write a sonnet assignment

How To Write A Sonnet

Want to know how to write a sonnet like one of Shakespeare’s? There’s good news and bad news when writing sonnets. The good news is that it’s very easy to write a sonnet. The bad news is that your sonnet will unlikely ever be as good as any of Shakespeare’s… but that’s no reason not to try!

Sonnet structure

A sonnet expresses a single idea, but it is generally an idea that develops and expands, with multiple facets, leading to a conclusion – and all within a very specific rhyming scheme. In addition to this structure, all Shakespearean sonnets must have these two things in common:

1. All Shakespearean sonnets have 14 lines

2. All Shakespearean sonnets are written in iambic pentameter

(Find out more about what a sonnet is , and  iambic pentameter , or discover some wonderful sonnet examples from a variety of poets.)

The 14 lines of the sonnet consist of four divisions, known as ‘quatrains’. The first three of the four sonnet divisions/quatrains have the same rhyme scheme, whilst the fourth and last division/quatrain has a different rhyme scheme:

All Shakespearean sonnets follow this 14 line pattern and rhyming structure. So, now you have the basics, here are the three simple steps to have you writing your own sonnet in no time:

1. Think of an idea for your sonnet

Your sonnet must be about one single idea. It could be a feeling, like being in love. It could be some thought you’ve had about life, or about a person or about people in general. It could be about one of your favourite subjects – sport, music, movies, nature, a book you’ve read, etc.

2. Your sonnet must rhyme in a specific pattern

Your 14 line sonnet must be written in three sets of four lines and one set of two lines.

1. The first quatrain will have lines that end in a rhyme scheme like this: ABAB, for example, ‘day’, ‘temperate’, ‘may’, ‘date’.

2. The second quatrain will use different words to rhyme scheme like this: CDCD, for example, ‘shines’, ‘dimmed’, ‘declines’, ‘untrimmed’.

3. The third quatrain needs different words again, to rhyme scheme like this: EFEF, for example, ‘fade’, ‘lowest’, ‘shade’, ‘growest’.

4. You now have your three Shakespearean quatrains – that’s 12 lines. Remember that a Shakespearean sonnet always has 14 lines, so you need two final lines – called a couplet. The rhyme scheme for this is GG, using words you haven’t used in the rhyming so far, for example, ‘see’ and thee’.

The rhyme pattern of your 14 line sonnet should now look like this: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

Simple, isn’t it?

Let’s look at a Shakespeare sonnet 18 to understand how the rhyming works, and how the message evolves:

First quatrain

A: Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s day? B: Thou art more lovely and more temperate: A: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, B: And Summer’s lease hath all too short a date:

Second quatrain

C: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, D: And oft’ is his gold complexion dimm’d; C: And every fair from fair sometime declines, D: By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d:

Third quatrain

E: But thy eternal Summer shall not fade F: Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; E: Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade, F: When in eternal lines to time thou growest:

G: So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, G: So long lives this, and this gives life to thee .

The sonnet is about a single idea. Shakespeare is looking at a beautiful summer’s day which, in spite of its beauty, has limitations, and it eventually fades and dies. He’s comparing someone with that beautiful summer’s day but showing that person’s superiority to it. He works the idea through and presents the subject of the poem as having no limitations. Even eventual death won’t interfere with that because the subject will live forever in the poem, which Shakespeare suggests, will be read as long as there are people to read it.

The rhyme scheme is used to change emphasis. Each aspect of the poems’ idea is contained in its own section with its own rhyming word pattern.

Look at the first two quatrains again. The subject is introduced and we are told that he or she is more beautiful than a summer’s day. The defects of the summer’s day are outlined.

Look at the third quatrain. It starts with the word ‘but.’ That marks a shift of emphasis. Now the subject’s eternal beauty is emphasised.

Look at the couplet. It’s a summing up – an assurance that the subject’s beauty will last for as long as there are human beings on Earth. A rhyming couplet in English poetry is always very powerful, and in a sonnet, this couplet sums up and rounds off the poem. It can be used to put emphasis on the main idea, or to undermine it, or to offer a humorous perspective. And in Shakespeare it is quite frequently very personal, in some cases amounting to a personal statement.

3. Your sonnet must have a metrical pattern

The third step in this ‘how to write a sonnet’ guide is to write your sonnet in iambic pentameter . That means that you must use iambus.

Iambus is another word for a two-syllable foot. The first syllable will normally be unstressed and the second stressed. For example, de/ light , the sun , for/ lorn , one day, re/ lease . English is a perfect language for iambus because of the way the stressed and unstressed syllables work.

Every line of your sonnet must have five feet (so 10 syllables). Pentameter means five and iambic pentameter simply means five feet. Shakespeare uses iambic pentameter, not only in the sonnets but also throughout his plays.

Pick up any Shakespeare play and look at it. Choose almost any line, here’s one from Lady Macbeth :

‘But screw your courage to the sticking post’

Read it like this:

But screw / your cour /age to / the stick /ing post

Count the feet – there are five. And they are all unstressed followed by stressed syllables.

Shakespeare uses iambic pentameter because it closely resembles the rhythm of everyday speech and he wants to imitate everyday speech in his plays.

Like Shakespeare you can also trot them out. Try it. If your friend also wants to write a sonnet you can practice talking to each other in iambic pentameter. It comes easily. ‘I wonder what my friends will think of this?’ ‘If I were you I’d watch out what I say.’ ‘He never ever told me what to do.’ ‘It’s easy when you think of it like that.’

You can see from the above sentences that iambic pentameter occurs naturally to English speech . So the first thing to do is practice speaking in iambic pentameter. You’ll see how naturally it comes.

You now have to put the three things together – your idea, your rhyming words and your iambic pentameter.

Things to think about

• Use as many visual images (word pictures) as you can.

• Find the right words.

• Don’t deviate from the iambic pentameter or your sonnet won’t work. You can make slight variations in the stressing for the sake of varying the rhythm so that you don’t get too much of a ‘dedum-dedum-dedum-dedum-dedum’ effect.

For example Shakespeare’s sonnet 116 has the opening line ‘Let me not to the marriage of true minds.’ If you read it like this:

Let me / not to / the mar /riage of / true minds

it sounds unnatural, but it is still iambic pentameter. Shakespeare has used iambic pentameter but he’s varied the meter to create a different rhythm. So although it’s basic iambic pentameter we read it with the stresses that come from natural speech. Notice how the first three words run into each other as though they’re one word: letmenot.

The iambic pentameter can be slightly flexible, but you must stick rigidly to the required line structure for your sonnet. Shakespeare makes these types of variations a lot in his plays, and that’s why you can hear the language as real people speak it but feel the basic meter in your head.

Now you know how to write a sonnet, there’s no excuse: It’s time to start work on your own sonnet! Good luck, and let us know how you get on with writing your own sonnet in the comments below.

Shakespeare pondering how to write a sonnet whilst sat at his desk

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Music (Sonnet)

Being more than just random combined sounds A fusion of instruments and motion Create and produce beauty that surrounds Harmony that expresses emotion Dancing with the influence of the notes Representing along with written tones Known as the art of composing quotes And as the science of performing groans Being based on the lyricist awards And the problems that are noticed around The pleasing harmonious softly chords Mostly being listened on the background Ready to shift the plot of your story With all the ambitions of the glory

Shakspher is awesome!!!!

I’m. . . uh. . . using this for a prophecy in my Warrior Cats fanfiction. . .

A cat whose father came from far above Will learn to bear the weight of prophecy The brightest failings of her mother’s love Are paramount to her integrity

There is another, born so long ago To that same father and a mother fierce Her pelt was lily-white and his like snow And her inheritance his heart will pierce

These half-forgotten siblings will no more Be unaware of who they really are Their friendship will persist forevermore Unless the heavens’ fury leaves its scar

Son of flowers, tangled daughter, rise To save the only bird that never flies

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• Poetry Contests

How to Write a Sonnet

Updated January 9, 2020

A Quick Sonnet Guide. 

A traditional sonnet should have….

• 14 lines. X
• Rhyming. The most common is the Shakespearean rhyme scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. These 14  letters represent the sonnet’s 14 lines and the same letter means those lines rhyme with each other. The more difficult Petrarchan sonnet rhyme scheme is ABBA ABBA CDE CDE, though there are many varieties of how to organize the scheme in those last six lines. X
• Meter. Most commonly iambic pentameter. Beginners may count out 10 syllables per line. Real iambic pentameter means five unstressed-stressed units (dah DUM dah DUM dah DUM dah DUM dah DUM): “shall I comPARE thee TO a SUMmer’s DAY?” Each unit may be two syllables, but not always, (“it BRILliantly SOARED” could be counted as two iambs). More on meter below or here . X
• A subject and a turn (“volta”). Most commonly a sonnet will have a focused subject that is explored in the first eight lines, then in the next six lines there will be a shift or turn (“volta”) in the poem that sheds new light on the subject or shifts perspective in some fashion. In Shakespeare’s famous “Sonnet 18” someone’s beauty is compared to a summer’s day in the first eight lines and then in the next six lines the poem shifts to the immortality granted to beauty by the power of poetry. X

For more examples you may also explore 31 Sonnets: Renaissance to New Millennial , which includes sonnets from long ago to the present. The Society of Classical Poets also regularly publishes traditional sonnets by leading poets (and sometimes high school students too). Submit your sonnet for publication to [email protected].

An In-Depth Sonnet Guide.

Writing a sonnet: easy to hard.

by Evan T. Mantyk

Put simply, a sonnet is a 14-line poem. You might write one for any number of reasons: a class assignment, a birthday present, or visions of poetic paradise and posterity. Let’s begin. I’ll take you through a simple guide that can lead to a basic sonnet in 10 minutes at the easy level to one that demonstrates literary mastery at the difficult level.

Level 1: Easy: A Sonnet in 10 Minutes

Poetry, at its best, is about those great lofty and universal themes like beauty, the meaning of life, and compassion for our fellow human beings. But, it can also be humorous, unimportant, and topical. The genius of poetry is partially in the ability to convey a lot in a few words and make those few word catchy and attractive to your audience. To write a quick sonnet, we need something specific to focus on. A person, a painting, a book, a character, an event, a place, a relationship between two things, and so on. Can’t find a topic? Just look for a picture or poster you like. Here’s a painting that I had as my desktop background for a while:

“Sunrise on the Bay of Fundy” by William Bradford (1823-1892)

Now, whatever your topic is, imagine it is real. You are in front of it or in it. What are you feeling? Use your five senses and a sprinkle of imagination. Compare what you are thinking of to something (“the water was clear like crystal”; “the water was crystal” or better yet “the crystalline water”). You can also repeat words and phrases for emphasis (“ What a beautiful morning… What a gorgeous sea…”).

Let the writing begin. Try to limit yourself to lines that are not more than half the page (with 12 point font, on a standard word processing page) and try to mostly end your sentences or thoughts where a line ends. It doesn’t have to be one line per thought; you could have a thought that is four lines, but try to wrap it up by the end of that fourth line, not in the middle of it. Capitalization of the first letter of each line and standard punctuation are optional.

Here we go:

On William Bradford’s “Sunrise on the Bay of Fundy”

The waves are bumpy and the wind blows hard, But the sunrise is so beautiful to look at, I could sit and look at it forever; I feel like a new day is beginning and everything is going To be okay, especially because there is This guy there for me to talk to. Why do people, like me, like to look at the water so much; Why not just look at the land all the time? There is something special about the water. Maybe it’s the clear horizon line, like a desert. It makes you feel big and opened up to the sky. Openness makes you feel cleansed, Pure, like the garbage cans been emptied, And powerful, like you could go anywhere.

Done! You have written a sonnet in free verse. Check the timer.

Level 2: Medium: Rhyme-y Poetry

Many people will say that poetry isn’t poetry if it doesn’t rhyme. Traditionally speaking, this is generally true of short poems like sonnets. Sonnet, after all, means “little song” in Italian, and song lyrics, as we know, usually rhyme.

If you aren’t naturally good at rhyming, there are plenty of sources of rhyme words online, such as Rhyme Desk or Rhymezone.com . If you can’t find a rhyme for your word, the tactic is usually to swap your original word with a different one that has the same meaning. For this, I recommend Merriam-Webster’s Thesaurus . Or, even rewrite the first line and first rhyme entirely in order to achieve the second line and/or rhyme you want. The rhyming poet must be flexible and agile.

Partial rhymes can also work. For example, the famously difficult rhyme word, orange, can be half rhymed with forage, storage, grange, strange, angel etc. You can also use alliterative rhymes that focus on the beginning of the word. For orange, you might use oratory, orangutan, ordinary, Orion. Here’s a poem written on the spot:

The Orange Poem

I listened to the oratory On the topic of the color orange At first I thought the topic ordinary Someone said “red and yellow make orange” But then it got a bit more strange He said, “A one-hundred-color range Forms the continuum of orange.”

Ready to rhyme? Next step is your rhyme scheme. If you are a beginner, it is easiest to just rhyme the lines as you go. Lines 1 and 2 end with the first rhyming pair (or couplet); lines 3 or 4 form the next rhyming pair and so on. If you continue this way to the end, the rhyme scheme of your sonnet is expressed this way:

aa bb cc dd ee ff gg

To make it more clear, here is a poem I made up on the spot with an aabba rhyme scheme:

I saw a great big dog (a) Standing on top of a log (a) I ran away (b) But then it came my way (b) And said, “May I join your jog?” (a)

The rhyme scheme used by William Shakespeare in the early 1600s was a bit more complicated. This is the typical rhyme scheme for a Shakespearean sonnet:

abab cdcd efef gg

Another classic and more difficult form is that used by the Italian poet Petrach in the 1300s:

abbaabba cdcdcd

abbaabba cdecde

Now, let’s return to the first two lines of our example poem on William Bradford’s painting. These are the current lines without rhyme:

The waves are bumpy and the wind blows hard But the sunrise is so beautiful to look at

We’ll try for the easiest type of rhyming in which each line rhymes with the next one. After a little shifting and head scratching, we get this:

The waves are bumpy and the hard wind blows But the beauty of the sunrise shows

Continue doing this for each line and you have a rhyming sonnet that looks more traditional than a free verse sonnet. The problem with the free verse sonnet is that people may not see any difference between your poem and ordinary writing, or prose. Rhyming solves this problem quite well.

Level 3: Medium-Difficult: Poetry with Rhyme and Structure

If you want to produce a sonnet with greater elegance and discipline that connects with the thousands of years of poets more fully then you should consider a rhyme scheme that isn’t necessarily so simple. You might use a Shakespearean or Petrarchan rhyme scheme, as described above, or some modification thereof.

