3. the sonnet

The sonnetPortrait of an unknown gentleman by Isaac Oliver, ca. 1595

• A fourteen-line poem in iambic pentameter.

1. Main characteristics

The sonnet

• A carefully patterned rhyme scheme.

• Invented by the Italian Iacopo da Lentini in the first half of the 13th century.

• Introduced into England by Sir Thomas Wyatt.

• Two types of sonnet: Petrarchan and Shakespearean.

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• An octave rhyming ABBAABBA.

2. Petrarchan sonnet

The sonnet

• A sestet rhyming CDECDE or CDCDCD.

• A turning point at the end of the 8th line.

• The 9th line is sometimes introduced by words like: and, if, so, but, yet.



The octave has the purpose to:

The sonnet

• introduce a problem (the poet describes his being struck with the sight of his woman)

• express a desire

• reflect on reality

• present a situation that causes doubt or conflict in the poet


2. Petrarchan sonnet• The first quatrain introduces the problem.

The lively sparks that issue from those eyes,

Against the which there vaileth no defence,

Have pierced my heart, and done it none offence,

With quaking pleasure more than once or twice.

5 Was never man could any thing devise, Sunbeams to turn with so great vehemence To daze man's sight, as by their bright presence Dazed am I; much like unto the guise

The sonnet

• The second quatrain develops it.


• The beginning of the sestet is known as the volta, and it introduces a pronounced change in tone in the sonnet.

Of one stricken with dint of lightning, Blind with the stroke, and cying (1) here and there:

10 So call I for help, I not (2) when nor where, The pain of my fall patiently bearing:

For straight after the blaze, as is no wonder, Of deadly noise hear I the fearful thunder.

(Sir Thomas Wyatt)

1 Or, erring.2 i.e. know not.


The sonnet

• The sestet’s purpose is to make a comment on the problem or to apply a solution to it.


• Three quatrains rhyming ABABCDCDEFEF.

3. Shakespearean sonnet

The sonnet

• A couplet rhyming EE.

• A turning point at the end of the 8th line.

• The 9th line is sometimes introduced by words like: and, if, so, but, yet, nor.


• The first quatrain introduces an idea:


The sonnet

When my love swears that she is made of truth I do believe her, though I know she lies, That she might think me some untutor'd youth, Unlearned in the world's false subtleties.

5 Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young, Although she knows my days are past the best, Simply I credit her false speaking tongue: On both sides thus is simple truth suppress'd.

• The second quatrain complicates it:


• The third complicates it still further:


The sonnet

But wherefore says she not she is unjust? 10 And wherefore say not I that I am old?

O, love's best habit is in seeming trust, And age in love loves not to have years told:

Therefore I lie with her and she with me, And in our faults by lies we flatter'd be.

(W. Shakespeare, Sonnet 138)

• The final epigrammatic couplet resolves the whole thing:


14 lines of iambic pentameter 14 lines of iambic pentameter

Division into 2 sections:

the octave presents a problem or situation

the sestet solves or clarifies the situation

Division into 4 sections:

3 quatrains present a problem or situation

a couplet solves or summarizes the problem.

Rhyme scheme:

ABABABAB or ABBAABBA for the octave

CDECDE or CDCDEE for the sestet

Rhyme scheme:

ABAB Quatrain I

CDCD Quatrain II

EFEF Quatrain III

GG Couplet

4. Table of comparisonPetrarchan sonnet Shakespearean sonnet

The sonnet


Education

3. the sonnet