SONNET: What is it and

its components
MARK JESSON M. DATARIO
 Components of a Sonnet

14lines It represents a:

Pentameter 1. complete

Rhyme Scheme
thought;
2. sentiment; and
3. specific idea
 Components of a Sonnet
Five feet
14lines
Pentameter [Foot]
Rhyme Scheme 2-3 syllables

Five feet
10-15 syllables
 Meter: A side note

Meter
oMeasurement of poetry
based on the structural
rhythm of a verse
oBroken up into feet
 Meter: A side note
Foot
o Basic unit of measurement of a
meter
o 2-3 syllables
o it is the pattern of stressed
(accented) and unstressed
(unaccented) syllables
 Meter: A side note
trochee dactyl

anapest spondee

Types
iamb of pyrrhic
Feet
 Meter: A side note

1. Iamb and Anapest

o Rising meters
o 1 or 2 unstressed syllable/s
followed by a stressed syllable
o [ u / ] or [ u u /]
 Meter: A side note

I. Iamb o Examples:
u /
o [u/] 1.delight
u /
2.belong
u /
3.perchance
 Romeo and Juliet [iambic pentameter]
(William Shakespeare)

u / u / u / u / u /
But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks?
 Meter: A side note

II. Anapest o Examples:

u u /
o [uu/] 1. Understand

u u /
2. interupt
‘Twas the Night Before Christmas [anapestic tetrameter]
(CLEMENT CLARKE MOORE)

u u / uu / u u / u
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through
u /
the house
u u / u u /u u / u u /
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse
 Meter: A side note

4. Trochee and Dactyl

o Falling meters
o 1 stressed syllable followed
by 1 or 2 unstressed syllable/s
o [ / u ] or [ / u u ]
 Meter: A side note

I. Trochee o Examples:
/ u
o [/u]
1.lover
/ u
2.looking
 The Tiger [trochaic trimeter]
(William Blake)

/ u / u / u /
Tyger tyger, burning bright,

/ u / u / u /
In the forests of the night
 Meter: A side note

II. Dactyl oExamples:

/ uu / uu
o [/uu] 1.Indianapolis

/ u u / u u
2.characteristically
 The Charge of the Brigade [Dactylic Meter]
(Alfred Cord Tennyson)

/ u u / u u
Half a league, half a league

/ u u / u
Half a league onward
 Meter: A side note

5.Spondee
o 2 stressed syllables
o [ //]
 Meter: A side note

I. Spondee o Examples:
/ /
o [//]
1.heartbreak
/ /
2.breakdown
 Lepanto [1st 2feet: Spondee, 2nd 2feet: Anapestic]
(G. K. Chesterton)

/ / // u u / u u /
While fomats falling in the courts of the sun
 Meter: A side note

6. Pyrrhic
o 2 unstressed syllables
o [ uu]
 Meter: A side note

I. Pyyrhic o Examples:
u u
o [uu]
1. …in a…
u u
2. …and the…
 Meter: A side note

I. Pyyrhic

[ / u•uu•u / ] → [ / uu•uu / ]
 What is Sonnet?

“sonetto”[IT] – “little song” or small lyric

Giacomo Da Lentini

Francesco Petrarch [14th Century Italian

Poet]
Petrarchan Sonnet
1. Italian Sonnet Line 1
Line 2
A
B
Line 3 B
Line 4 A
Line 5 A OCTAVE
Line 6 B
Line 7 B
Line 8 A
Line 9 C C C
Line 10 D D D
Line 11 C E D
Line 12 D C C SESTET
Line 13 C D D
Line 14 D E C
Shakespearean Sonnet
2. English Sonnet Line 1 A
Line 2 B
Line 3 A QUATRAIN
Line 4 B Iambic
Line 5 C pentameter
Line 6 D
Line 7 C QUATRAIN
Line 8 D
Line 9 E
Line 10 F
Line 11 E
QUATRAIN
Line 12 F volta
Line 13 G
Line 14 G COUPLET
 Volta: A Side Note

“volta” [IT] means “turn”

The turn of thought or argument

 Volta: A Side Note
Petrarchan Sonnets Shakespearean Sonnets

Line 8 Line 12
 [Edmund Spenser]
3. Spenserian Sonnet Line 1 A
Line 2 B
Line 3 A QUATRAIN
Line 4 B
Line 5 B
Line 6 C QUATRAIN
Line 7 B
Line 8 C
Line 9 C yet/butv.
Line 10 D
Line 11 C
QUATRAIN
Line 12 D volta
n.

Line 13 E
Line 14 E COUPLET
 Traits: A Side Note

Each quatrain must

introduce its own idea, but
be closely related to one
another, and distinctly
different from the couplet
 Quatorzain: A Side Note

Poem consisting of 14 lines

All Sonnets = Quatorzains

All Quatrozain ≠ Sonnets
 4. Inverse Sonnet
Rhyme scheme and structure in
reverse order of a sonnet

[Couplet] vs [Quatrain]
[Quatrain] vs [Quatrain]
[Quatrain] vs [Quatrain]
[Quatrain] vs [Couplet]
 5. Word Sonnet

One word per line

14 words : 14 lines / 1:1
 6. Fusion Sonnet

1quatorzain + 1 septet as a
coda
14

7
 7. Curtail Sonnet
------------------------1
10½ lines ------------------------2
------------------------3
------------------------4
------------------------5
------------------------6

*1 stanza = 6 lines
st ------------------------1
------------------------2
------------------------3
2 stanza = 4½ lines
nd ------------------------4
------------- ½
 8. Meredithian Sonnet
------------------------1
------------------------2
------------------------3
------------------------4

16 lines ------------------------5

------------------------6

*4 quatrains with 8 ------------------------7

------------------------8

different rhymes ------------------------9

------------------------10
------------------------11
------------------------12

------------------------13
------------------------14
------------------------15
------------------------16
 Add-ons

Sonnet Sequence
Sonnet Cycle
Crown of Sonnets
Corona Sonnet
SONNET: What is it and
its components