Additionally, traditional or classical poets usually adhere to more rigid structure than is found in the easy-level free verse poem. In classical Chinese poetry, for example, each line has the same number of characters. In classical French poetry, poets count the syllables. The classical Greek and English poets depend on the number and placement of stresses. In most classical cultures, these structures create a kind of universal order, so that any missing word or stress upsets the entire order. Additionally, the sonnet itself matches other sonnets, not only in the number of lines, but the inner structure that has been used in sonnets for hundreds of years. Using a classical model leaves a well-structured poem resonating both backward and forward in history in ways that a free verse sonnet cannot. This is magnificent! Yet, also difficult.

For English poetry, the easiest way to provide some clear structure is by counting syllables, creating what is known as syllabic verse. Not sure how many syllables a word has? Visit Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary or Dictionary.com to see clearly how many syllables a word has. Rhyme Desk has a neat feature that counts as you write. Often you can also remove syllables, change “mirror” to “mirr’r,” or add syllables people don’t normally pronounce “poém” (pronounced “poh-em”). It does not have to be perfect. Although it should tend toward perfection. Sonnets usually have about 10 syllables per line (with meter, which we’ll discuss later, this is called iambic pentameter).

Here we go. Our original free verse sonnet is revised to include a Shakespearean sonnet rhyme scheme and 10 syllables per line. (Capitalization of the first letter of each line and standard punctuation should be included for this level.):

Steady currents of wind blow my face, Steady currents of water rock my feet, As the sun rises in its brilliant grace, The raucous world seems so smooth and so sweet.

Our small vessel has not yet raised its sail, My shipmate and I contemplate the day, And what our minor journey will entail, Nothing so important to again say.

And yet the immensity of the dawn, Accentuated by vast horizon, Is like a giant knot that’s been undone, And releases each trespass and treason.

Larger and better ships may sail around, Yet the expanse of my heart knows no bound.

Level 4: Difficult: Sonnet in Iambic Pentameter, Careful Attention to Meaning

More difficult and rewarding than counting syllables is looking at the meter. The meter is the use of stressed and unstressed syllables to create structure. The iamb is the most standard and natural unit in the English language. It is comprised of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Iambic pentameter is the traditional meter for a sonnet, and English poetry in general. You can feel the rhythm of a poem more clearly when it’s composed with meter rather than with syllable counting. For iambic pentameter, the rhythm should feel something like “dah-DUM, dah-DUM, dah-DUM, dah-DUM, dah-DUM.” Here are some examples:

One iamb: I am

Four iambs: I am a man and noth ing more .

Five iambs (iambic pentameter): I am a man who tries and noth ing more

For reference, the opposite of an iamb is trochee, which is a stressed syllable followed by an an unstressed syllable:

One trochee: Noth ing

Four trochees: Noth ing good can come from ly ing

Note that a hard or soft stress sometimes does not correspond to a single syllable and this is perfectly normal. For example, you could write: “I am a cap tain and noth ing more .” There are two syllables after “ cap ” that form the soft stress and this is still considered a line of four iambs (or iambic tetrameter). Thus, a real line of iambic pentameter (such as the eleven syllables in “To be or not to be : that is the quest ion”) will often not have exactly ten syllables. Of course if you use too many deviations then you risk losing the rhythm of the meter.

Also important is the meaning behind the words. The sonnet is generally broken up into the first eight lines (the octave) and then the following six lines (the sestet) with the turn (or volta) in between. In other words, the octave sets up an idea, establishing it fully, and then something changes or something different happens with that idea in those last six lines. It is a small journey. Particularly if we look at the Shakespearean sonnet, the sestet could be further broken up into four lines (quatrain) and a concluding two lines (couplet). In this pattern, our fourteen-line sonnet has three distinct sections, going from eight lines to four lines to two lines. Each section is divided by a factor of two and the second and third sections act to continuously distill the idea of the poet down to its very essence. From this perspective, every single word and phrase needs to be carefully thought over and chosen. Here, there can be no filler words or “yeah I just put that there because it rhymes.” Every letter and comma needs to be working toward the idea and painting it with the clearest colors and most accurate perspective and proportion. Here is the final incarnation of our sonnet Bradford’s painting:

A firm wind slaps me on my boat and face, Waves rolling try to knock me off my feet, And yet the world is lit with rising grace, Which makes my roughshod life seem soft and sweet.

Our ship has not yet raised its measly sail, My mate and I have much hard work ahead, And yet, how calmly forward blows the gale That lifts my soul to where the angels tread,

To where our hearts and minds are freed and cleansed, Expanded by the wide horizon line, To where the softest clouds above ascend Into a color free from Earth’s confines,

Beyond the mighty ships that gather round, Beyond my flesh, which to the sea is bound.

Here are the first four lines with the hard stresses in the iambic pentameter highlighted:

a firm wind slaps me on my boat and face , Waves roll ing try to tip me off my feet , And yet the world is lit with ris ing grace , Which makes my rough shod life seem soft and sweet .

Level 5: So Difficult It’s Easy: The Soundless Sonnet

The ancient Greek philosopher Plato explained that all poetry is a deviation from reality. I have written a sonnet about a guy on a boat. The reality is the boat itself, and the poem is an imperfect and pointless attempt to capture reality. Or perhaps, as Plato suggested, the boat itself is also a deviation from the real boat in the heavens. That means the poem is even further from reality: a deviation from a deviation. The poem is from its first attempt a worse failure than simply getting off your butt and going sailing.

Yet, giving up all art forms is not what I think Plato was getting at. He did support works of art that celebrated the gods and great men. The driving force behind a poem should serve a greater purpose beyond ourselves: something great or divine in nature or purpose. It could be as simple as a birthday gift or a note on a yearbook or as lofty as helping humanity. If there is nothing behind the poem other than our own self-absorbed drive to write poetry and become famous, show off, or feel accomplished, then the poem is, at its very best, unwritten. This is the soundless sonnet, both difficult and easy—which I think Plato hoped he saw more of (meaning, he saw less selfish poetry). This level really works in oscillation with Level 4. Ultimately, it means knowing the right time to write, knowing the lofty and meaningful goals of poetry, and knowing when not to write.

The ancient Code of Samurai, or Bushido, offers some insight on this:

Now then, when it comes to the study of poetry, in accord with Japanese custom there have been famous generals and valiant knights throughout history who have mastered the art of composing poetry. So even if you are a warrior in minor rank, it is desirable to take an interest in poetry and even be able to compose the occasional verse.

Even so, if you cast everything else aside to concentrate solely on poetry, before you know it your heart and your face soften, and you get to look like an aristocratic samurai, losing the manner of a warrior. In particular, if you become too fond of this modern fashion of haikai, then even in the assemblies of reserved colleagues you may tend to come forth with puns, bon mots, and clever lines. It may be amusing at the time, but it is something to be avoided by someone who is a warrior. (Translation by Thomas Cleary)

If we accept the metaphor that life is a battle or war, and we are the warriors, then I think the point here is clear. In my understanding, poetry can never be primary, but only secondary, in the grand scheme of life and the universe. We should continue writing poetry with selfless goals, but know that the greatest poetry has no human words at all.

Evan Mantyk is president of the Society of Classical Poets and a high school English teacher in Upstate New York.

NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets.

The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary.

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19 Responses

Hey Evan…nice piece here. Just want to note…I use Rhymezone.com myself, and there’s a drop down menu that gives you various options besides rhymes, such as definitions, synonyms, related words, and several other options so that there’s no real reason to use a separate thesaurus site or dictionary…at least I don’t feel the need anyway…again, nice job here…

Thanks, Alan! Good point. Less jumping between windows that way.

A fabulous essay on how to write poetry, clearly from a master teacher: the evidence for the word ‘master’ is in the graded steps that he enables the student to take. There is a lovely, cumulative build to this essay that reveals further and further depths as the complexity of the techniques are applied. Also, there is plenty of insight and wisdom, and I especailly like the remarks citing Plato and questioning what is reality. And on that latter point I would add: “All the world which lies below has been set in order and filled in contents by the things which are placed above; for the things below have not the power to set in order the world above” – Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. Well done, Evan, a fabulous article that deserves wider circulation. I shall promote it on my Linkedin profile.

Thanks, James! A great quote. I will have to look into that text.

I really find this website to be a gem in my day. Not sure if you get too many emails so I just wanted to post this here. Can I suggest also adding a twitter link to share along with fb (maybe even G+, tho I don’t know if anyone actually uses it :-). Also, I’ve come to check your website daily for the new poem! I really feel good when I see one. I don’t know if you have a dearth of material, but a publication daily would really be awesome to see. Just wanted to share my comments. Nothing urgent. The main thing: I love your site!

Absolutely praiseworthy. Being a young poet, it is always expected to stray into modernistic free verse. But essays like these ensure that the art of poetry is safe. I have written some sonnets; those clearly match the Level 3 here: 10 syllables per line and abab cdcd efef gg rhyme scheme.

Are syllabic verses considered sonnets?

Evan and all, thank you. I am thrilled to have found this site. With such instructions and instructors, will soon endeavour to write some minor stuff, but not to share, until more practice shows.

Well done, Evan – yet there is something we tend to forget: the beauty of language. While words may rhyme, do they also sing? The English language, like German, is jarring at times with harsh-sounding consonants. June, goon and tune are examples of rhyme, but not beauty. If we could weave the softer hills of verbal constructs into melodic waves with gentle ebb and flow (Keats’s ODE TO A NIGHTINGALE comes to mind), then we will have achieved the true lyric.

Thank you, Eleni! Indeed, there is much more that could be said, and for those who might want to experience Ode to a Nightingale, here is the poem as a well as a reading of it: https://classicalpoets.org/2019/05/02/on-the-200th-anniversary-of-john-keats-odes-a-video-essay-by-daniel-leach/

One of the difficulties for poets i English or German is that these languages are not abundant in rhymes, compared, say, to Italian. I would, however, disagree with you Eleni, that German is not very amenable to singing. the high frequency of dipthongs in English make it more difficult by comparison with the relative predominance of pure vowels in German (and even more so in Italian). German does have a well established tradition of song. In singing, the consonants tend to be de-emphasised, as it is the vowels that ring for the length of the note. I can think of few lyric poets in English who can match Hoelderlin or Goethe — perhaps Ben Jonson in few poems such as ‘Drink to me only’ or ‘The triumph of Charis’. The English poet most renowned for the intimate relationship between words and music would be, I think, Thomas Campion, who was both poet and musician.

BTW: I do not think rhyme is necessary to lyric poetry. One thing that the Germans of the 18th century did was to adapt ancient Greek verse forms to an accentuated language and its poetry. The Greeks had a number of set stanza forms for lyric poetry such as Asclepiads, Alcaics and Saphics. The first two of these as adapted by German poets in the late 18th century, such as Ludwig Hoelthy, have continued in use into at least the mid 20th century. Here is a little poem of mine in Alcaics, a single quatrain, to show something of the rhythmic variation inherent in the form. It has found republication recently.

The sun is set; the cloudscape once softly drawn in gold and rust now fades to a single grey. All glow has gone; the wind bites coldly. Bear with your sorrow: the dawn comes slowly.

Great advice on how to compose sonnet!

I have created an interactive writing tool that might help aspiring poets. It can be found at https://www.rhymedesk.com/desk and it features a syllable counter, rhyming dictionary, and synonym finder.

If you have a spare minute, please check it out.

Thank you, Janis. It seems a useful resource and has therefore been added above. I have someone asking if there is a website or program that counts or displays meter in terms of stressed and unstressed syllables. That would be interesting and useful if you can add that or pass on any leads.

Great advice. Just wanted to mention that there are sonnets with different numbers of lines. “Stretched sonnets” for example, such as Caudate Sonnets, which have a Coda (some extra lines) at the end. When I write sonnets, I prefer 16 lines – I write a sonnet with two quatrains (8 lines, e.g. abab cdcd) then a sestet with a Petrachian chained rhyme (efg efg) and then the coda I stick a rhyming couplet on the end (hh). This way I get all the things I like about sonnets – the two quatrains followed by sestet, AND the rhyming couplet, and the result gives me a number of lines that I actually prefer, as I tend to think in musical terms, i.e. blocks of four. 4 x 4 = 16 (two qautrains then a sestet on their own leave me thinking something#s missing.) I do like the punchy end that the rhyming couplet gives at the end of a sonnet, but I don’t like the way that it doesn’t allow a Petrachian sestet, but by making the couplet into a coda and calling it a stretched or caudate sonnet, I can have my cake and eat it, and I’m a happy bunny. So much so that I actually think of it rather as an “uncompressed” sonnet, rather than a stretched one! Couple of examples below – I think the line number feels right with these, even though it’s 16. Sonnet does indeed mean “little sound” and as such really just specifies that it’s a poem with only one stanza, whether it’s 12, 14, 16, etc.

The Silver Birch: A Sonnet

My gladness of the silver birch I wish To share, that slender goddess of a tree Her shower of silken hair moves in a swish That stirs in me a mystic reverie As turns this verdant, grassy leaf-fringed glade Into her sacred grove, and I, her priest Mid-frisson in the dancing, dappled shade Call druids, bards and ovates to the feast But let us now the details try to trace The little leaves, heart-shaped, serrated trail Along each pliant twig to form a spray That’s bright and airy, made with measured grace Cascading sprays together form the veil That by the gentle breeze is set to sway Her stretch of sky she turns to shimmering show And whispers Summer’s secrets soft and low.

To Chamomile – An Incantation

O soft enchantress of the candle glow, With gentle, caring fingertips caress Our eyelids, with a stroke soothing and slow Dissolve our thoughts in sweet forgetfulness Thou angel of the cup, kind Chamomile, Thy golden tisane, warming, wets the lip We feel the face relax into a smile Then raise the cup and take another sip But how’s the mixture made? First fill the pot And heat the water till the bubbles roar Then add your spoon of flowers and let steep Until the liquid’s neither cool nor hot Now take your chosen cup and carefully pour The potion, and partake before you sleep. While drinking, say aloud or read this spell, Which calms you and by calming keeps you well.

William, in my book, if it is not 14 lines, it is not a sonnet. Otherwise, you might as well call any poem a sonnet. Nonetheless, I think you have hit on something, which is that people are very familiar with the term “sonnet” and for the sake of presentation perhaps “enjoy my sonnet” will go down better than “enjoy my 16-line poem.” To each his own. -Evan

I recently wrote a few of my own Sonnets after reading this article. Would be good to get some feedback, please!

Breath Of Love Let me watch your hair blow in the wind of my mind. Take me to that place where words are of a silent kind. I follow you to the sounds of this Earth, Singing out to unfound places in the universe. Help me find love on this journey, entrapped on this flavoured time. We follow each other through all the pages of these stories, Creating a book which is only written with deluded visuals; Distorted with the age of this wine. Will this book be bound with love or will the pages die? It’s up to us, to complete a memory That defines our love with every test. Because the beginning becomes the end As love takes its last breath.

