The sonnet stands as one of the most enduring and celebrated poetic forms in English literature. As a distinct type of poem, a poetic form adheres to specific conventions and is often associated with particular themes. Sonnets are deeply intertwined with the expression of desire, and for centuries, poets have embraced the sonnet’s structure to delve into the multifaceted and often complex terrain of romantic love.
English-language poets adopted the sonnet form from the Italian poet Francesco Petrarch. Traditionally, a sonnet is defined by its fourteen lines written in iambic pentameter, unified by a carefully constructed rhyme scheme. Iambic pentameter dictates the poem’s rhythm: each line comprises ten syllables, with an alternating pattern of unstressed and stressed syllables. A quintessential example is the opening line of a sonnet by William Shakespeare: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day,” where you can clearly hear this rhythmic pattern.
Image showing the structure of iambic pentameter in a line of a sonnet, highlighting unstressed and stressed syllables for educational purposes.
Rhyme scheme is another crucial element of the sonnet, although it’s not uniform across all sonnets. To decipher a rhyme scheme, we examine the final word of each line. Each distinct end sound is assigned a letter of the alphabet, starting with “A.” Looking at a typical sonnet rhyme scheme, if the first line ends in “day,” it’s labeled “A.” If the second line ends with “temperate,” and it doesn’t rhyme with “day,” it gets “B.” If the third line ends with “May” and rhymes with “day,” it’s assigned “A” again, and so on. A common rhyme scheme for a Shakespearean sonnet is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.
Diagram illustrating a sonnet’s rhyme scheme using letters to represent rhyming sounds at the end of lines, helpful for understanding poetic structure.
When engaging with a sonnet, it’s vital to consider not just the poet’s message but also how they convey it. Sonnets often incorporate a “turn,” also known as a volta, which marks a shift in the poem’s argument and often coincides with a change in the rhyme scheme. In Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18, the turn arrives in line 9 with the word “But,” signaling a contrast and introducing a new rhyme with “fade,” shifting from the preceding quatrains to the concluding couplet.
While sonnets are famously associated with love, their thematic range is far broader. Even if a poem is fourteen lines long, and doesn’t explicitly address love, it might still be a sonnet. Poets have continuously adapted this form to explore diverse subjects, encompassing war, religion, mortality, and even reflections on the very essence and value of poetry itself. The sonnet’s concise yet structured nature makes it a powerful vehicle for exploring a wide spectrum of human experience and thought.
