An Introduction to Period Poetry, Part I

As taught by
Lord Andres Castillo Suarez de Sevilla

Sonnet
Though most people associate the sonnet with William Shakespeare, there are actually 3
distinctly different types of sonnets which gained popularity in the Middle Ages. All of these
sonnets contain 14 lines, though the meter and the rhyme scheme differs depending upon the
type of sonnet being written.

The Shakespearean Sonnet, also known as the English Sonnet, uses iambic pentameter
and a rhyme scheme illustrated as ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.

The Spencerian Sonnet, which is an alternate form of the English Sonnet, featured a
rhyme scheme illustrated as ABAB BCBC CDCD EE.
The Petrarchan Sonnet, also known as the Italian Sonnet, uses Alexandrine meter (12
syllables, with a natural pause between the 6th and 7th syllable) though iambic pentameter can
also be used. The poem is broken up into two sections, an 8-line octave that featured a rhyme
scheme illustrated as either ABAB ABAB or ABBA ABBA which posed a question, and a 6-line
sextet which featured a rhyme scheme of either CDE CDE or CDC CDC (though additional
combinations were also sometimes used) which answered the question presented initially.

Villanelle
The villanelle has no set meter, though most poets choose to use either 6, 8, or 10
syllables per line for their poems. The form is 19 lines long, with 5 stanzas of 3 lines each
followed by a stanza of 4, and is best known for its use of 2 rhymes and 2 refrains to “weave” the
poem together. The rhyme scheme is illustrated as R1BR2 ABR1 ABR2 ABR1 ABR2 ABR1R2
(where R1 and R2 both rhyme with A, and represent the 2 refrains.)

Rondeau
The Rondeau is 15 lines in length, with 13 of those 15 lines being 8 syllables in length.
The other two lines are refrains, which echo the first few words of the first line. There are only 2
rhymes throughout the poem, not counting the refrains which are the same and don’t rhyme with
anything except each other. The rhyme scheme can be illustrated AABBA ABAR AABBAR
(with R being the refrain.)