I’ve written a few more here https://www.paradoxicalvista.org/8-sonnets-about-the-twists-of-love/

Thanks for the great article.

We recommend posting this in our Workshop (remember, it is a good idea to comment on three other poets’ work in return):

https://classicalpoets.org/forums/forums/general-discussion/

This is a great article. It also explained the deviations in meter. I also loved how you gave your interpretation of Plato’s Soundless Sonnet. I try to write as often as I can, I will now think twice before foolhardily expressing myself. Also, explaining the sonnet through your own variations of your sample work is a sound idea.

Very informative site, Evan. Thank you! Would you mind a question? Is it written in stone that a sonnet can only use 10 syllables per line or are you allowed a little play? Wouldn’t rhythm be more important? Thanks for your time.

Brilliant. Learned a lot about writing IP sonnets. Thank you!

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Sonnet Definition

What is a sonnet? Here’s a quick and simple definition:

A sonnet is a type of fourteen-line poem. Traditionally, the fourteen lines of a sonnet consist of an octave (or two quatrains making up a stanza of 8 lines) and a sestet (a stanza of six lines). Sonnets generally use a meter of iambic pentameter, and follow a set rhyme scheme . Within these general guidelines for what makes a sonnet, there are a wide variety of variations. The two most common sonnet variations are the Italian sonnet (also called a Petrarchan sonnet), and the English sonnet (also called a Shakespearean sonnet). The main difference between the Italian and English sonnet is in the rhyme schemes they use.

Some additional key details about sonnets:

• For hundreds of years, the sonnet form was reserved for poems about unrequited love, but since the 17th century sonnets have been written about a wide variety of subjects.
• Sonnets have become so popular, and are written in so many places, that over time many, many variations of the sonnet form have evolved.
• Sonnets are sometimes written in groups, where each individual sonnet can stand alone but are also linked with the others in the group.

How to Pronounce Sonnet

Here's how to pronounce sonnet: sahn -it

Sonnets, Meter, and Rhyme Scheme

Many (but not all) sonnets have a strict meter and a defined rhyme scheme. For that reason, it's helpful to have a strong grasp of what meter and rhyme scheme are. We provide more details about these terms on their own pages, but here's a quick primer:

• Meter : A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables that creates the rhythm of lines of poetry. The units of meter are called feet . Feet have different stress patterns. For instance, an iamb is a foot with an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (de- fine ), while a trochee has the opposite: a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable ( Po -et). Poetic meters are defined by both the type and number of feet they contain. For example, iambic pentameter is a type of meter used in many sonnets that contains five iambs per line (thus the prefix “penta,” which means five).
• Rhyme scheme : Poems such as sonnets that make use of end rhymes (rhymes at the end of each line), often do so according to a repeating, predetermined pattern. That pattern is called a rhyme scheme. Rhyme schemes are described using letters of the alphabet, so that each line of verse that corresponds to a specific type of rhyme used in the poem is assigned a letter, beginning with the letter A. For example, a four-line poem in which the first line rhymes with the third, and the second line rhymes with the fourth has the rhyme scheme ABAB.

Types of Sonnet

Sonnets have been written all over the world and in many different languages: French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Czech, Russian, Urdu, and German poets have all made significant contributions to the evolution of the form. Since the sonnet's invention in Italy in the 13th century, new variations on the traditional form have been regularly born. Below is a summary of the different types of sonnets, with brief explanations of their particular forms and how each of them arose.

The Italian Sonnet

Although the form of the sonnet is said to have been invented by Giacomo da Lentini in the 13th century, it was popularized by a poet from Tuscany named Francesco Petrarch, who used the form to write poems expressing his unrequited love for a woman named Laura. The original form of the Italian sonnet is therefore known as the Petrarchan sonnet. Consisting of fourteen lines total, the poem begins with two quatrains (stanzas of four lines) that make up a unit called an octave, and the poem ends with two tercets (stanzas of three lines) that make up a single six-line stanza called a sestet . The standard rhyme scheme for the octave is ABBA ABBA while the rhyme scheme for the sestet is either CDEDCE or CDCDCD.

The typical structure of the Italian sonnet is for the octave to contain what's called a "proposition," which establishes a problem (such as unrequited love) or a question (such as, "does she love me?"). The sestet is concerned with resolving the problem or question, and it almost always contains a "turn," which signals a shift in the poem's focus from problem to resolution. The turn is sometimes also called a "volta" (the Italian word for turn), and it usually comes at the very beginning of the sestet, in the sonnet's ninth line.

This sonnet by Petrarch is a perfect example of the form and subject matter of the typical Italian sonnet. In the "proposition" of the octave, the poem establishes its dilemma and subject: the vanity of the poet's passion for his beloved. This sonnet has an obvious "turn" in the ninth line (the phrase "but now I clearly see"). This sonnet gives a strong example of how a turn works; it doesn't need to be dramatic, but it subtly marks a shift in the tone or mood of the poem. The "resolution" in the sestet is that the world's joy is "but a flitting dream." The sonnet employs the Petrarchan rhyme scheme of A BB A A BB A C D E D C E .

Ye who in rhymes dispersed the echoes hear Of those sad sighs with which my heart I fed When early youth my mazy wanderings led , Fondly different from what I now appear , Fluttering 'twixt frantic hope and frantic fear , from those by whom my various style is read , I hope, if e'er their hearts for love have bled , Not only pardon, but perhaps a tear . But now I clearly see that of mankind Long time I was the tale: whence bitter thought And self-reproach with frequent blushes teem ; While of my frenzy, shame the fruit I find , And sad repentance, and the proof, dear- bought , That the world's joy is but a flitting dream .

The English Sonnet

The English poet Thomas Wyatt introduced the sonnet to the English language in the 16th century by translating the works of Petrarch from Italian. Wyatt's contemporary, The Earl of Surrey, then made innovations to the form by introducing a new structure and rhyme scheme, which became the defining characteristics of the English sonnet: the fourteen lines are all written in iambic pentameter and are taken up by three quatrains of four lines followed by a two-line couplet . The lines follow the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.

In the English sonnet, the turn typically occurs in the third quatrain, but William Shakespeare broke from this rule by frequently situating the turn in the final couplet of his sonnets. In fact, Shakespeare quickly became the English sonnet's most venerated practitioner, and the English sonnet is often referred to as the Shakespearean sonnet as a result. The English sonnet is sometimes also referred to as the Elizabethan sonnet. This famous example by Shakespeare follows the typical rhyme scheme of the English sonnet, A B A B C D C D E F E F GG . In this case, Shakespeare places the turn in the usual location, in the sonnet's ninth line: "But thy eternal summer shall not fade."

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 thy eternal summer shall not fade , Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st ; Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade , When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st : So long as men can breathe or eyes can see , So long lives this, and this gives life to thee .

Modern Sonnet

In the 20th century, poets like Edna St. Vincent Millay, Robert Lowell, and W.H. Auden continued to use and evolve the form of the sonnet by creating their own variations. These modern variations are more extreme than the difference between Italian and English sonnets. Modern poets have written unrhymed sonnets, "inverted" sonnets in which the sestet precedes the octave, and sonnets with unusual rhyme schemes.

Although today when people refer to sonnets they usually mean the original form of the English or Petrarchan sonnet, and some modern poets still write traditional sonnets, modern sonnets can be any poem of 14 lines, with or without a rhyme scheme.

Other Types of Sonnets

Other variations of the sonnet have arisen throughout history, but these variations are always derived from one of the three forms described above. Here are some of those other types of sonnet, including their definitions and a bit of background on each:

• Occitan sonnets: Occitan is a somewhat obscure Romance language that was spoken in parts of Italy, France, and Spain. Many sonnets were written in Occitan during the 13th and 14th centuries, and these sonnets had their own form, which differs from Italian sonnets in that the sestet of an Occitan sonnet has a CDCDCD rhyme scheme.
• Spenserian sonnets: The 16th century English poet Edmund Spenser created his own variation of the English sonnet, using a rhyme scheme of ABAB BCBC CDCD EE .
• Caudate sonnets: The Italian poet Francesco Berni is credited with the invention of this variation on the standard sonnet form, in which a 14-line sonnet is followed by a brief concluding stanza of a few lines, known as a coda . This variation is typically used for satirical poems, such as John Milton's "On the New Forcers of Conscience under the Long Parliament."
• Curtal sonnets: The English poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wanted to "shrink" the traditional English sonnet to precisely 3/4 its usual size, reducing the octave to a six-line stanza and the sestet to a four and a half-line stanza. The resulting ten-and-a-half-line poem is known as a "curtal sonnet."
• Word sonnets: This modern and more extreme variation on the sonnet's form came out of a poetic movement of the late 20th century known as "New Formalism." These 14-word poems contain just one word per line. The very existence of this form testifies to the drastic expansion of the definition of the sonnet that took place over the course of the 20th century.

Sonnet Cycles and Crowns

Sonnets are often written as parts of larger groups of sonnets. In such groupings, each poem can stand alone, but the collection of sonnets is meant to be greater than the sum of its parts. There are two different types of sonnet groupings, and here is a quick definition of each:

• Cycles and sequences: A cycle or sequence of sonnets is a group of sonnets that are united by a single theme. The terms "cycle" and "sequence" are used interchangeably to refer to a suite or series of sonnets that work as stand-alone poems but that deal with the same theme or are addressed to the same person. Inspired by the sonnets of Petrarch, sonnet cycles usually take unrequited love as their subject or are otherwise addressed to lovers. William Shakespeare wrote a sequence of 154 sonnets, becoming the sonnet's most famous practitioner as a result.
• Sonnet crowns: A crown is a sequence of sonnets in which the first line of each sonnet is carried over from the last line of the previous sonnet, and the first line of the first sonnet is repeated as the last line of the final sonnet. A "heroic crown" is a specific kind of crown that follows the same rules as a typical crown of sonnets, but the final sonnet is composed of the first lines of all the preceding sonnets in sequence. John Donne's sequence entitled "Corona" follows the form of a heroic crown. Marilyn Nelson's book A Wreath for Emmett Till is another, more recent example of a heroic crown of sonnets.

Subject Matter in Sonnets

With few exceptions, Italian sonnets and early English sonnets are about unrequited love. Then, in the 17th century, John Donne began writing religious sonnets, and shortly thereafter John Milton began using the form for everything from satirical poems to more serious poems of soul-searching and reflection. In the 19th century, the sonnet's popularity among poets around the globe soared, such that by the end of the century so many variations had been made to the form that it was seen as well-suited to any subject matter. Today, as a result, sonnets don't have to take any particular subject as their focus.

A Note on Stanzas in Sonnets

Many sonnets consist of 14 lines that aren't broken up into distinct stanzas. However, it is common to use the terms "octave" and "sestet" to refer to the different sections of the sonnet, even if there are no line breaks in the poem to differentiate the first eight lines from the last six lines. This is because the octave and the sestet—along with the "proposition" and "resolution" that traditionally belong to each—are so important to the form that the terms are even used to analyze sonnets that don't have distinct stanzas. Often sonnets such as these will use indentation, periods, or other forms of punctuation to create pauses and natural breaks in the place of an actual stanza break.

Sonnet Examples

Sonnet in shakespeare's "romeo and juliet".

The prologue to Shakespeare's famous verse drama Romeo and Juliet is written in the style of an English or "Shakespearean" sonnet, in iambic pentameter and with a rhyme scheme of A B A B C D C D E F E F GG .

Two households, both alike in dignity , In fair Verona, where we lay our scene , From ancient grudge break to new mutiny , Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean . From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life ; Whose misadventured piteous overthrows Do with their death bury their parents' strife . The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love , And the continuance of their parents' rage , Which, but their children's end, nought could remove , Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage ; The which if you with patient ears attend , What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend .

Milton's "When I Consider How My Light is Spent"

Milton wrote sonnets that were not about unrequited love, breaking with the Petrarchan and Shakespearean traditions. Rather, Milton's sonnets were often meditations on life and death. This sonnet follows the traditional Petrarchan rhyme scheme of A BB A A BB A C D E C D E .

When I consider how my light is spent Ere half my days in this dark world and wide , And that one talent which is death to hide Lodg'd with me useless, though my soul more bent To serve therewith my Maker, and present My true account, lest he returning chide ; "Doth God exact day-labour, light denied ?" I fondly ask. But Patience to prevent That murmur, soon replies: "God doth not need Either man's work or his own gifts; who best Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state Is kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed And post o'er land and ocean without rest : They also serve who only stand and wait ."

Milton's "On the New Forcers of Conscience under the Long Parliament"

This 1646 sonnet is an example of the sonnet variation Milton created, known as "caudate sonnet," in which the traditional 14-line sonnet is followed by a brief concluding stanza or stanzas called a " coda ." Notice Milton's use of indentation to denote places where the traditional sonnet's stanza breaks would occur—accentuating the first, fifth, ninth, and twelfth lines that would traditionally be the first lines of stanzas. The six lines of the coda are indented inversely to the system of indentation Milton uses to define stanzas in the rest of the poem, signifying the coda's difference from the rest of the sonnet. The caudate sonnet was used most often for satirical subjects, as with this political poem.

BECAUSE you have thrown off your Prelate Lord, And with stiff vows renounced his Liturgy, To seize the widowed whore Plurality, From them whose sin ye envied, not abhorred, Dare ye for this adjure the civil sword To force our consciences that Christ set free, And ride us with a Classic Hierarchy, Taught ye by mere A. S. and Rutherford? Men whose life, learning, faith, and pure intent, Would have been held in high esteem with Paul Must now be named and printed heretics By shallow Edwards and Scotch What-d’ye-call! But we do hope to find out all your tricks, Your plots and packing, worse than those of Trent, That so the Parliament May with their wholesome and preventive shears Clip your phylacteries, though baulk your ears, And succour our just fears, When they shall read this clearly in your charge: New Presbyter is but old Priest writ large.

Wordsworth's "The World Is Too Much with Us"

This famous sonnet is an example of the Petrarchan form, though it was written in the 19th century in English. William Wordsworth modeled his sonnets after the sonnets of John Milton, likewise following the Petrarchan rhyme scheme of A BB A A BB A C D C D C D .

The world is too much with us; late and soon , Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers ; Little we see in Nature that is ours ; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon ! This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon , The winds that will be howling at all hours , And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers , For this, for everything, we are out of tune ; It moves us not. --Great God! I'd rather be A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn ; So might I, standing on this pleasant lea , Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn ; Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea ; Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn .

Shelley's "Ozymandias"

Percy Shelley uses an entirely new rhyme scheme for this poem, another departure from the traditional form of the sonnet. This variation's rhyme scheme is A B A B A C D C E D E F E F .

I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand , Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown , And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command , Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things , The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed : And on the pedestal these words appear : 'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings : Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair !' Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away .

