Petrarchan (Italian) sonnet
The Petrarchan sonnet was not developed by Petrarch himself, but rather by a string of Renaissance poets. Petrarch was an Italian
scholar and poet in Renaissance Italy.
The original Italian sonnet form divides the poem's 14 lines into two parts, the first part being an octave (8 line stanza) and the
second being a sestet (6 line stanza).
Structure
The sonnet is split in two groups: the "octave" (of 8 lines) and the "sestet" (of 6 lines), for a total of 14 lines.
The octave (the first 8 lines) typically introduces the theme or problem using a rhyme scheme of A-B-B-A A-B-B-A. It expresses a
desire, reflects on reality, or otherwise presents a situation that causes doubt or a conflict within the speaker’s soul. It usually does
this by introducing the problem within its first quatrain (unified four-line section) and develops it in the second .
The sestet (the last 6 lines) provides resolution for the poem and rhymes variously, but usually follows the schemes of C-D-E-C-D-E
or C-D-C-C-D-C or C-D-D-E-C-E as in the example below. The sestet introduces a pronounced change in tone in the sonnet. Poets
using the Petrarchan sonnet adapt the form to their own ends to create various effects. Some do not use a strict metrical or rhyme
schemes, but there should be no more than five different rhymes in it.
Example of a Petrarchan sonnet: Full of Dreams: A Sonnet - by Glenn Currier
Octave (below) - Introduces the theme or problem
[See Rhyme Scheme A-B-B-A A-B-B-A to right at the end of each line]
When I was young my eyes were full of dreams - A
and all the world and wealth before me lay - B
I met you through a friend on one fall day - B
Sinatra sang to us and the Supremes - A
I looked into your eyes and saw love’s gleams - A
we talked and kissed a hundred nights away. - B
But then you said you needed me to stay - B
and into school I dove to great extremes - A
Sestet (below)- Solves the problem
[See rhyme scheme C-D-D-E-C-E to right at the end of each line]
until I held in hand the precious prize - C
the paper from the dean with his emboss - D
I got a job but feared what I had lost. - D
We went our separate ways and fell apart, - E
Again I sought and found your big brown eyes - C
and held you close until I’d won your heart. - E
“Full of Dreams: A Sonnet,” Copyright © 2014 by Glenn Currier
The above information, except for Glenn’s sonnet is abridged from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet
The Shakespearean (English) Sonnet
[This material, except Jim’s poem, is abridged
from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet.]
Various patterns associated with the sonnet have evolved over its history.
Writers of sonnets are sometimes called "sonneteers", although the term can be
used derisively. One of the best-known sonnet writers is William Shakespeare, who wrote 154 of them (not including those that
appear in his plays). A Shakespearean, or English, sonnet consists of fourteen lines written in iambic pentameter, a pattern in which
an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable five times. The rhyme scheme in a Shakespearean sonnet is a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d,
e-f-e-f, g-g; the last two lines are a rhyming couplet.
Traditionally, English poets employ iambic pentameter when writing sonnets, but not all English sonnets have the same metrical
structure. Some are written with lines of 12 syllables in iambic hexameters, a pattern in which an unstressed syllable is followed by a
stressed syllable six times. An alexandrine is a poetic meter comprising 12 syllables.
The form is often named after Shakespeare, not because he was the first to write in this form but because he became its most
famous practitioner. The form consists of fourteen lines structured as three quatrains and a couplet. The third quatrain generally
introduces an unexpected sharp thematic or imagistic "turn", the volta.
In Shakespeare's sonnets, however, the volta usually comes in the couplet, and usually summarizes the theme of the poem or
introduces a fresh new look at the theme. With only a rare exception, the meter is iambic pentameter, although there is some
accepted metrical flexibility (e.g., lines ending with an extra-syllable feminine rhyme, or a trochaic foot rather than an iamb,
particularly at the beginning of a line). The usual rhyme scheme is end-rhymed a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g.
This example, Shakespeare's "Sonnet 116", illustrates the form (with some typical variances one may expect when reading an
Elizabethan-age sonnet with modern eyes):
Let me not to the marriage of true minds (a)
Admit impediments, love is not love (b)*
Which alters when it alteration finds, (a)
Or bends with the remover to remove. (b)*
O no, it is an ever fixèd mark (c)**
That looks on tempests and is never shaken; (d)***
It is the star to every wand'ring bark, (c)**
Whose worth's unknown although his height be taken. (d)***
Love's not time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks (e)
Within his bending sickle's compass come, (f)*
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, (e)
But bears it out even to the edge of doom: (f)*
If this be error and upon me proved, (g)*
I never writ, nor no man ever loved. (g)*
The English sonnet does not have to use the
traditional meter as described above. The poem
below, written by our own Jim Brown is such a
poem, however, it does follow the traditional
rhyme scheme.
My Valentines
By James Brown
She's now with God; my heavy heart its cost,
Then new life and joyous bliss ahead,
From profound sadness of my great love lost,
To happy month that's now in which we wed.
Our mates of many years were called by God,
Their time with us fulfilled allotted days,,
My love is for a lass from far abroad.
God's given miracle is Him I praise.
These many years of countless joy and peace,
Seem fleeting like a summer breeze at dawn,
My beautiful wife makes our love increase,
And pray there will be years before we're gone.
I pledge again eternal love my own,
As did I once before whose life has flown.
“My Valentines,” Copyright © 2014 by James Brown