Sonnet

What is a Sonnet?
 It is a one-stanza, 14-line poem, written in iambic
pentameter.
 It has a specific rhyme scheme.
 It is derived from the Italian word

sonetto, meaning “a little sound or

song”.
Italian Sonnets (Petrarchan)
 It was introduced by 14th century Italian
poet, Francesco Petracha.

 It is distinguished by its division into the

octave and sestet:
 The octave rhyming abbaabba
 The sestet rhyming cdecde, cdcdcd or
cdedce
How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)
--Elizabeth Barrett
Browning

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways a

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height b OCTET/OCTAVE
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight b Presents a narrative
For the ends of being and ideal grace. a States a proposition
Or raises a question
I love thee to the level of every day's a
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. b
I love thee freely, as men strive for right. b
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise. a
I love thee with the passion put to use c
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. d SESTET
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose c
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath, d applies the proposition
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose, c or solves the problem.

I shall but love thee better after death. d

On His Blindness
-- John Milton
When I consider how my light is spent A
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide, B
And that one talent which is death to hide B
Lodg'd with me useless, though my soul more bent A
To serve therewith my Maker, and present A
My true account, lest he returning chide, B
"Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?“ B
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent A
That murmur, soon replies: "God doth not need C
Either man's work or his own gifts: who best D
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state E
Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed C
And post o'er land and ocean without rest: D
They also serve who only stand and wait.“ E
More on Italian Sonnets…
 The octave typically:
 Presents a narrative
 States a proposition
 Or raises a question
 The sestet:
 drives home the narrative
by making an abstract
comment
 applies the proposition
 or solves the problem.
English Sonnets (Shakespearean)
 It was popularized by William
Shakespeare.
 Four divisions are used:
 Three quatrains
 Each with a rhyme scheme

of its own, usually rhyming

alternating lines.
 And a rhymed concluding couplet.
 The typical rhyme scheme is
 Abab cdcd efef gg
English (cont.)
 Each quatrain develops a specific
idea, but one closely related to the
ideas in the other quatrains.
 Not only is the English sonnet the
easiest in terms of its rhyme scheme,
calling for only pairs of rhyming
words rather than groups of 4, but it
is the most flexible in terms of the
placement of the volta. Shakespeare
often places the "turn," as in the
Italian, at L9.
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (SONNET 18)
--WILLIAM
SHAKESPEARE
 Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? a 1st QUATRAIN
 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 nd
2 QUATRAIN
 And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; d
 And every fair from fair sometime declines, c establishes a theme
or problem
 By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm'd; d
 But thy eternal summer shall not fade, e 3rd QUATRAIN
 Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st; f
 Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade, e
 When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st: f
 So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, g
COUPLET
 So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. g
concludes/resolves
Iambic Pentameter
 Iambic Pentameter is made up of two words, where
pentameter is a combination of ‘pent’, which
means five, and ‘meter’ , which means to measure.
 Iambic, on the other hand, is a metrical foot in poetry in
which an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed
syllable.
 It means iambic pentameter is a beat or foot that uses
10 syllables in each line.
 Simply, it is a rhythmic pattern comprising five iambs
in each line, like five heartbeats.
Meter
 Meter means “measurement,” and in poetry, it
refers to the repeating pattern of stressed and
unstressed syllables in the lines of a poem.
 The unit of measurement in poetry is called
a metrical foot, which is a set of syllables,
usually two or three, with only one receiving a
strong stress.
What is a metrical foot in poetry?

 It is a group of syllables that follow a

particular pattern of stress.
 A foot might consist of an unstressed
syllable followed by a stressed syllable, a
stressed syllable followed by two
unstressed syllables, or two stressed
syllables.
What are the types of poetic foot?