Gerard Manley Hopkins' "Pied Beauty"

This is one of the few examples of Gerard Manley Hopkins' variation on the sonnet, which is known as the curtal sonnet. Hopkins wanted to "shrink" the sonnet to precisely 3/4 its usual size, reducing the octave to a six-line stanza and the sestet to a four and a half-line stanza. This poem follows a rhyme scheme of A B C A B C D B C D C

Glory be to God for dappled things — For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow ; For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim ; Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings ; Landscape plotted and pieced — fold, fallow, and plough ; And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim . All things counter, original, spare, strange ; Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how ?) With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim ; He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change : Praise him .

Examples of Modern Sonnets (and Sonnet Variations)

• " The Secret Agent ," written by W.H. Auden in 1928, shows what an unrhymed sonnet looks like.
• " Sonnet ," by Elizabeth Bishop, was one of the final poems Elizabeth Bishop wrote. Published in 1979, this is an unconventional sonnet, which some have called "inverted," since the poem's first complete sentence is six lines (suggesting a sestet by creating a pause with a period instead of a line break) followed by the second complete sentence, which is eight lines (suggesting an octave). In a traditional sonnet, of course, the sestet would follow the octave. This poem also has quite short lines, no regular meter, and while it uses irregular and internal rhyming it has no strict rhyme scheme.
• " JANUARY " and other 15 word sonnets by Seymour Mayne. Mayne was a part of a poetic movement in the late 20th century known as "New Formalism" that originated a variation on the sonnet known as "word sonnets," 14-word poems containing just one word per line.
• " Sonnet ," by Billy Collins. This is a sonnet about writing sonnets by the contemporary poet Billy Collins. It helps to explain the features of the form by making reference to the poem's length, its traditional use of rhymes, and the "turn" in the ninth line—but, ironically, this sonnet does not itself follow the rhyme scheme or meter of a traditional English or Petrarchan sonnet.

Why Do Writers Choose to Write Sonnets?

As an early practitioner of the sonnet, the 13th century Italian poet Francesco Petrarch defined the sonnet's subject matter for centuries to come: until the 17th century, virtually all sonnets that were written in any language were, like Petrarch's sonnets, expressions of unrequited love. The sonnet's structure was well-suited to the subject because the octave's "proposition" and the sestet's "resolution" together comprise a sort of call and response, two pieces of a conversation in miniature. This enables the poet to converse with himself in his lover's absence, thereby offering a temporary release from the pain and frustration of romantic rejection.

John Donne and John Milton's pioneering sonnets of the 17th century took on subjects beyond unrequited love. This expanded the scope of what could be addressed in a sonnet, and since that time poets have used the form to write about every subject imaginable. Poets may choose to write in the form of a traditional sonnet (including meter and rhyme scheme) as a way of making their language more musical (through rhythm and rhyme) and therefore more beautiful. Some people choose to write in fixed forms, such as the sonnet, because they like imposing restrictions on what they write, since many artists of all fields and practices find it helpful to the creative process to work within set guidelines. Others might write sonnets that vary the traditional form in all sorts of ways, because breaking guidelines can also aid the creative process and make a statement. In addition, a poet may choose to write a sonnet because of the form's incredibly rich and extensive history as a poetic form, thereby situating their own writing in the tradition of writers, such as Shakespeare and Keats.

Other Helpful Sonnet Resources

• The Wikipedia Page on Sonnet: A somewhat technical explanation, with more details about sonnets in different cultures.
• The dictionary definition of Sonnet: A basic definition that includes a bit on the etymology of sonnet (spoiler: it comes from the Italian word for "little song").
• A quick overview of the sonnet's defining characteristics.
• A short history and definition of the Petrarchan sonnet
• Billy Collins reads his poem "Sonnet"

• PDFs for all 136 Lit Terms we cover
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The sonnet is a poetry form that poets have wielded for centuries—from Petrarch and Shakespeare to Marilyn Nelson and Terrance Hayes. These 14-line poems use restrictions of length and rhythm to deliver lyrical, captivating musings on themes like love and death. Poets interested in short-form work can gain a lot from learning how to write a sonnet.

What is a sonnet? From the Italian for “little song,” a sonnet is a poem whose forms and restrictions have evolved with contemporary poetry. This article discusses the different popular forms of sonnet poems, with examples and analysis.

From the Italian sonnet to the contemporary, let’s explore the long and beautiful history of sonnet poetry, ending with advice for how to write a sonnet yourself.

Sonnet Definition: What is a Sonnet?

There are many different forms of the sonnet throughout history, including the Elizabethan, Spenserian, and Petrarchan sonnet, among others. Before we delve into what makes each form distinct, let’s analyze what they have in common.

A sonnet is, in brief, a 14 line poem with a “twist,” or volta, occurring in the middle. The volta is essential to the poem, because it reverses or complicates the narrative of the first half of the poem. (More on this below.)

Sonnet definition: a 14 line poem with a “twist,” or volta, occurring in the middle.

Traditionally, sonnet poems have ruminated on love and heartbreak. While many contemporary sonneteers continue to use the form in this way, there are also plenty of contemporary sonnets that explore the political, the metaphysical, and everything else.

To thoroughly answer What is a sonnet? , we need to examine the different restrictions and complexities of the form throughout history. Let’s take a look at this history now, with several sonnet examples.

Different Sonnet Forms: The 4 Primary Sonnet Forms

The sonnet form hails from 13th century Italy and, from its conception through the Romantic Era, was used to express various forms of love . Since then, contemporary notions of the sonnet have been vastly less restrictive in both form and content: a modern sonnet can be about any topic, and does not have to follow the meter or rhyme schemes prescribed in classical forms.

Throughout history, poets have written under four primary sonnet forms. These include:

• Petrarchan sonnet / Italian sonnet
• Shakespearean sonnet / English sonnet
• Spenserian sonnet
• Contemporary sonnet

Sonnet Examples Through History

Although strict rhyme and meter schemes aren’t as popular as they used to be, there are still plenty of modern sonneteers who attempt the classical forms. So, let’s example each type of sonnet. We’ll break down the rhyme and meter schemes and give several examples of each form, alongside a history of the form itself.

If you’re not familiar with rhyme and meter, take a look first at our article on poetry forms: What is Form in Poetry? 10 Poetic Forms to Try

1. The Petrarchan Sonnet / Italian Sonnet

Sonnet rhyme scheme: ABBAABBA CDECDE (Note: the rhyme scheme of the sestet varies.)

Sonnet structure: An octet and a sestet.

Meter: iambic pentameter, though sonnets written in Italian often use hendecasyllabic (11 syllable) lines.

Strangely enough, Petrarch didn’t invent the Petrarchan sonnet, he just popularized it, and the term itself actually comes from the Renaissance, several centuries after Petrarch’s death. Also known as an Italian sonnet, this form consists of two stanzas: an octet and a sestet.

The octet should introduce the “problem” in the poem—the romantic conflict as viewed in the eyes of the speaker. This problem is introduced in the first four lines, with the second four lines giving additional exposition and explanation. The sestet then resolves the conflict.

All Petrarchan sonnets have an octet written in ABBAABBA structure. However, there are a lot of variations in the rhyme scheme of the sestet. A few variations include:

• CDCCDC (Sicilian)

You might see any of the above variations utilized in 19th century English Petrarchan sonnets, as the Romantics adored this format but often toyed with the sestet.

Petrarchan Sonnet Examples

Sonnet by petrarch translated by thomas wentworth higginson.

When Love doth those sweet eyes to earth incline, And weaves those wandering notes into a sigh With his own touch, and leads a minstrelsy Clear-voiced and pure, angelic and divine,— He makes sweet havoc in this heart of mine, And to my thoughts brings transformation high, So that I say, “My time has come to die, If fate so blest a death for me design.”

But to my soul, thus steeped in joy, the sound Brings such a wish to keep that present heaven, It holds my spirit back to earth as well. And thus I live: and thus is loosed and wound The thread of life which unto me was given By this sole Siren who with us doth dwell.

Petrarch’s poem has several interesting features, which are typical of poetry from the 13th century. He personifies Love as a concept which brings the speaker “sweet havoc,” and he also represents his love as a Siren, who swoops in and resolves the sonnet’s conflict in the last line. The conflict, here, is that the speaker contemplates his own death in the face of Love, but comes to accept it because of the joy that Love has brought him.

If you’re interested in reading more of Petrarch’s poems in translation, you can find 15 sonnets here .

The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

You may recognize this poem as being at the base of the Statue of Liberty. Lazarus wrote this poem to raise money for the statue’s pedestal, where it now sits as a bronze plaque. Notice how the poem uses dialogue as the volta, marking a surprising and sudden shift in the poem’s tone, answering the dilemma (who does the statue welcome?) presented in the octet.

2. The Shakespearean Sonnet / English Sonnet

Sonnet rhyme scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

Sonnet structure: Three quatrains and a couplet, often presented isometrically.

Meter: Iambic pentameter.

Like Petrarch, Shakespeare did not invent the sonnet form named after him—he merely popularized it.

In this format, the Shakespearean sonnet uses 3 quatrains to build the conflict of the poem, with the volta offering some sort of twist or dilemma in the problem itself. Usually, only the couplet is reserved for resolving this dilemma.

This format is also known as the English sonnet, as poets like Henry Howard and Sir Thomas Wyatt preceded Shakespeare and also wrote in this form. However, the examples we include are all written by Shakespeare, as he was, indeed, a master of the form.

Shakespearean Sonnet Examples

Shakespeare sonnet 18.

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 thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st; Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Sonnet 18 is the most famous of Shakespeare’s poems. The “problem” of the first 12 lines is simply whether the speaker should compare his love to a summer day. The volta in line 9 shifts to how this love differs from a summer day, concluding that her beauty is eternal.

Shakespeare Sonnet 116

Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove. O no! it is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wand’ring bark, Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken. Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle’s compass come; Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. If this be error and upon me prov’d, I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d.

Another popular poem from Shakespeare, sonnet 116 dwells on the nature of love itself. The speaker argues that love does not try to change others or fight against time; rather, true love is eternal, and accepts the object of the lover’s affection wholly and sincerely.

Other Shakespeare Sonnets

Here are links to some of Shakespeare’s most beloved sonnets:

3. The Spenserian Sonnet

Sonnet rhyme scheme: ABAB BCBC CDCD EE

Edmund Spenser was an English poet writing around the same time as Shakespeare. Naturally, there are many similarities between his and Shakespeare’s sonnets—namely, the exploration of a “problem,” a volta that twists the problem, and a two line resolution.

Unlike Shakespeare, the Spenserian sonnet uses an interlocking rhyme scheme that’s sort of like terza rima : ABAB BCBC CDCD EE . This form is sometimes referred to as a Scottish sonnet, as it became very popular in 17th century Scotland.

Spenserian Sonnet Examples

Since Spenser popularized the form, we’ll include two poems written by him, both retrieved from his sonnet cycle Amoretti .

One day I wrote her name upon the strand, But came the waves and washed it away: Again I wrote it with a second hand, But came the tide, and made my pains his prey. “Vain man,” said she, “that dost in vain assay, A mortal thing so to immortalize; For I myself shall like to this decay, And eke my name be wiped out likewise.” “Not so,” (quod I) “let baser things devise To die in dust, but you shall live by fame: My verse your vertues rare shall eternize, And in the heavens write your glorious name: Where whenas death shall all the world subdue, Our love shall live, and later life renew.

Spenser’s sonnet 75 contemplates the immortality of love in poetry. The poem’s “conflict” is that the speaker’s lover will one day die, her name washing away in the sands of time. The speaker replies that he will immortalize her in his poetry, letting eternity know of his love’s eternal virtues.

This sonnet was retrieved from Gutenberg , which preserves the original spellings of words.

The soverayne beauty which I doo admyre, Witnesse the world how worthy to be prayzed! The light wherof hath kindled heavenly fyre In my fraile spirit, by her from basenesse raysed; That being now with her huge brightnesse dazed, Base thing I can no more endure to view: But, looking still on her, I stand amazed At wondrous sight of so celestiall hew. So when my toung would speak her praises dew, It stopped is with thoughts astonishment; And when my pen would write her titles true, It ravisht is with fancies wonderment: Yet in my hart I then both speak and write The wonder that my wit cannot endite.

In Spenser’s sonnet 3, the speaker struggles to put his love’s beauty into words. Every time he looks at her, he’s blinded and awe-struck, incapable of verbalizing her beauty or his love for her. It’s only when he turns inward and writes from his heart that he can speak and write about her, which emphasizes both her beauty and his genuine love for her.

4. The Contemporary Sonnet

Sonnet rhyme scheme: Variable, often nonexistent.

Sonnet structure: Variable. Many contemporary sonnets are isometric.

Sonnet meter: Variable, often nonexistent.

The sonnet form waxed and waned in popularity throughout Western history. Practically no one wrote sonnets by the end of the Restoration period in England. However, it was revived by the 19th century Romantics, who used the sonnet to teach poets about variations and experimentations in form.

Sonnets in the 20th and 21st centuries have become decisively less formulaic. They generally have 14 lines and a volta, but they generally eschew restrictions of meter, rhyme, and topic.

Contemporary Sonnet Examples

American sonnet for my past and future assassin by terrance hayes.

I lock you in an American sonnet that is part prison, Part panic closet, a little room in a house set aflame. I lock you in a form that is part music box, part meat Grinder to separate the song of the bird from the bone. I lock your persona in a dream-inducing sleeper hold While your better selves watch from the bleachers. I make you both gym & crow here. As the crow You undergo a beautiful catharsis trapped one night In the shadows of the gym. As the gym, the feel of crow- Shit dropping to your floors is not unlike the stars Falling from the pep rally posters on your walls. I make you a box of darkness with a bird in its heart. Voltas of acoustics, instinct & metaphor. It is not enough To love you. It is not enough to want you destroyed.

Terrance Hayes repurposes the terminology of the sonnet form in this visceral and imaginative poem. The speaker transforms “you” (his future assassin / the reader) through a series of metaphors that force us to reckon with the realities of race in America. By locking the reader inside the poem and making a pun on the name Jim Crow, Hayes urges us to consider the enduring legacies of racism—especially readers who aren’t intimate with the experience.

First Alzheimer’s Sonnet by Marilyn Nelson

A wave enters the membrane labyrinth, and something mushrooms from nothing to now. Unacted on, thought disappears from sense like the vapor trail of a skeptic’s awe: Look up, no trace remains. The road to hell is paved with good intentions once conceived of, twice forgotten in a micromill- isecond, cumulus lost on a breeze. What if for a brief moment the flame burns higher, as a thought forms of you, my dear, then passes back into oblivion? Each cloud is a face of the atmosphere, as each wave is an aspect of the sea. Forget you? Never. Not while I am me.

Marilyn Nelson’s poem exposes the Alzheimer’s experience in heart-wrenching, beautiful imagery . Interestingly enough, it’s written in decasyllabic lines, though it isn’t perfectly iambic pentameter. Regardless, that constriction is less common in contemporary poetry, yet it enhances the poem’s painful beauty.

