THE SONNET

TYPES AND
CHARACTERISTICS
BACKGROUND
 The sonnet originated in Sicily in the 13th Century with
Giacomo da Lentino (1188-1240), a lawyer., who wrote
his poems in the Sicilian dialect of Italian
 . Some authorities credit another Italian, Guittone
d'Arezzo (1230-1294), with originating the sonnet.
 The English word "sonnet" comes from the Italian word
"sonetto," meaning "little song." Some early sonnets
were set to music, with accompaniment provided by a
lute. 
 The Italian poet Petrarch (1304-1374), a Roman Catholic
priest, popularized the sonnet more than two centuries
before Shakespeare was born. Other popular Italian
sonneteers were Dante Alighieri
 The sonnet form was introduced in
England by Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542)
and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517-
1547).
 In Italy, England, and elsewhere between the
13th and early 16th Centuries, the most
common theme of sonnets was love. Sonnets
in later times also focused on religion, politics,
and other concerns of the reading public.
TYPES
SONNET

Petrarchan Shakespearean
What are the lines about?
Do they tell a story?
Do they speak about feelings?
PETRARCHAN
How do I love thee? Let me
count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and
breadth and height
My soul can reach, when
feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and
ideal Grace.
LYRIC
SHAKESPEAREAN
When in disgrace with
fortune and men's eyes
I all alone beweep my
outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven
with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself,
and curse my fate,
 How many lines do these sonnets
have?
PETRARCHAN SHAKESPEAREAN
o When I consider how my light is spent o Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
o Ere half my days in this dark world and wide, o Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
o And that one talent which is death to hide o Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
o Lodg'd with me useless, though my soul more bent o And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
o o Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
o o And often is his gold complexion dimmed
My true account, lest he returning chide,
o And every fair from fair sometime declines
o "Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?“
o By chance or nature's changing course untrimmed:
o I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
o But thy eternal summer shall not fade
o That murmur, soon replies: "God doth not need o Nor lose possession of that fair thou 1ow'st
o Either man's work or his own gifts: who best o Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade
o Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state o When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st
o Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed o So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
o And post o'er land and ocean without rest: o So long lives this, and this gives life to thee
o They also serve who only stand and wait."

LYRIC 14 lines
How many syllables are there per line?
Notice the stress pattern of the lines

PETRARCHAN SHAKESPEAREAN
How do I love thee? Let me When in disgrace with
count the ways. fortune and men's eyes
I love thee to the depth and I all alone beweep my
breadth and height outcast state,
My soul can reach, when And trouble deaf heaven
feeling out of sight with my bootless cries,
For the ends of Being and And look upon myself,
ideal Grace. and curse my fate,

LYRIC 14 lines10 syllables

How many syllables are there per line?
What syllables have stress?
U =unstressed; / =stressed
PETRARCHAN SHAKESPEAREAN

U / U / U / U U / U / U
How do I love thee? Let me When in disgrace with
/ U / / U / U /
count the ways. fortune and men's eyes
U / U / U / U U / U / U / U
I love thee to the depth and I all alone beweep my
/ U /
/ U /
breadth and height outcast state,

LYRIC 14 lines10 syllables

CHARACTERISTICS
a lyric poem
consisting of fourteen lines
written in iambic pentameter
 An iamb is a metrical foot consisting
of
an unaccented syllable U followed
by an accented syllable / .
 Pentameter means there are 5 iambs in the
line
 2 syllables x 5=10 syllables
PETRARCHAN
 On His Blindness
John Milton
1.  When
When I consider
I consider howhow my light
my light is spent
is spent A

2. Ere
Ere halfhalf my days
my days in this
in this darkdark
worldworld
andand wide, B
wide,
3. And
And thatthat
oneone talent
talent which
which is death
is death to hide
to hide B

Lodg'd
4. Lodg'dwithwith
me useless, though
me useless, my soul
though more
my soul bentben
more A

To
5. serve therewith
To serve my Maker,
therewith my Maker,andandpresent
present A
My true account, lest he returning chide, B
6. My true account, lest he returning chide,
"Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?" B
7. "Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent A
8. "I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
•COUNT THE NUMBER OF LINES
•IDENTIFY THE RHYME SCHEME
 C
That murmur, soon replies: "God doth not need
D
Either man's work or his own gifts: who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state E
C
Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed
And post o'er land and ocean without rest: D
They also serve who only stand and wait." E

•COUNT THE NUMBER OF LINES

•IDENTIFY THE RHYME SCHEME
•HOW ARE THE LINES DIVIDED?
 Sonnet XLII
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. A

I love thee to the depth and breadth and heightB

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight B
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. A
I love thee to the level of every day's
A
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
B
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
B
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
A
•COUNT THE NUMBER OF LINES
•IDENTIFY THE RHYME SCHEME
I love with a passion put to use C

In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. D

C
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
D
With my lost saints, -- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! -- and, if God choose,C
D
I shall but love thee better after death

•COUNT THE NUMBER OF LINES

•IDENTIFY THE RHYME SCHEME
•HOW ARE THE LINES DIVIDED?
RHYME scheme

• Petrarchan (Italian) rhyme

scheme:
• abba, abba, cd, cd, cd
• abba, abba, cde, cde
Thought structure
• Octave/ sestet
• The octave, eight lines,
presents a situation or idea.
• The sestet (sextet), six
lines, responds, to the
situation or idea in the octave.
SHAKESPEAREAN
When in disgrace with fortune and men's
eyes
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless
cries,
And look upon myself, and curse my fate,

•COUNT THE NUMBER OF LINES

•IDENTIFY THE RHYME SCHEME
 Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends
possessed,
Desiring this man's art, and that man's
scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;

•COUNT THE NUMBER OF LINES

•IDENTIFY THE RHYME SCHEME
 Yet in these thoughts my self almost
despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at
heaven's gate;

•COUNT THE NUMBER OF LINES

•IDENTIFY THE RHYME SCHEME
 For thy sweet love remembered such
wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state
with kings.

•COUNT THE NUMBER OF LINES

•IDENTIFY THE RHYME SCHEME
•HOW ARE THE LINES DIVIDED?
RHYME scheme

• Shakespearean (English,
or Elizabethan) rime
scheme:
• abab, cdcd, efef, gg
Thought structure
• Quatrain, quatrain, quatrain,
couplet
• Each quatrain, four lines,
describes and idea or situation
which leads to a conclusion or
response in the couplet, two
lines.
 SONNET VENN DIAGRAM

PETRARCHAN SHAKESPEAREAN

IDENTIFY THE DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES BETWEEN

PETRARCHAN AND SHAKESPEAREAN SONNETS