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Development of the Sonnet

A sonnetis a one-stanza poem of fourteen lines which originated

in Italy. The term sonnetderives from the Italian word sonetto, meaning "little

song", and by the thirteenth century it signified a poem of fourteen lines that

follows a strict rhyme scheme and specific structure. It was developed by

Francesco Petrarch and thats why the Italian sonnet came to be known as the

"Petrarchan" sonnet. But it wasnt introduced into English poetry until the

sixteenth century. From there, Shakespeare made the sonnet famous in England

and others followed his lead.

Writers of sonnets are sometimes called "sonneteers". Among the best

known English sonnet writers are: John Donne, John Milton, William Wordsworthand William Shakespeare, who wrote 154 of them (not including those that

appear in his plays). English sonnet-writers almost always used iambic

pentameter as their standard metrical pattern in which a pattern of an unstressed

syllable followed by a stressed syllable is repeated five times.

The sonnet was introduced to England by Sir Thomas Wyatt (1502 - 1542)

and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1507 - 1547) in the sixteenth century. Sir

Thomas Wyatt introduced the Petrarchan sonnet which consists of an octave anda sestet. While Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey introduced the blank verse and the

English sonnet or the Shakespearean sonnet, because Shakespeare was the one

who used it most, which consists of three quatrains and a closing couplet. And

they have the credit of adjusting the rhyme scheme and the meter to

accommodate the English language. This model had a strong influence on many

English poets like: Edmund Spencer, Philip Sidney and of course Shakespeare.

ThePetrarchan sonnetor the Italian sonnet is divided into two parts, the

octave and the sestet. The octave is eight lines long and its rhyme scheme is

ABBAABBA, while the sestet is six lines long and its rhyme scheme is either

CDCDCD or CDECDE. There is usually a pause or break in thought between the

octave and sestet called the Volta, or turn. Traditionally, the octave presents the

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theme, raises an issue or doubt and the sestet answers the question, resolves the

problem, or drives home the poem's point. Its written in iambic pentameter. The

first Petrarchan sonnets in English were written by Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry

Howard, Earl of Surrey. Other English poets including John Milton, Thomas Gray

and William Wordsworth.

The Shakespeareansonnet or the English sonnet is named afterShakespeare, not because he was the first to write in this form but because he

became its most famous practitioner. Instead of the octave and the sestet found

in the Petrarchan sonnet, The Shakespearean sonnet consists of fourteen lines

structured as three quatrains (four lines) and a closing couplet (two lines). The

Shakespearean sonnet has the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. The problem

is usually developed in the first three quatrains, each quatrain with a new idea

growing out of the previous one. The Volta or the turn usually comes in the

couplet, and usually summarizes the theme of the poem or introduces a fresh

new look at the theme. Like the Petrarchan sonnet its written in iambic

pentameter.

The Spenserian sonnet is named after Edmund Spenser. Like the

Shakespearean sonnet, Spensers sonnets generally observe the 3quatrain plus

couplet model in which the rhyme scheme is ABAB, BCBC, CDCD, EE. Unlike thePetrarchan sonnet, the Spenserian sonnet does not appear to require that the

initialoctave set up a problem that the closingsestet answers. Instead, the form

is treated as three quatrains connected by the interlocking rhyme scheme and

closed by a couplet.

The Modern sonnet With the advent of free verse, the sonnet was seen as

somewhat old-fashioned and fell out of use for a time among some schools of

poets. However, a number of modern poets continued to use the form. Modern

Sonnets do not follow a specific pattern or rhyme scheme. They have the look and

feel of free form poetry, but Sonnets do have certain characteristics that classify

them in that category.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octave_(poetry)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sestethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sestethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octave_(poetry)