How to Write a Sonnet Poem

The above sonnet examples and analysis show you the mechanics of how to write a sonnet—14 lines, a volta, and ruminations on love or other topics. So, we’ve covered the basics, but how do you write a sonnet?

The following tips will help you turn your 14 line poem into a dazzling, arresting sonnet.

• Explore “conflict”
• Sharpen your volta
• Surprise the reader
• Play with form
• Use precise language

1. Explore “Conflict”

A central feature of the sonnet form is a core “conflict” or “problem” which the poet hopes to explore and resolve. If you’re unsure of where to begin, start with a central question.

This conflict doesn’t need to be like the conflict in fiction or in movies. Rather, it should be a complex question that needs to be answered in poetry, rather than in prose.

The conflicts from the above sonnet examples include:

• How is my love like and not like a summer’s day?
• Can I immortalize my love in poetry?
• Who does the Statue of Liberty welcome?
• What is it like remembering the people you love when you have Alzheimer’s?

With a conflict or question in mind, use the language of poetry to explore what cannot be simply answered.

2. Sharpen Your Volta

A key element of writing sonnets is the volta. This twist in the language and topic of the poem has the power to surprise, delight, and even transform the reader. Moreover, the volta is essential to presenting a complex problem and solution for the sonnet itself to resolve.

What makes for a good volta? Consider the following:

• Tone and diction: What can you write that changes the tone of the poem?
• Expanding the “conflict”: What is something you haven’t yet said about the poem’s topic?
• Opposing “argument”: What does the other side of the “conflict” look like?
• Getting to the core of the poem: What do you need to say before the poem finishes?

Take a look at any of the above sonnet examples to see these elements of voltas in action. Remember, the volta will occur somewhere in the middle, depending on the poem and when it was written (but typically in lines 7, 8, or 9).

3. Surprise the Reader

A sonnet’s constituent parts should inevitably surprise the reader. This presents the challenge—and payout—of writing short-form poetry.

With only 14 lines to develop a complex topic in verse, sonneteers inevitably turn to surprising language. Terrance Hayes uses pun and other forms of word play repeatedly in his poetry. Although it’s cliché now, Shakespeare’s poem describing his love as fairer than a summer’s day is a beautiful bit of hyperbole and comparison. Such use of good word choice and literary devices pulls these poems together.

Finally, contemporary sonnets are free to discuss and juxtapose themes outside of love. This is what makes a poem about the thoughts of a speaker with Alzheimer’s, for example, so potent: the reader is able to see the world from an alternate perspective in only 14 lines.

4. Play With Form

If you’ve paid attention to contemporary poetry, you know that rhyme and meter aren’t exactly in style. Modern poets tend to eschew these constraints, unless they’re requirements of the poetry form, such as in the villanelle or ghazal .

While the contemporary sonnet does not have many restrictions, don’t discount the possibilities of rhyme and meter. You might find that utilizing a Shakespearean or Spenserian rhyme scheme will force you to pay closer attention to language. In the classical sonnet examples we give, the reader hardly notices the rhyme and meter: so captivating is the language that the poem’s restrictions feel nonexistent. This could be a great challenge for you, as well: writing a poem with a meter and rhyme scheme without drawing attention to the meter or rhyme.

It is also worth noting, poets have challenged even the convention that a sonnet has 14 lines and a volta. As far back as the 15th century, poets have experimented with the form—the caudate sonnet, for example, is a 24 line poem which tacks on a 10 line coda after the initial 14 line poem. More recently, Gerard Manley Hopkins invented a form called the curtal sonnet, which has 10 ½ lines, like in his poem “ Pied Beauty .”

Such experimentations pose the question: what is a sonnet, precisely? While the answer to that question is outside the scope of this article, feel free to ponder that question yourself as you pay attention to form.

5. Use Precise Language

With only 14 lines to work with, careful word choice is key. Marilyn Nelson’s “First Alzheimer’s Sonnet” is a great example of what word choice can do for the poem. Notice all of the intricate references to thought and speech:

• “Membrane labyrinth”—a kenning for a brain with Alzheimer’s.
• “thought disappears from sense / like the vapor trail of a skeptic’s awe”
• “cumulus lost on a breeze”
• “Each cloud is a face of the atmosphere”

These images add up to something ephemeral and intangible. We begin to view the speaker’s thoughts as fleeting clouds in a bright blue sky, trapped in a labyrinthine brain. Such powerful, evocative imagery uses exactly the words it needs to build this extended metaphor: anything less precise than the words in this poem would certainly dampen the poem’s effect.

This, of course, is a consideration for editing. Don’t get too hung up on finding the right word while you’re writing your sonnet. Let yourself freely explore ideas in verse, then edit when you’ve written everything you mean to say.

For more advice on writing poetry, check out our article How to Write a Poem, Step-by-Step .

Further Readings and Collections

Here are some poetry collections by recent or contemporary poets that include or are comprised of sonnets:

• Frank: Sonnets by Diane Seuss
• American Sonnets for my Past and Future Assassins by Terrance Hayes
• 100 Love Sonnets by Pablo Neruda
• Sonnets to Orpheus by Rainer Maria Rilke
• The Sonnets by Ted Berrigan
• Collected Sonnets by Edna St. Vincent Millay
• The Sonnets by Jorge Louis Borges
• Love, Death, and the Changing of the Seasons by Marilyn Hacker

You can also find an archive of sonnet poems at The Formalist .

Learn How to Write a Sonnet at Writers.com

Want expert feedback on the sonnets you write? Perfect your poetry at Writers.com. Take a look at our upcoming poetry courses , where you’ll learn the mechanics of poetry writing and receive instruction from masters of the craft.

Sean Glatch

Wow, this article makes me want to curl up in front of a fire and read sonnets out loud. I’m nostalgic for a time I’ve never lived in, but who’s to say that kind of word-made world can’t be revived?

Slowing down and savoring each word and re-reading for enjoyment and meaning—why not dim the lights and go for it? And then, take pen (or quill) in hand and give it a go…

My favorite Shakespeare sonnet (memorized in high school AP English) is:

Is it thy will thy image should keep open my heavy eyelids to the weary night?

Dost thou desire my slumber should be broken while shadows like to thee do mock my sight?

Is it thy spirit that thou sendst from thee, so far from home, into my deeds to pry?

To find out shame and idle hours in me, the scope and tenor of thy jealousy?

Oh no! thy love, though much, is not so great.

It is my love that keeps mine eyes awake.

My own true love that doth my rest defeat,

To play the watchman ever for thy sake.

For thee watch I whilst thou slumbers elsewhere,

From me far off, with others all too near.

I love how Shakespeare reflects the lover’s jealousy in the last line.

Yes! Bring back the time of horse-drawn carriages and the Bubonic plague! It can’t be much worse than modernity…

I’m glad you enjoyed this article, and very impressed by the memorized sonnet. Many thanks, Julia!

Thius article hath be aboot poetry for whomever be listening gleemfully and with great pride. ok goodbye now

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How to Write a Sonnet

Last Updated: February 21, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Diya Chaudhuri, PhD . Diya Chaudhuri holds a PhD in Creative Writing (specializing in Poetry) from Georgia State University. She has over 5 years of experience as a writing tutor and instructor for both the University of Florida and Georgia State University. There are 12 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 1,452,632 times.

Though as a general rule, the sonnet is defined as having 14 lines and an iambic pentameter meter, there's a significant difference between the two most common forms of the sonnet: the Shakespearean (aka English) and Petrarchan (aka Italian) sonnets. This article will explain how to stay true to the spirit of each form, then discuss how to explore the expansive possibilities of the sonnet at large through lesser-known forms.

Writing a Shakespearean Sonnet

• ABABCDCDEFEFGG [1] X Research source
• These letters represent the sound that appears at the end of each line.
• So, following this pattern of alternating rhymes, we find that the last words of the first and third lines must rhyme; the second and fourth; the fifth and seventh; the sixth and eighth; and so on, ending in a final rhyming couplet.

• “Pentameter” derives from the Greek word pente (meaning five), and thus has five poetic "feet." Each foot is a unit of two syllables; thus, there are ten syllables in a line of pentameter.
• “Iambic” means that each foot is an “iamb.” Iambs are comprised of an unstressed, followed by a stressed syllable, resulting in a “ta-TUM” rhythm. The word “hel-LO” is an example of an iambic foot.
• So a line of iambic pentameter is a line of five iambic feet, resulting in a 10-syllable rhythm of ta-TUM ta-TUM ta-TUM ta-TUM ta-TUM.
• An example of a line of iambic pentameter is “Shall I / comPARE/ thee TO / a SUM / mer's DAY?” (from Shakespeare's “Sonnet 18”) [3] X Research source

• For example, the third line of Shakespeare's “Sonnet 18” begins with a spondee, meaning two stressed syllables in a row: TUM-TUM
• After two lines of perfect iambic pentameter, he wrote: “ROUGH WINDS / do SHAKE / the DAR / ling BUDS / of MAY”
• This both breaks up the rhythm for a little variation and draws attention to the roughness of the rough winds being described.

• In a Shakespearean sonnet, the three heroic quatrains are the “ABAB CDCD EFEF” portion of the rhyme scheme
• The heroic couplet is the “GG” closing.
• You can separate these stanzas with blank lines, or leave them all together in an unbroken poem, but the sonnet should move as a function of these discrete stanzas.

• Quatrain 1 introduces the situation: Sometimes, when I think about the past, I regret the things and people I've lost. This quatrain uses legal terminology to get the point across: sessions and summons.
• Quatrain 2 begins with the transition word “Then,” suggesting that it is connected to Quatrain 1, but moving on to a further development of the idea: when I'm in a nostalgic mood like that, I can cry freely about friends who have passed away or been otherwise lost to me. In this quatrain, he uses the language of commerce to develop the idea: cancelled woe and expenses.
• Quatrain 3 begins again with the transition word “Then,” and further develops the idea using the language of commerce (accounts, payment): Not only do I cry, but I cry heavily, as though I've never mourned this loss before.
• The closing couplet marks a turn with the word “But,” which suggests that this is not a continuation (like “Then”), but a new thought. There is no resolution to the problem of mourning here, but there is insight into grief and loss: to think of your memory is wonderful enough to make me feel as though I never lost anything. Again, this couplet continues the imagery of commerce (losses).

• Note too that because of the top-heavy stanzaic structure of the Shakespearean sonnet, the form does not lend itself well to highly complex or abstract subjects. The turn and resolution must come quickly, in the final two lines, so choose a subject that can be easily resolved with a witty closing couplet.
• If you have a more contemplative subject, a Petrarchan sonnet may lend itself better to what you want to say.

• Use a rhyming dictionary if you have trouble finding rhymes for the ends of your lines.

Writing a Petrarchan Sonnet

• The octave progresses through a series of examples of creatures and people who are not bothered by restricted spaces.
• The progression moves from the most revered element of society to the lowliest: from nuns, to hermits, to scholars, to manual laborers, to insects.
• The turn in this sonnet actually occurs a line early, at the end of the octave. Although this is not purely traditional, poets throughout history have experimented with the form and manipulated it to their needs. You should feel free to do the same.
• In Line 8, “In truth” marks the volta or turn; now, Wordsworth will give more insight into the idea of being comfortable in restrained spaces.
• The sestet suggests that the formal restrictions of the sonnet — with its rhyme scheme, iambic pentameter restriction, and strict octave-sestet structure — is not a prison, but a way for the poet to free himself and “find solace.” He hopes that the reader, too, shares this feeling.
• The sestet provides insight that allows us to consider all the people and things in the octave with a deeper understanding.

• An example of a Petrarchan sonnet that beautifully manipulates the form to make a point is Edna St. Vincent Millay's "I Will Put Chaos into Fourteen Lines," which is a sonnet about writing a sonnet. Millay employees the Petrarchan rhyme scheme and meter, but interrupts her lines with enjambments (splitting the line in the middle of a sentence or clause) and occasional disruptions of the meter to emphasize her struggle with the sonnet form itself.

Experimenting with Less Common Sonnet Forms

• The curtal sonnet is composed of a sestet with a rhyme scheme of ABCABC and a quintet (five line stanza) of a rhyme scheme of either DCBDC or DBCDC.
• Though it appears to be 11 lines, which is a little more than 3/4 of the normal 14-line Petrarchan sonnet, it is actually 10.5 lines; this is because the final line of the curtal sonnet is half a line of iambic pentameter — sometimes even less.
• Other than the last line, the curtal sonnet is still written in iambic pentameter.
• Hopkins' “Pied Beauty” is a famous example of a curtal sonnet. [6] X Research source Note that the final line, “Praise him” truncates the 11th line to the 3/4 proportion intended by Hopkins.

• A Miltonic sonnet has a Petrarchan rhyme scheme of ABBAABBACDECDE, and is written in iambic pentameter.
• However, it omits the turn/volta at the beginning of the sestet, and instead emphasizes “enjambment.”
• When you break a line or a stanza somewhere that is not a logical syntactic end (somewhere where you'd normally find a period, comma, or semicolon), that line or stanza is said to be enjambed. [8] X Research source An example of an enjambed line is: “God doth not need / Either man's works or his own gifts: who best / Bear his mild yolk, / they serve him best” (Milton, “On His Blindness”).
• See Milton's “On His Blindness” for an example of a Miltonic sonnet. [9] X Research source Note how it makes use of enjambment both in individual lines and in the melding together of the octave and sestet.

• It is composed of three heroic quatrains and a heroic couplet, just like the Shakespearean sonnet. Furthermore, it is also written in iambic pentameter.
• However, the rhyme scheme differs from the Shakespearean sonnet in that it is interlocking: The second rhyme sound from each quatrain becomes the first rhyme sound of the subsequent quatrain.
• This results in a rhyme scheme of ABAB BCBC CDCD EE.
• Contrast that against the rhyme scheme of the Shakespearean sonnet: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.
• The interlocking rhyme scheme results in the three quatrains being closely linked aurally by the repeated rhyme sounds, especially in the transition between quatrains, when the second rhyme of one stanza is immediately repeated as the first rhyme of the next.
• Just as the Miltonic stanza explores the relationship between parts of the Petrarchan sonnet by using line breaks and enjambments, the Spenserian sonnet explores the relationship between parts of the Shakespearean sonnet by using interlocking rhyme patterns.

