Sonnets.

A Sonnet is a poem of 14 lines which develop a single topic. Throughout history there have been many famous Sonnet poets, however none are more famous than William Shakespeare. Shakespeare is thought to have written 154 Sonnets in his lifetime, so it is really no surprise that a type of Sonnet has been named after him.

Yes, that's right.....there are types of Sonnet. But don't worry, it's pretty simple really.



English/Shakespearean Sonnets:

These Sonnets are written in iambic pentameter. This is a type of rhyme in which there 10 syllables (or 'beats') in each line.  An 'iamb' is 2 beats, or 1 'foot'. 'Penta' is 5 iambs, so the line has 5 feet and 'meter' is the rhythm of the poem. The reason for this is to make a rhythm out of it similar to a heartbeat. Shakespeare's actors had to learn long passages of his plays, often very quickly, which is why writing in a rhythm is important as it is easier to remember this way. The syllables in iambic pentameter go as follows: unstressed, stressed. So the rhythm would go: de DUM de DUM de DUM de DUM de DUM (de DUM is 1 'foot'). These sonnets are made up of 3 quatrains (groups of 4 lines) and 1 couplet (group of 2 lines). Shakespeare's Sonnets also ended with a rhyming couplet. So the rhyme scheme would be: ab ab cd cd ef ef gg (gg is the rhyming couplet). A rhyming couplet just means two consecutive lines (one after the other) that rhyme. The 'turn' or volta of the poem usually comes after 8 or 10 lines. A Volta is basically just a change in the thought or emotion of the poem (see, 'On The Sea' by John Keats 1817). Also, Sonnets are traditionally about love, and Shakespeare wrote so many of them (such as those in 'Romeo and Juliet') that if a Sonnet was about something else and was shown to an Elizabethan audience, they wouldn't even recognise it as a Sonnet!

Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare.



My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

This Sonnet was also used by Catherine Tate and David Tennant in a hilarious sketch for Comic Relief a few years ago!



Italian/Patrarchan Sonnets:

Developed during the Renaissance, these Sonnets are made up of an octave ( groups of 8 lines) and a sestet (groups of 6 lines). The rhyme scheme for these is: abbaabba cdecde. The volta MUST occur between the octave and the sestet. Francesco Petrarch wrote many, many Petrarchan Sonnets, all addressed to 'Laura' (thought to be Laure de Noves, a girl he saw in Church). They are about love and were extremely popular.

Soleasi Nel Mio Cor by Petrarch, translated by Thomas Wentworth Higginson.
 

She ruled in beauty o'er this heart of mine,

A noble lady in a humble home,

And now her time for heavenly bliss has come,

'Tis I am mortal proved, and she divine.

The soul that all its blessings must resign,

And love whose light no more on earth finds room,

Might rend the rocks with pity for their doom,

Yet none their sorrows can in words enshrine;

They weep within my heart; and ears are deaf

Save mine alone, and I am crushed with care,

And naught remains to me save mournful breath.

Assuredly but dust and shade we are,

Assuredly desire is blind and brief,

Assuredly its hope but ends in death.