Sonnets 101: A Guide to the Sonnet

Sonnets 101: A Guide to the Sonnet -

Sonnet: 1. Fixed verse form having 14 lines that are typically five-foot iambics rhyming according to a prescribed scheme. 2. a rhyming poem of fourteen lines with ten syllables per line, generally written in iambic pentameter meaning there is the rhythm ti-tum; ti-tum; ti-tum.

Iambic Pentameter: A meter in which there are five iambs (pairs of unstressed and stressed syllables) in each line. An iamb is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one.

Iambic Foot: An iambic foot is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. We could write the rhythm like this:

da DUM

A line of iambic pentameter is five of these in a row:

da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM

We can notate this with a 'x' mark representing an unstressed syllable and a '/' mark representing a stressed syllable[1]. In this notation a line of iambic pentameter would look like this:

x / x / x / x / x /

The following line from John Keats' ode To Autumn is a straightforward example:[2]

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
We can notate the scansion of this as follows:

x / x / x / x / x /
To swell the gourd, and plump the ha- zel shells

We can mark the divisions between feet with a |, and the caesura (a pause) with a double vertical bar ||.

x / x / x / x / x /
To swell | the gourd, || and plump | the ha- | zel shells

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iambic_pentameter

Basic Sonnet Forms:
http://www.sonnets.org/basicforms.htm

Some Advice for Starters:
http://www.sonnets.org/advice.htm

The Sonnet; Its Characteristics and History:
http://www.sonnets.org/sharp-a.htm
http://www.sonnets.org/sharp-b.htm
http://www.sonnets.org/sharp-c.htm
http://www.sonnets.org/sharp-d.htm
http://www.sonnets.org/sharp-e.htm

Building Blocks of Sonnets:
http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~mwh95001/sonnets.html

Syllable Counter:
http://www.wordscount.info/hw/syllable.jsp

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A Sonnet Example from Shakespeare:

From Romeo and Juliet
(Upon seeing Juliet for the first time)

O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear;
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!
So shines a snow-white swan trooping with crows,
As this fair lady o'er her fellows shows.
The measure done, I'll watch her place of stand,
And, touching hers, make blessed my own rude hand.
Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight!
I never saw true beauty till this night.

(and to Juliet)

If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this,
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth the rough touch with a gentle kiss.

Rhyme Scheme: aabbccddeeff ghgh

The French sonnet:

A variant of the Petrarchan sonnet, the French sonnet has a sestet of three rhymes beginning with a couplet and a different rhyme scheme in the sestet. The volta (pivot) falls between the octave and sestet. Each line is written in hexameter (12 syllables per line). The traditional rhyme-scheme (la disposition des rimes) of the French Sonnet is abba abba ccd ede