• It is still written using iambic pentameter, and still has 14 lines.
• However, it has a rhyme scheme of ABA BCB CDC DAD AA. Note that the “A” rhyme from the opening tercet is repeated in the sandwiched ending of the fourth tercet, and also in the rhyme of the closing heroic couplet.
• Even more than the Spenserian sonnet, the terza rima sonnet asks you to consider the relationship between the stanzas in the poem, as developed not only through subject, but through sound.
• By splitting the first part of the poem into groups of three rather than four lines, it asks you to develop the ideas in each stanza more quickly and concisely.
• An example of a terza rima sonnet is Robert Frost's “Acquainted with the Night.” [11] X Research source

• Line length — what changes when you write a sonnet in iambic tetrameter (four iambic feet: ta-TUM ta-TUM ta-TUM ta-TUM) instead of iambic pentameter?
• Meter — what happens when you abandon the ta-TUM rhythm of iambic meter entirely? Consider Gerard Manley Hopkins' “Carrion Comfort,” which follows all rules of the Petrarchan sonnet except for its iambic pentameter meter. [12] X Research source
• Rhyme scheme — what happens when you write the octave of a Petrarchan sonnet in heroic couplets (AA BB CC DD) instead of repeated Italian quatrains (ABBAABBA)?
• Does a sonnet need to rhyme at all? Many contemporary sonnets do not. Consider Dawn Lundy's “[When the bed is empty…]” as an example. [13] X Research source

Community Q&A

• Try reading every other syllable louder and harder; this makes it much easier to follow the iambic pentameter. You also tap your hand on a table or clap to emphasize the beat of the rhythm. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Read as many sonnets, of as many different types, as you can find. The more familiar you are with the form, the better you will be able to write your own sonnets. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

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• ↑ https://poets.org/glossary/sonnet
• ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zpkytv4/revision/4
• ↑ https://poets.org/poem/shall-i-compare-thee-summers-day-sonnet-18
• ↑ https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/52299/nuns-fret-not-at-their-convents-narrow-room
• ↑ https://www.uiltexas.org/files/academics/bernier_LitCrit_2019_sonnet_lesson.pdf
• ↑ https://www.bartleby.com/122/13.html
• ↑ https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/wlf/what-enjambment
• ↑ https://www.bartleby.com/101/318.html
• ↑ https://poets.org/glossary/terza-rima
• ↑ https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47548/acquainted-with-the-night
• ↑ https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44392/carrion-comfort
• ↑ https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56266/when-the-bed-is-empty-

About This Article

To write a sonnet, make each line 10 syllables long and follow the rhythm of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Then, arrange the lines into 3 stanzas of 4 lines and end with a 2 line stanza. The quatrains should follow an ABAB rhyme scheme, and the last two lines should rhyme as well. When you choose your poem’s subject, keep in mind that Shakespearean sonnets are usually love poems, but could be adapted to any subject. To learn more from our Writing co-author, like how to write a Petrarchan sonnet, keep reading the article! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, what is a sonnet the 6 forms, explained.

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You’ve likely read at least a few sonnets in English class, perhaps during a Shakespeare unit. But what is a sonnet exactly? Is there just one sonnet form? Did Shakespeare invent it?

Read on to learn about the history of the sonnet and the various qualities that make up a sonnet poem, including the traditional sonnet rhyme scheme and meter. We'll also go over all the major types of sonnets, give you examples, and offer a handful of tips for writing your very own sonnet poem.

What Is a Sonnet? Overview & History

A sonnet is a short lyric poem that consists of 14 lines, typically written in iambic pentameter (a 10-syllable pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables) and following a specific rhyme scheme (of which there are several — we’ll go over this point more in just a moment).

In addition, sonnets have something called a volta (twist or turn), in which the rhyme scheme and the subject of the poem suddenly change, often to indicate a response to a question, a solution to a problem, or the resolving of some sort of tension established at the beginning of the poem. This turn normally happens closer to the end of the sonnet, though precisely when it appears varies depending on the particular sonnet form.

Now, what about the history of the sonnet?

Originating in Italy, the sonnet comes from the Italian word sonetto , meaning "little song" or "little sound." The oldest known sonnet form was invented by Italian poet Francesco Petrach in the 14th century. Called the Petrarchan or Italian sonnet, this sonnet structure consists of first an octave (eight lines of verse in iambic pentameter) and then a sestet (six lines). The rhyme scheme is abba abba ; the rhyme scheme in the sestet can vary a little but is typically  cde cde or cdc dcd .

But it is perhaps famed 16th-century English poet and playwright William Shakespeare who came up with the most well-known and easily recognizable sonnet form. In the Shakespearean or English sonnet, each line is 10 syllables long written in iambic pentameter. The structure can be divided into three quatrains (four-line stanzas) plus a final rhyming couplet (two-line stanza). The Shakespearean sonnet rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg.

Many other sonnet structures have been invented by an array of poets (we’ll go over what these are shortly). In terms of themes, these days sonnets are most often associated with themes of love and romance, though topics such as death, time, and faith are not uncommon.

Petrarchan vs Shakespearean: The 2 Main Sonnet Forms

As I explained above, the two main types of sonnets are the Petrarchan (or Italian) sonnet and the Shakespearean (or English) sonnet.

Before we go over both of these types in more detail, let’s take a quick look at some of the key similarities and differences between the two sonnet forms:

Petrarchan Sonnet

The Petrarchan sonnet is the original sonnet structure developed by Italian poet Francesco Petrarch . To reiterate, here are the main characteristics of this sonnet form:

• Structure: An octave followed by a sestet
• Volta : Happens between the eighth and ninth lines
• Rhyme Scheme: abba abba followed by  cde cde OR  cdc dcd

Let’s look at an example of a classic Petrarchan sonnet. The following poem was written by famed 19th-century English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning . Sonnet 43, commonly referred to as, "How Do I Love Thee?" follows the Petrarchan sonnet rhyme scheme of abba abba cdc dcd :

Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

In this highly romantic Petrarchan sonnet, the speaker is enumerating the many ways she loves someone. The octave stresses the all-encompassing love she has for this person, while the final sestet — where the volta  appears — presents a subtle comparison between the speaker’s present passions and "old griefs," or prior struggles in life.

Shakespearean Sonnet

The Shakespearean sonnet is arguably the most famous sonnet form and was developed by William Shakespeare , who wrote more than 100 sonnets using this structure.

Here are the main characteristics of the Shakespearean sonnet:

• Structure: Three quatrains followed by a rhyming couplet
• Volta : Happens between the 12th and 13th lines
• Rhyme Scheme: abab cdcd efef gg

Now, let’s take a look at a particularly well-known sonnet written by William Shakespeare: Sonnet 18, or what is more commonly referred to as "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?"

Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare

This eloquently written poem perhaps best encapsulates the Shakespearean sonnet form. Here, Shakespeare compares the transient beauty of a young man to a tranquil, warm summer day.

The volta , as we know, appears in the final rhyming couplet and is the point at which Shakespeare confidently declares the young man’s youthful beauty will forever live on —even  long after he dies — through these very words.

4 Additional Forms of the Sonnet Poem

While the Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnet forms are indisputably the most famous and most popular kinds of sonnets, several other sonnet structure types  do exist.

These include the following, each of which we’ll go over in more detail below:

• Spenserian sonnet
• Miltonic sonnet
• Terza rima sonnet
• Curtal sonnet

Spenserian Sonnet

The Spenserian sonnet is a sonnet form named for 16th-century English poet Edmund Spenser , who introduced this structure in his 1595 collection of sonnets titled Amoretti .

The Spenserian sonnet is extremely similar to the Shakespearean sonnet.  The main difference is the rhyme scheme: whereas the Shakespearean rhyme scheme introduces a new rhyme in each quatrain, the Spenserian sonnet carries over the latter rhyme from the previous quatrain in a chain rhyme: abab bcbc cdcd ee .

Like both the Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnets, Spenserian sonnets are normally written in iambic pentameter.

Here is an example of a Spenserian sonnet, written by Edmund Spenser himself. Sonnet III is taken from Spenser’s Amoretti :

Sonnet III ( Amoretti ) by Edmund Spenser

Miltonic Sonnet

The Miltonic sonnet was named for 17th-century English poet John Milton , who is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost .

While this sonnet form is mostly the same as that of the Petrarchan sonnet (it uses the Petrarchan rhyme scheme of abba abba cde cde ), Miltonic sonnets use enjambment to offer a more compact, interconnected presentation of the thoughts being expressed. (Enjambment is when a sentence, thought, or phrase continues beyond a line in poetry without pause.)

Another key difference between the two sonnet forms is theme: Petrarchan sonnets tend to focus on love and romance, while  Miltonic sonnets are often about faith or political/social matters.

The following Miltonic sonnet, titled Sonnet 19 or "When I Consider How My Light Is Spent," is one of Milton’s most famous sonnets:

Sonnet 19 by John Milton

Terza Rima Sonnet

The terza rima sonnet is named for a poetic convention called terza rima, which is a three-line stanza that uses a chain rhyme (the carrying over of the rhyme used in a previous stanza). The rhyme scheme of the terza rima sonnet is aba bcb cdc ded  followed by a rhyming couplet that usually echoes the first rhyme of the poem: aa .

Here is an example of a terza rima sonnet written by renowned American poet Robert Frost . The poem is titled "Acquainted With the Night":

"Acquainted With the Night" by Robert Frost

Curtal Sonnet

The curtal sonnet is a shortened, or curtailed, version of the sonnet invented by 19th-century English poet Gerard Manley Hopkins .

Unlike the majority of sonnets, the curtal sonnet does not strictly abide by the 14-line rule; rather, it maintains the overall proportions of the Petrarchan sonnet by contracting two quatrains in the octet into two tercets (three-line stanzas) and the final sestet into a quintet (five-line stanza).

The final line of the quintet (and the sonnet as a whole) is much shorter than other lines and is called a "tail" or "half-line." As a result, the curtal sonnet can be described as being either 10.5 or 11 lines long.

The curtal sonnet rhyme scheme is abc abc followed by dbcdc or  dcbdc . What's more, this sonnet form  uses a type of meter called sprung rhythm , which differs from iambic pentameter in that each line starts with a stressed instead of unstressed sound and (usually) contains four stressed syllables.

One famous curtal sonnet written by Hopkins is "Pied Beauty." This sonnet uses a rhyme scheme of abc abc dbcdc :

"Pied Beauty" by Gerard Manley Hopkins

How to Write a Great Sonnet: 6 Tips

Now that we’ve answered the question, "What is a sonnet?" and explained the main variations of the sonnet poem, it’s time to try writing one for yourself! In this section, we'll give you our six best tips for writing a great sonnet.

#1: Read Lots of Sonnets

The first step to writing a great sonnet poem is to get more acquainted with sonnets and their characteristics as a whole,  including how they sound in terms of both rhythm and rhyme, what kinds of themes and subjects they focus on, and what types of volta they employ.

You could start by browsing  some of the most famous sonnets by Shakespeare and Petrarch, for example, especially if you’re interested in writing a more traditional sonnet.

Another option is to  search for sonnets in online databases, such as Poets.org . On this website, you can search for a specific sonnet or poet, or browse all available sonnets by choosing "Sonnet" under "Forms" and letting the page load.

I recommend reading several sonnet forms (not just Shakespearean!) so you can get a better feel for the sonnet structure you like best and would prefer to use for your own sonnet.

#2: Think of a Topic

Once you’ve gotten more familiar with the various sonnet structures, it’s time to think of possible topics and themes you could write about in your sonnet poem.

Traditional sonnets are love poems, but you shouldn't feel limited to romance. Many people have written sonnets that discuss things such as faith, social or political matters, tensions or problems, mundane situations, etc.

You don’t even have to choose a serious subject — it could be a sarcastic or ironic sonnet if you so wish! Ultimately, the topic you want to write about in your sonnet is entirely up to you.

#3: Choose a Sonnet Form to Follow

Once you have an idea for what you want to write about, you'll want to start seriously considering the sonnet form you believe will best fit the vision you have for your sonnet poem.

For example, if you strongly prefer poems that don’t have as many pauses and sound a lot more like dialogue, the Miltonic sonnet structure would be a solid choice due to its use of enjambment. Or, if you find it hard to write 14 rhyming lines, the curtal sonnet might be a good sonnet form to try working with.

If you’re not sure which sonnet structure you want to use, try your hand at starting a few different forms to see which one seems to come more naturally to you and to the poem itself.

#4: Befriend a Thesaurus

A huge part of sonnets is being able to use words that rhyme (or mostly rhyme, as we'll discuss more in the next tip). This can be pretty difficult, especially if you’re sticking with the traditional iambic pentameter meter.

If you ever get stuck or just want to browse possible words that share a certain meaning, use a thesaurus. Many online versions exist; I suggest using  Thesaurus.com or the Merriam-Webster Thesaurus .

A thesaurus will not only help you find words that better fit the topic, meter, and rhyme scheme of your sonnet poem, but will also improve your vocabulary so that you won’t have to rely as much on a thesaurus in the future when writing a sonnet.

#5: Don’t Worry About Rhyming Words Perfectly

Many people think they have to find perfectly rhyming words in order to write a good sonnet, but this isn’t necessarily true.

Although sonnets do  typically have a strict rhyme scheme — whether that’s the Petrarchan rhyme scheme, the Shakespearean rhyme scheme, or something else — many sonnets use words that are NOT perfect rhymes.

For instance, let’s look back at the first four lines in Browning’s "How Do I Love Thee?":

Because this sonnet uses the Petrarchan rhyme scheme, "ways" should rhyme with "grace," but by sounding out these two words, we can immediately tell that they aren’t actually perfect rhymes.

The "s" sound in "ways" is more like a "z" sound and clearly differs from the "s" sound pronounced at the end of "grace." This type of rhyme is called an assonant rhyme  in that while the vowels are the same (that "ay" sound in the middle of both "ways" and "grace"), the consonants are different.

Another rhyme you could use in your sonnet poem is a consonant rhyme  in which the vowels are different but the consonants are the same (e.g., ball and bell, faith and death).

The point here is that although rhyming is an important part of the sonnet form, this rule, too, can be bent to better fit the overall image you wish to paint.

#6: Don’t Be Afraid to Mix Things Up

Our final tip is to be brave when writing your sonnet poem — don’t be afraid to mix things up! Even though the traditional sonnet structure follows a strict pattern in its meter and rhyming, you don’t need to follow any of these if you so choose.

Generally speaking, poetry welcomes rule-breaking and creativity, so feel free to try to come up with your own sonnet form or ways to improve upon the traditional sonnet structure. For example, you could develop a new rhyme scheme or try out meters other than iambic pentameter.

Just remember that if you change the sonnet form too much, it might not be identifiable as a sonnet anymore, so think about whether that’s a risk you’re willing to take.

Key Takeaways: What Is a Sonnet?

As we’ve seen, there isn’t a simple answer to the question, “What is a sonnet?” A sonnet can inhabit many different forms depending on things such as the rhyme scheme, length, and meter used.