• Iambic ( v/)
• Trochaic (/v)
• Anapestic (vv/)
• Dactylic (/vv)
• Spondaic (//)
Types of Meter
METER FORMAT EXAMPLE

1. Iambic An iamb consists of an Collect; inspire;

unstressed syllable followed by today
a stressed syllable.
2. Trochaic A trochee is the opposite of an Matter; speaker; dan
iamb: it consists of a stressed cing
syllable followed by an
unstressed syllable.
3. Anapestic An anapest is two unstressed Serenade;
syllables followed by one understand; engineer
stressed syllable.
4. Dactyllic A dactyl features a stressed Beowulf; fellowship;
syllable followed by two Romulus
unstressed syllables.
5. Spondaic A spondee has two stressed Bookmark;
syllables in a row. handshake;
soulmate
Number of Metrical Feet

Number of feet Description of meter

One Monometer
Two Dimeter
Three Trimeter
Four Tetrameter

Five Pentameter

Six Hexameter
Seven Heptameter
Eight Octameter
Scanning

is the name for the technique of

determining the meter of a poem.
When scanning poetry, people use
an ictus (') to mark a strong stress, and
a breve (˘) to mark weaker stress.
MONOMETER, a rare form of verse in which each
line consists of a single metrical unit (a foot or
dipody).
--Robert Herrick’s “Upon His Departure Hence”:
 Thus I
Pass by,
And die:
As One,
Unknown,
And gone:
I’m made
A shade,
And laid
In grave,
There have
My Cave.
Where tell
I dwell,
Farewell.
 Bears and
mountains,
pristine
fountains.
Anonymous – Yellowstone Park

Thou sor/row, ven/om elf,

Is this/thy play,
To spin/ a web/ out of/thyself
To catch/a fly?
For why?
Upon a Spider Catching a Fly by
Edward Taylor
 Hail to/ thee, blithe/ Spirit!
Higher/ still and/ higher
From the/ earth thou/ springest

