Sonnet
Sonnet- A fourteen line poem; has a fixed
pattern of meter and rhythm.
The Italian word means "a little song".
In an Italian sonnet the octave ( first eight lines) states a theme or an experience.
The setest ( final six lines) responds to or comments on the theme.
The octave rhyme scheme is : lines 1,4,5 and 8 rhyme and lines 2, 3, 6, and
7 rhyme(abbaabba).
The setest rhyme scheme is usually : lines 1 and 4, lines 2 and 5 and lines
3 and 6 ( cde cde).
The form used by William Shakespear is identified as the English sonnet.
It consists of three quatrains ( four line stanzas )
followed by a couplet ( two line stanza ).
The rhyming scheme is: abab cdcd efef gg.
An example of a sonnet written by William Shakespear is:
So oft have I invoked thee for my Muse, (A)
And found such faire assistance in my verse, (B)
As every Alien pen hath got my use, (A)
And under thee their poesy disperse. (B)
Thine eyes, that taught the dumb on high to sing, (C)
And heavy ignorance aloft to flie, (D)
Have added feathers to the learned's wing, (C)
And given grace a double majestie. (D)
Yet be most proud of that which I compile, (E)
Whose influence is thine and born of thee, (F)
In others'works thou dost but mend the style (E)
And arts with thy sweet graces graced be. (F)
But thou art all my art, and dost advance (G)
As high as learning my rude ignorance. (G)
So oft have I invoked thee for my Muse, (A)
And found such faire assistance in my verse, (B)
As every Alien pen hath got my use, (A)
And under thee their poesy disperse. (B)
Thine eyes, that taught the dumb on high to sing, (C)
And heavy ignorance aloft to flie, (D)
Have added feathers to the learned's wing, (C)
And given grace a double majestie. (D)
Yet be most proud of that which I compile, (E)
Whose influence is thine and born of thee, (F)
In others'works thou dost but mend the style (E)
And arts with thy sweet graces graced be. (F)
But thou art all my art, and dost advance (G)
As high as learning my rude ignorance. (G)
Sonnets