In general, though, here are the main characteristics that define most sonnets:

• Number of Lines: 14
• Meter: Typically iambic pentameter
• Rhyme Scheme: Petrarchan ( abba abba cde cde or abba abba cdc dcd ) or Shakespearean ( abab cdcd efef gg ), among many others
• Unique Qualities: Contains a volta (twist or turn) closer to the end of the sonnet
• Common Themes:  Typically love and romance but also faith, time, personal emotions, and social/political matters

The major sonnet forms are the Petrarchan (Italian) sonnet and the Shakespearean (English) sonnet. Other sonnet forms include the Spenserian sonnet, the Miltonic sonnet, the terza rima sonnet, and the curtal sonnet.

Writing a sonnet poem entails a lot of preparation. Once again, here are our six tips for writing a fantastic sonnet:

• Read lots of sonnets
• Think of a topic
• Choose a sonnet form to follow
• Befriend a thesaurus
• Don’t worry about rhyming words perfectly
• Don’t be afraid to mix things up

Now, get out there and start reading (and writing) some sonnets!

What’s Next?

What is iambic pentameter exactly ? This guide explains what the most common poetic meter is and how you, too, can write a poem using it.

Whether you're writing a sonnet poem or a story, you'll likely want to use some literary devices to make your writing stand out. Learn how imagery can bring color to your writing and get a vast list of 100+ words you can use to set the tone of your story.

What is personification ? Get all the info you need on this useful literary device with our guide.

Hannah received her MA in Japanese Studies from the University of Michigan and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California. From 2013 to 2015, she taught English in Japan via the JET Program. She is passionate about education, writing, and travel.

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Teaching Sonnets Lesson Plan

Lesson plan for teaching sonnets.

Who knew teaching sonnets could be this great? Use these handy tips to develop your own sonnet lesson plans for high school students.

Teaching Sonnets Under Pressure

It was my first year teaching and Mr. Sternman sat in the back of the room writing my teacher evaluation. Things were going well until Frankie Ruinlife in the fourth row asked a question. “Mr. Deadmeat,” he said, “This is a great sonnet lesson plan and the poems are pretty good, but why are you even teaching sonnets? When will I ever use this?”

I could have said that writing poetry helps develop word skills and that writing sonnets forces us to use words in ways we never imagined. I could have explained how analyzing and writing poetry helps to develop thinking skills.

Instead, I choked on my spit, passed out, and peed my pants. Mr.Sternman fired me on the spot and my sonnet lesson plan has remained dormant ever since.

Here’s a handy little chart to get you started: Sonnet Writing Assignment

ELA Common Core Standards Covered

Check out these 8 Simple Common Core Writing Assignments. They’re available as a pdf download. Each assignment includes a lesson plan with graphic organizer handout, key/example, and a rubric for easy grading. It’s only $5.95.

Teaching imagery in poems may cover the following ELA Common Core Standards.  This is for your administrator, not your kids.  Kids need student-friendly worded objectives.

• RL.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
• RL.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
• RL.9-10.10 By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 9-10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
• RL.9-10.5 Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.

Notes on Sonnets

There’s a good chance your students will need some notes on sonnets before doing the assignment.

• Sonnets have a specific rhyme scheme, the pattern of rhyme in a poem. To identify rhyme scheme, assign a letter of the alphabet to each rhymed sound at the end of a line. If that sound is repeated later on in the poem, that line receives the same letter (you’ll probably want to give some examples).
• The basic meter in sonnets is iambic pentameter. Each line of a sonnet consists of 10 syllables following a pattern of unstressed syllable, stressed syllable.
• There are three main sonnet types:
• English or Shakespearean Sonnet : The rhyme scheme of a Shakesperean Sonnet is ababcdcdefefgg . A Shakespearean Sonnet consists of three quatrains, four line stanzas, and a couplet. Each quatrain is one unit of thought in the poem, similar to a paragraph in prose. The ending couplet comments on the preceding three quatrains.
• Petrarchan Sonnet : The rhyme scheme in a Petrarchan Sonnet is abbaabbacdcdcd . In a Petrarchan or Italian Sonnet, the first eight lines are related. Line 9 is called “the turn,” signifying a change in rhyme pattern and a change in subject matter.
• Spenserian Sonnet : The rhyme scheme of a Spenserian Sonnet is ababbcbccdcdee. It resembles the Italian Sonnet’s rhyme scheme and the English Sonnet’s 12-line problem, 2-line solution format.
• Variations of Sonnets : As long as the sonnet is fourteen lines of iambic pentameter it can have any rhyme scheme.

Strategies for Teaching Sonnets

Teaching sonnets requires teaching strategies. These procedures incorporate the strategies.

• Read a sonnet–more than once if necessary.
• Identify the rhyme scheme.
• Identify the major units of thoughts.
• Describe the situation or problem in your own words.
• Identify the turning point.
• Describe how the situation is rectified.
• Summarize the message of the poem in your own words.
• Write your own sonnet.

This poetry analysis lesson plan is also helpful.

Teaching Literary Elements with Poems

Understanding literary elements is necessary for literary analysis.  These poems will help you teach literary elements.

Last Updated on April 11, 2017 by Trenton Lorcher

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How to Write a Sonnet

Table of Contents

Are you feeling poetical? Are you struggling to pen a Petrarchan or Shakespearean sonnet that will make the ladies swoon? Fear not, intrepid wordsmith! This guide teaches you how to write a sonnet. Let’s get started! 

What is a sonnet?

A sonnet is a 14-line poem that follows a strict rhyme scheme and iambic pentameter meter. The sonnet form was invented in the 13th century by the Italian poet Giacomo da Lentini, though the term “sonnet” wasn’t used to describe it until the 16th century.

Shakespeare popularized the form in English with his famous 154-sonnet sequence, which includes some of the most well-known poems.

Today, sonnets are still written in various languages and generally convey a deep emotional connection between the speaker and their subject. Above all, they are intended to be beautiful works of art that can be enjoyed for centuries.

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Three main types of sonnets.

The Petrarchan sonnet , also known as the Italian sonnet, is the kind most commonly associated with love poetry. It is named after its creator, the fourteenth-century Italian poet Francesco Petrarca. Petrarchan sonnets typically feature two quatrains (four-line stanzas) followed by two tercets (three-line stanzas), with the volta occurring between the eighth and ninth lines. The rhyme scheme is usually abbaabba cdecde or abbaabba cdcdcd.

The Shakespearean sonnet , also known as the English sonnet, is perhaps the best-known type of sonnet in the English-speaking world. It was popularized by none other than William Shakespeare himself, who wrote 154 of them! Shakespearean sonnets follow a different structure to Petrarchan sonnets: three quatrains followed by a couplet, with the volta coming after the eighth line. The rhyme scheme is usually abab cdcd efef gg.

The Spenserian sonnet takes its name from Edmund Spenser, a sixteenth-century English poet best known for his epic poem The Faerie Queene. Spenserian sonnets are similar to Shakespearean sonnets, but with a slightly different rhyme scheme: abab bcbc cdcd ee. The volta also generally occurs between the ninth and tenth lines, rather than the eighth and ninth.

Others have read: How to Write a Love Song: A Step-By-Step Guide

Sonnet examples

Sonnets are one of the most well-known and beloved forms of poetry in the literary world. Whether expressed through a playful rhyme scheme or a poignant message, a sonnet has the power to convey deep emotion and resonate with readers for years to come.

One of the most compelling examples of a sonnet is Maya Angelou, who expressed her love for God through vivid imagery and dignified language. In her poem “When You Come,” she describes the sun as “a rose gold flame” that warms her heart and calls out to her soul:

In golden light, I saw my god, resplendent with radiance strong. His mighty hand reached out and called me home, his glory bright like the dawn.

Thus transformed by his divine embrace, my body warm within his arms, secure in him, i sing this final adieu to sorrows left below at long last free! His endless spirit now lives on in me…Forever poetically this soul shall soar upon wings divine.

We can see just how powerful and profound a sonnet can be through this moving depiction of nature’s majesty. Whether simple or complex, it taps into the deepest parts of our hearts and reveals our most genuine feelings.

So if you are looking to express your own passions, struggles, or emotions through poetry, consider writing a sonnet! With its strict rhyme scheme and iambic pentameter metre, this classic form of poetry can help you create a work of art that will delight and inspire readers for years to come.

Also related: How to Write Manifestations

How to write a sonnet

A sonnet is a 14-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme. It is traditionally written in iambic pentameter, which means each line has 10 syllables with the stress falling on every second syllable.

There are two main types of sonnets: the Petrarchan sonnet, which is divided into an 8-line octave and a 6-line sestet, and the Shakespearean sonnet, which is divided into three quatrains and a couplet. The Shakespearean sonnet is the most common type of sonnet in English. If you want to write a sonnet, follow these steps:

1) Choose a subject for your sonnet. This could be something you feel strongly about or something that has personal meaning for you.

2) Decide what kind of sonnet you want to write. As mentioned above, there are two main types of sonnets: the Petrarchan and the Shakespearean. If you’re unsure which one to choose, try writing one of each to see which style suits your voice and subject best.

3) Start by drafting the octave (the first 8 lines). This should introduce your subject and set up the problem or tension that you want to explore in your poem.

4) Next, write the sestet (the final six lines). This is where you will resolve the problem or tension from the octave and explore the deeper themes or ideas in your poem.

5) When you are done writing, go back and revise and edit your sonnet for clarity, imagery, and tone. Remember to use precise language that evokes strong emotion and creates a vivid picture in the reader’s mind.

6) Lastly, share your finished sonnet with the world! You can submit it to publications, post it online, or share it with your friends and family.

Sonnets are still written in various languages and convey a deep emotional connection between the speaker and their subject. Above all, they are intended to be beautiful works of art that can be enjoyed for centuries to come. So if you want to create your own masterpiece, start writing a sonnet today!

An interesting read: How To Write Playful Banter

Sonnet tips

Writing a sonnet can be a fun and challenging exercise, and keep a few tips in mind if you want to create effective and beautiful verse.

First, you need to be sure that your subject matter is worthy of the form. This means choosing topics that are meaningful or thought-provoking rather than just simple reflections on everyday experiences.

Secondly, aim for a variety of imagery throughout your sonnet.

Use colorful, descriptive language to convey different moods and emotions, and take time to play around with poetic devices such as metaphors and alliteration.

And finally, remember that it is okay to experiment with structure. Whether you choose to stick with the traditional iambic pentameter or try out new patterns of rhyme and rhythm, never be afraid to push the boundaries of traditional sonnets. With these tips in mind, you’ll be well on your way toward writing powerful and memorable poetry!

Take a look: How to Write a Fairy Tale

Sonnet resources

Shakespeare’s Sonnets – This website provides a complete analysis of Shakespeare’s sonnets, with each one conveniently numbered and searchable by subject matter. If you’re looking better to understand the language and form of the sonnet, this is a great resource.

Sonnet Central – This website collects sonnets from a variety of poets, both classic and contemporary. You can browse by poet or theme, making it easy to find sonnets that speak to you. There are also several resources for writing your sonnets if you feel inspired.

The Sonnet Board – This online forum is a great place to discuss all things sonnets, from favorite poems to tips for writing your own. You can also find links to poetry contests and other opportunities here. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just getting started, the Sonnet Board is an excellent resource for anyone interested in this versatile and timeless form.

The best way to learn about sonnets is to read as many as possible. Start with the greats like Shakespeare and Donne , then branch out to modern poets like Maya Angelou and Anne Sexton .

As you read, pay attention to how the poets use language to create mood and meaning. Also, notice how the strict structure of the sonnet can either enhance or hinder the overall effect. With time and practice, you’ll be able to write sonnets of your own that are both beautiful and powerful.

Another article to read: 15 Memoir Writing Tips for Beginners: Secrets to a Bestseller

How many couplets are in a Sonnet?

There is one couplet in a sonnet. The couplet serves as the final lines of both the octave and sestet, providing a resolution or conclusion to the poem. It is also where more abstract themes or ideas are explored in greater depth. Additionally, some sonnets may only have three quatrains, with no couplet.

How many feet are in a Sonnet?

There are five feet in a sonnet. The most common meter is iambic pentameter, which means there are five iambic feet per line. Iambic pentameter is often considered the natural rhythm of speech, and it gives the sonnet a flowing, conversational quality. However, there are many varieties of a sonnet that use different types of meter, so feel free to experiment and find a rhythm that works for your poem.

What is a Petrarchan Sonnet?

A Petrarchan sonnet is a type of sonnet that originated in Italy during the Renaissance. It is named after the poet Petrarch, who popularized this form of poetry.

Petrarchan sonnets are divided into two stanzas: an octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six lines).

The octave contains the problem or question, while the sestet offers a resolution or conclusion. Additionally, Petrarchan sonnets have a strict rhyme scheme of abbaabba cdecde.

Can a Sonnet have 15 Lines?

Yes, a sonnet can have 15 lines. This is known as an extended or Shakespearean sonnet, and it is the most common type of sonnet today. Shakespearean sonnets consist of three quatrains (four lines each) followed by a couplet (two lines).

The rhyme scheme is usually abab cdcd efef gg, although some variations are common. With its longer length and more complex rhyme scheme, the Shakespearean sonnet is often considered the most challenging form of poetry. However, you can master this versatile poetic form with practice and patience.

Do Sonnets have Stanzas?

Sonnets typically have stanzas, although there are some exceptions. Stanzas help to divide the poem into manageable sections and can also create a sense of rhythm or meter.

The most common type of sonnet is the Shakespearean sonnet, which has three quatrains (four lines each) followed by a couplet (two lines). However, there are many other variations of sonnets that use different numbers and types of stanzas.

What is the difference between a Sonnet and a Haiku?

The main difference between a sonnet and a haiku is the length and structure of each poem. A sonnet is typically 14 lines long and follows a specific rhyme scheme and meter, while a haiku is much shorter, usually only three lines.

Additionally, sonnets are more complex in terms of theme and language, exploring deeper themes through rich imagery and metaphors. On the other hand, Haiku are typically more simplistic, focusing on one image or moment in time.

What is the difference between a Sonnet and a Limerick?

The main difference between a sonnet and a limerick is their respective structures.

A sonnet is a 14-line poem that follows a specific rhyme scheme and meter, while a limerick is a five-line poem with a more irregular rhyme scheme. Additionally, sonnets are typically more formal and serious in tone, while limericks often have a more light-hearted or humorous manner.

What is the difference between a Sonnet and an Ode?

An ode is a poem that typically expresses deep admiration or praise for a person, object, idea, or concept. A sonnet is also a poem, but it is shorter and more structured than an ode. Sonnets have a specific rhyme scheme and meter, while odes do not necessarily follow any particular rules or conventions.

Additionally, odes are typically more personal in nature, while sonnets are often more universal and can be about a wide range of topics. Ultimately, the choice to write an ode or a sonnet depends on your preferences and goals as a poet.

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Sonnet Generator

What is a sonnet .