 Like the leaves/ of the for/est when sum/mer is green,

That host/ with their ban/ners at sun/set were seen:
Like the leaves/ of the for/est when aut/umn hath blown,
That host/ on the mor/row lay with/ered and strown.
Identify the Type of Sonnet
 The spring returns, the spring wind softly blowing
Sprinkles the grass with gleam and glitter of showers,
Powdering pearl and diamond, dripping with flowers,
Dropping wet flowers, dancing the winters going;
The swallow twitters, the groves of midnight are glowing
With nightingale music and madness; the sweet fierce powers
Of love flame up through the earth; the seed-soul towers
And trembles; nature is filled to overflowing…
The spring returns, but there is no returning
Of spring for me. O heart with anguish burning!
She that unlocked all April in a breath
Returns not…And these meadows, blossoms, birds
These lovely gentle girls—words, empty words
As bitter as the black estates of death!
Identify the Type of Sonnet
 Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
SONNET 18 (William Shakespeare)
 It is one of the best-known of the
154 sonnets written by the English
playwright and poet William
Shakespeare.
--In the sonnet, the speaker asks whether he should
compare the young man to a summer's day, but notes
that the young man has qualities that surpass a
summer's day.
Metrical Analysis (SONNET 18)
1 SHALL I / comPARE / thee TO / a SUM / mer's DAY? (trochee, iamb 4x)
2 Thou ART/ more LOVE/ly AND/ more TEM/peRATE
3 ROUGH WINDS / do SHAKE / the DAR / ling BUDS / of MAY, (spondee, iamb 4x)
4 And SUM/mer's LEASE/ hath ALL/ too SHORT/ a DATE:
5 SOMEtimes/ too HOT/ the EYE/ of HEAV/en SHINES, (trochee, iamb 4x)
6 And OF/ten IS/ his GOLD/ comPLEX/ion DIMMED,
7 And EV/ery FAIR/ from FAIR/ someTIME/ deCLINES,
8 By CHANCE,/ or NA/ture's CHANG/ing COURSE/ unTRIMMED:
9 But THY/ eTER/nal SUM/mer SHALL/ not FADE,
10 Nor LOSE/ posSES/sion OF/ that FAIR/ thou OW‘ST,
11 NOR shall/ DEATH BRAG/ thou WAND/'rest IN/ his SHADE (trochee, spondee,
12 When IN/ eTER/nal LINES/ to TIME/ thou GROW‘ST, iamb 3x)
13 So LONG/ as MEN/ can BREATHE,/ or EYES/ can SEE,
14 So LONG/ lives THIS/, and THIS/ gives LIFE/ to THEE.
Metrical Analysis (SONNET 116)
1 LET me/ NOT to/ the MAR/riage OF/TRUE MINDS
2 adMIT/imPE/diMENTS/ LOVE is/ not LOVE
3 Which AL/ters WHEN/ it AL/teRA/tion FINDS
4 Or BENDS/ WITH the/ reMOV/er TO/ reMOVE
5 O NO,/ it IS/ an Ev/er FIX/ed MARK
6 that LOOKS/ on TEM/pests AND/ is NEV/er SHAKE/n
7 It IS/ the STAR/ to Ev/ry WAN/dring BARK
8 Whose WORTHS/ unKNOWN/ alTHOUGH/ his HEIGHT/ be TAKE/n
9 LOVE’S not/ TIMES fool/ though RO/sy LIPS/ and CHEEKS
10 withIN/ his BEND/ing SICK/les COM/pass COME
11 LOVE AL/ters NOT/ with HIS/ BRIEF HOURS/ and WEEKS
12 but BEARS/ it OUT/Even/ to the EDGE/ of DOOM
13 if THIS/be ERR/or AND/ upon/me PROVED
14 i NEV/er WRIT/ nor NO/ MAN E/ver LOVED
Metrical Analysis (SONNET 43)
1 HOW do/ i LOVE/ thee? LET/ me COUNT/ the WAYS
2 i LOVE/ THEE to/ the DEPTH/ and BREADTH/ and HEIGHT
3 My SOUL/ can REACH/ when FEEL/ing OUT/ of SIGHT
4 FOR the/ ENDS of/ Being/ AND i/DEAL GRACE
5 i LOVE/ THEE to/ the LEV/el of EV/ry DAYS
6 most QUI/et NEED/ by SUN/ and CAN/dle LIGHT
7 i LOVE/ thee FREE/ly AS/ MEN STRIVE/ for RIGHT
8 i LOVE/ thee PURE/ly AS/ they TURN/ from PRAISE
9 i LOVE/ THEE with/ the PASS/ion PUT/ to USE
10 in MY/ OLD GRIEFS/ and WITH/ my CHILD/HOOD’S FAITH
11 i LOVE/ thee WITH/ a LOVE/ I SEEMED/ to LOSE
12 WITH my/ lost SAINTS./ i LOVE/ THEE with/ the BREATH
13 SMILES, TEARS/ of ALL/ my LIFE;/ and IF/ GOD choose
14 i SHALL/ but LOVE/thee BET/ter AF/ter DEATH.
COMMENTARY
1. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
What if I were to compare thee?
2. Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
The youth's beauty is more perfect than the beauty of a
summer day.
3. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May
4. And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
5. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
6. And often is his gold complexion dimmed,
All about summer
COMMENTARY
7. And every fair from fair sometime declines
All beautiful things (every fair) occasionally become inferior in comparison with
their essential previous state of beauty (from fair). They all decline from perfection.
8. By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed:
By accidents, or by the fluctuating tides of nature, which are not subject to
control.
9. But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Referring to the eternity promised by the poet in the next few lines, through his
verse.
10. Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
(your eternal summer)will not lose/hold on that beauty which you so richly
possess. ow'st = ownest, possess.
COMMENTARY
11. Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
--implying that death normally boasts of his conquests over life, but the beloved will not be taken
away
12. When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,
--in eternal lines = in the undying lines of my verse.
--to time thou grow'st - you keep pace with time, you grow as time grows.
13. So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
--For as long as humans live and breathe upon the earth, for as long as there are seeing eyes on
the earth
14. So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
--That is how long these verses will live, celebrating you, and continually renewing your life.