFEF-GG.
 This is the sonnet form that Shakespeare inherited, and indeed it is
often referred to as Shakespearean sonnet.
William Shakespeare
(baptized 1564-1616)
English poet and playwright
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