A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in Italy during the 13th century and gained widespread popularity during the Renaissance. It typically consists of 14 lines of iambic pentameter, which means each line contains ten syllables organized into five pairs of unstressed and stressed syllables. Sonnets traditionally adhere to specific rhyme schemes, with variations across different forms. The two most famous types of sonnets are the Petrarchan (or Italian) sonnet and the Shakespearean (or English) sonnet. In Petrarchan sonnets, the 14 lines are divided into an octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six lines), with a specific rhyme scheme of ABBAABBACDCDCD or ABBAABBACDECDE. The octave usually presents a problem or situation, while the sestet offers resolution, commentary, or a twist on the initial theme. On the other hand, Shakespearean sonnets follow a distinct rhyme scheme of ABABCDCDEFEFGG, with three quatrains (four-line stanzas) followed by a concluding couplet (two-line stanza). Shakespearean sonnets often explore themes of love, time, mortality, and the complexities of human emotion.

What is a sonnet generator?

a sonnet generator, also known as sonnet maker or sonnet writer, generates sonnet s for you using artificial intelligence. Follow these 3 steps to generate a sonnet :

• Select the type of poem: In this case, select " Sonnet " from the drop-down list.
• Describe your poem: You should include the theme or subject of the sonnet and any relevant information you want to be included, such as the characters' backgrounds or the setting of the poem.
• Generate the poem: Click the big "Generate poem" button and watch as the AI sonnet generator does its magic. When it's finished, you can share the poem with the world, or if you're not happy, regenerate another sonnet about the same topic.

How do you write a sonnet ?

Here are the steps to write a sonnet :

• Choose a theme or subject : Select a theme or subject that you want to explore in your sonnet. It could be love, nature, a personal experience, or any other topic that resonates with you. Having a clear focus will guide your writing.
• Determine the rhyme scheme : Decide whether you want to write an Italian (Petrarchan) sonnet or an English (Shakespearean) sonnet. Each has its own rhyme scheme. The Italian sonnet typically follows ABBAABBA for the octave and CDCDCD or CDECDE for the sestet. The English sonnet follows ABABCDCDEFEFGG.
• Choose your meter : Sonnets are often written in iambic pentameter, a metrical pattern consisting of five pairs of unstressed and stressed syllables per line. Consider using iambic pentameter to give your sonnet a rhythmic and musical quality. However, you can also experiment with other metrical patterns if desired.
• Begin with the first quatrain : Start your sonnet by writing the first quatrain, which consists of four lines. Introduce your theme or subject and establish the tone and mood of the poem. Follow the chosen rhyme scheme and meter for your sonnet.
• Develop the second and third quatrains : Move on to the second and third quatrains. These stanzas further explore or develop the theme you introduced in the first quatrain. Use descriptive language, metaphors, or other poetic devices to convey your thoughts and emotions.
• Transition with the volta : The volta, or turn, is a pivotal moment in a sonnet where there is a shift in tone, perspective, or argument. It often occurs between the third quatrain and the couplet. Use the volta to introduce a new idea, present a contrast, or provide a resolution to the theme.
• Conclude with the couplet : The final two lines of a sonnet form the couplet. Use them to provide a concise summary, a surprising twist, or a strong concluding statement. The couplet often offers a resolution or final reflection on the theme.
• Revise and refine : After writing the initial draft of your sonnet, review it for clarity, coherence, and adherence to the chosen rhyme scheme and meter. Consider the flow, imagery, and impact of each line. Make any necessary revisions to enhance the structure and strengthen the theme.
• Read aloud and seek feedback : Read your sonnet aloud to assess its rhythm, flow, and emotional impact. Listen to how the rhymes and meter work together to create a harmonious and powerful expression. Consider sharing your sonnet with others and gather feedback on its effectiveness. Revise further based on the feedback received.
• Finalize and polish : Make the final adjustments to your sonnet, ensuring that it maintains the chosen rhyme scheme, meter, and effectively conveys your chosen theme. Pay attention to grammar, punctuation, and formatting to present the sonnet in its best possible form.

Example of a sonnet

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 dimmed; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed; But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st, Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade, When in eternal lines to Time thou grow'st. So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

By William Shakespeare

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Course info.

• Prof. Mary Fuller

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Learning Resource Types

Reading poetry, sonnets and rhythm.

Shakespeare, William. “ Sonnet 18 ”, “ Sonnet 60 ”, “ Sonnet 65 .” Poetry Foundation.

Spenser, Edmund. “ Amoretti LXXV ”, “ Amoretti LXXXI .” Poetry Foundation.

Sidney, Philip. “ Astrophil and Stella 1 ”, “ Astrophil and Stella 31 .” Poetry Foundation.

Brooks, Gwendolyn. “ my dreams, my works, must wait till after hell .” In Selected Poems . Harper & Row, 1963.

Brooks, Gwendolyn. “ the rites for Cousin Vit .” In The Norton Anthology of Poetry Fifth Edition . W.W. Norton and Company, 2005.

Reading Exercises

You can see what it looks like if we assign color to the lines of a sonnet to show their end rhymes.

In other words, instead of writing the rhyme pattern as ABBA ABBA … (for instance), we can show it using different font colors:

When I consider how my light is spent, Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide, And that one Talent which is death to hide, Lodged with me useless, though my Soul more bent, To serve therewith my Maker, and present, My true account, lest he returning chide; “Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?” I fondly ask. But Patience to prevent That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need Either man’s work or His own gifts. Who best Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best. His state Is kingly: thousands at His bidding speed, And post o’er land and ocean without rest; They also serve who only stand and wait.”

Pick one author and one sonnet; copy the poem, and use color to indicate the rhyme scheme. Before class, look at all the sonnets to see what kinds of changes get rung on the form, and what kinds of line groups within the 14 line whole get defined by rhyme.

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Sonnet Generator

AI Sonnet Generator: How to Write a Sonnet About Anything

Poets have experimented with writing formats for years, giving us techniques and rules to break and follow as we please. Once you learn the basics, writing a poem shouldn’t be that hard. In fact, you can even start having fun with it.

A popular writing format in the poem space is a sonnet . In this article, you’re going to find out how to write a sonnet, the rules you need to follow, and the standard formats available. However, before all this, let’s first understand what it is.

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What is a Sonnet?

The sonnet is a poetry art form born in the 13th century in Italy. This popular demanding poetry form was a beloved choice of the famous William Shakespeare, who wrote many of his historic plays using this 14-line writing format.

Sonnets are poems that consist of a final rhyming couplet and 14 lines . This is known as the Shakespearean sonnet. Poets use them as a poetic form, typically in English. Besides Shakespeare, Pablo Neruda and Elizabeth Barret Browning were also known to like using the Shakespearean format. Even Maya Angelou uses this art form in her “ Harlem Hopscotch ” poem.

Some sonnets concentrate more on how the language sounds while others want to showcase the imagery in literature.

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Types of Sonnets

The Shakespearean sonnet is the sonnet format many people are most familiar with.  It’s also commonly referred to as the Elizabethan or English sonnet . However, there are many other formats as well, and here are some of them.

Shakespearean Sonnet

The Shakespearean sonnet became popular around the 1500s, during Queen Elizabeth’s reign.  Contrary to popular belief, William Shakespeare did not invent it. What makes this sonnet different is its rhyme scheme, which uses “ABAB CDCD EFEF GG”. The first line typically introduces a strong emotion or problem, while the last one provides its solution.

Italian Sonnet

Even though the Shakespearean poem is undoubtedly the most popular of them all,  the one that came first is actually the Italian sonnet. In this sonnet, the poet uses 8 lines and then breaks them into 2 quatrains, instead of using 14 lines and then breaking them into 4 quatrains.

Spenserian Sonnet

Named after Edmund Spenser, a famous poet from England, the Spenserian sonnet has an “ABAB BCBC CDCD EE” rhyme scheme . Instead of letting the rhymes stand on their own as you’ll find in Italian and Shakespearean sonnets, this drags its rhyme in this one, giving the sonnet a tighter overall feel.

Miltonic Sonnet

John Milton is responsible for the creation of this sonnet, hence the name . He created the Miltonic sonnets by introducing some new twists to their Italian counterparts. He changed the overall format a bit and focused the content of the poems on personal thoughts and introspection.

One of the main things that differentiate this type of sonnet from the others is that it uses enjambment to help tighten the poem’s structure up and the sonnets mostly concentrate on moral issues and politics thematically.

Modern Sonnet

As you can see, there are many different kinds of sonnets available.  The Modern sonnet is where a poet takes the classic versions and puts a new twist , mixing up stanzas, lines, and rhyme schemes.

Whether you're an experienced poet or just starting out, an AI ode poem generator can help you unlock your creativity and express yourself in new and exciting ways.

Example of Sonnets

Most of the classic sonnets often seem like letters of admiration. Similar to how haikus reflect upon nature, the sonnet was what you’d use to express your love and appreciation for another. And just like with the haikus, it’s also easy to deviate from that main intent.

The first example is “My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like The Sun,” a well-recognized Shakespearean sonnet:

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;

Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;

If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;

If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.

I have seen roses damasked, red and white,

But no such roses see I in her cheeks;

And in some perfumes is there more delight

Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.

I love to hear her speak, yet well I know

That music hath a far more pleasing sound;

I grant I never saw a goddess go;

My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.

And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare

As any she belied with false compare.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

The second example is an Italian sonnet. It’s Elizabeth Barret’s “How Do I Love Thee?”:

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.

I love thee to the level of every day’s

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for right.

I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.

ELIZABETH BARRETT

How to Write Your Own Sonnet Poem

This art form isn’t as hard to learn as most people think. Why?  Because its overall format is pretty rigid. Some poets tend to find it hard to stay with rigid structures and rhyme schemes, but keeping a template on hand for reference is never a bad idea.

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How Do You Start a Sonnet?

There’s no right or wrong way to both begin or end a sonnet . However, there are things you may need to consider when starting to write one.

• The Question - A question or problem is what you’ll use as the foundation. It is what you should explore more throughout the sonnet. Opening the sonnet with a question can help give you an idea of where you’re going.
• Comparisons - Many of the most popular sonnets use metaphors. Using metaphors is a good way to get a theme that can help make it easier for you to write.
• Worry About Rhyming Later - Trying to write a sonnet fully equipped with a rhyme scheme can sometimes lead to writer’s block. It is quicker and easier to explore your ideas first and then edit the text later to fit a proper rhyme scheme and line structure.

The Rules of the Sonnet

The strict nature of the sonnet means it’s not hard for beginners to learn once they understand the basic rules. It has a very straightforward overall structure and format.

Sonnet Structure

Sonnets have many different elements and you’ll need to know them when drafting and planning out one.

• Lines: A sonnet has 14 lines, which are broken down into sections called quatrains.
• Rhymes: Every sonnet has a rhyme scheme. The 4 sections of the rhyme scheme show where the quatrains break.
• Meter: A sonnet is also drafted in iambic pentameter alternating unstressed and stressed syllables.
• Volta: A volta is a “turn” in the sonnet. It is the moment or line where the topic shifts. This is usually where the problem or question is addressed.
• Sestet: The last 6 lines of the sonnet.

Worksheet: Нow to Write a Sonnet Step-By-Step for Beginners

Learning how to write a sonnet shouldn’t scare you, and it’s much easier than you’d think. You can write your own sonnet by following these simple principles.

Choosing a Problem or Theme

A sonnet typically explores the universal elements all humans experience which is what makes people relate to it.

Some of the most common themes in many sonnets include:

•  Hardship

Sometimes the writer is trying to tackle bigger problems concerning human life or offer commentary on certain social issues. Pick a theme that speaks out to you and one you’d like to break down deeper.

Picking the Type of Sonnet

A sonnet is either English or Italian.  An English sonnet is what’s commonly referred to as the Shakespearean sonnet while the Italian one is known as a Petrarchan sonnet . Though both sonnets consist of 14 lines, the rhyme schemes and line structuring is different.

Writing in Iambic Pentameter

Poets use the iambic pentameter rhythm to write sonnets . An iamb consists of two syllables and plays the role of a metrical footprint in the poem. An iamb’s first syllable is unstressed while the second one is more emphasized or stressed. The syllables should sound like falls and rises when you speak them out loud. Repeating the iamb 5 times constitutes the term pentameter.

You don’t need to perfectly build iambs into 2-syllable words. You can stretch out the unstressed, stressed pattern across separate words. Pentameter means you’ll have 5 metrical feet for each line, totaling 10 syllables.

Organize Stanzas

Sonnets consist of 14 lines . Shakespearean sonnets have 3 quatrains and usually end with a final couplet. The volta or resolution doesn’t come until that last rhymed couplet makes a powerful final statement. However, Italian sonnets are made of a sestet and octave. The first 8 lines often introduce the theme or issue and the last 6 give the solution.

• First Quatrain- An ABAB rhyme scheme will dictate how the lines end, for instance, ‘temperate’, ‘day’, ‘date’, ‘may’.
• Second Quatrain- Different words will create a CDCD rhyme scheme, for instance, ‘dimmed’, ‘shines’, ‘untrimmed’, ‘declines’.
• Third Quatrain- Again, different words to produce an EFEF rhyme scheme, for instance, ‘shade’, ‘growest’, ‘fade’, ‘lowest’.

These are the most commonly recognized quatrains and schemes.

Follow a Rhyme Scheme

Rhymes are made up of sounds that match after the lines end. In poetry, you use letters to identify rhyme patterns and rhyme schemes within a poem.

Italian sonnets usually have tight rhyme schemes:

However, English sonnets have much looser rhyme schemes:

Most poets like to use the looser options, especially beginners.

Incorporation of a Volta

Volta means “turn” in Italian . Turns can represent different changes in a sonnet. It can refer to changes in the sound, the theme, the image, or the emphasis of the message of the poem. The volta’s role is to show that the sonnet is leading to an end.

In the Shakespearean sonnet, the volta is found in the 3rd quatrain, and in the Italian one it’s found in the 9th line.

7.      Using Poetic Devices

You’ll need to incorporate literary and poetic devices if you want to enhance the message and imagery of a poem.

Imagery is very important when writing poems , and you can establish it via word choice and using figurative language like:

• Personification

You can use alliteration to create symbolism and musical quality that’ll help give rise to a deeper message.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many lines are in a sonnet.

Standard sonnets have 14 lines. However, some writers might experiment by making new twists to the traditional format to come up with something fresh and new.

What is Iambic Pentameter?

Iambic pentameter is a metric line that describes the meter or rhythm established by the words in the lines. Rhythm is measured in feet, and iambic pentameters are lines that have 5 feet.

What is the Format of a Sonnet?

A sonnet contains 4-line stanzas (grouped in 3 quatrains) and a couplet made up of 2 lines. The poet should use an iambic pentameter to construct the piece. A sonnet basically consists of lines, rhymes, and a final couplet. 

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