Shakespearean vs.

Petrarchan Sonnets
Instructions:

A. Compare and contrast the differences between a Petrarchan sonnet vs. a

Shakespearean sonnet.
B. Some things that you’ll need to know before you start this assignment are: If the
sonnet is going to be in the English form, the logical progression of thought
should be as follows: the first 12 lines develop the main idea, and the last 2 lines
(a rhymed couplet) give the conclusion. The Italian (Petrarchan) form, the
pattern should be thus: The first 8 lines develop the main idea, and the last 6
lines give the conclusion. Italian (Petrarchan) rhyme scheme: abba cddc efg efg.
Shakespearean: abab cdcd efef gg
C. Read the following Petrarchan Sonnet and Shakespearean Sonnet
http://www.cranberrydesigns.com/poetry/sonnet/examples.htm
D. Answer the questions below using evidence from the text to support each of your
answers.

Petrarchan Sonnet
A Game of Chess

To John Brodie

By Gwen Harwood

Nightfall: the town’s chromatic nocturne wakes a

Dark brilliance on the river; colours drift b

And tremble as enormous shadows lift b

Orion to his place. The heart remakes a

That peace torn in the blaze of day. Inside c

Your room are music, warmth and wine, the board d

With chessmen set for play. The harpsichord d

Begins a fugue; delight is multiplied. c

A game: the heart’s impossible ideal- e

To choose among a host of paths, and know f

That if the kingdom crumbles one can yield g

And have the choice again. Abstract and real e

joined in their trance of thought, two players show f

the calm of gods above a troubled field. g

Harwood, Gwen. “A Game of Chess.” Patterns in Poetry, 2012.

http://www.cranberrydesigns.com/poetry/sonnet/examples.htm. Pg. 3

Shakespearean Sonnet
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Sonnet 18

By William Shakespeare

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 they 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.

Shakespeare, William. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Sonnet 18.” Patterns in Poetry, 2012.
http://www.cranberrydesigns.com/poetry/sonnet/examples.htm. Pg. 3

Questions
1.What is the rhyme scheme of the Shakespearean poem and the Petrarchan poem? Label each
accordingly.
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2. What does the difference between the rhyme schemes do to the poems? How does it make them
different? How does it make them the same?
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3. What is the main idea and conclusion of the Shakespearean poem? Use examples from the text
to explain your meaning.
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4. What is the main idea and conclusion of the Shakespearean poem? Use examples from the text
to explain your meaning.
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5. The main idea is the first 12 lines of a Shakespearean poem and the last two are the conclusion.
What affect does that have on the poem? Use examples from the text to back up your reasoning.
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6. The main idea is the first 8 lines of a Petrarchan poem and the last 6 are the conclusion. What
affect does that have on the poem? Use examples from the text to back up your reasoning.
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7. Which of the two types of writing would you rather read and why? Use examples from the text
to back up your reasoning.
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