The Sonnet

The Sonnet

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From the Italian: “little song”

Traditionally a love poem with 14 lines and strict rules of rhyme and meter

The Shakespearean Sonnet or English Sonnet

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14 lines

Rhyme Scheme:

a

b

a

b

c

d

c

d

e

f

e

f

g

g

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Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? A

Thou art more lovely and more temperate: B

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, A

And summer's lease hath all too short a date: B

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, C

And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; D

And every fair from fair sometime declines, C

By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; D

But thy eternal summer shall not fade E

Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; F

Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, E

When in eternal lines to time thou growest: F

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, G

So long lives this and this gives life to thee. G

Quatrain #1:

Quatrain #2:

Quatrain #3:

Final Couplet:

R

H

Y

M

E

Iambic pentameter (mostly)

• Iamb: a metric “foot” of two syllables: unstressed followed by stressed: traPEEZE; unDONE; puhLEEZE

• Iambic pentameter: five iambic feet per line

˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / Shall I / comPARE / thee TO / a SUM / mer's DAY?

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