University:
Alcorn State University
Course:
EN 213 | Studies in Literature
Academic year:

2020
Views:

359

Pages:

9
Author:

StellarSymphony

What is a Sonnet? Understanding the forms, meter, rhyme, and other aspects of the sonnet. Sonnets ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ‘Sonnet’ is the Anglicized version of the Italian word ‘Sonata.’ Roughly translated, it means ‘little song.’ Sonnets were a known literary form for centuries before Shakespeare started writing them. Sonnets were traditionally over-romantic poems about love (all sorts, even platonic/friendship) and beauty. Shakespeare was writing sonnets before and while he was writing plays. There are 154 known sonnets attributed to Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s Sonnets ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets can be split up into groups. Sonnets 1-126— “Fair Youth” Period. These are to a beautiful/attractive younger person. Sonnets 78-86— “Rival Poet” Period (within the “Fair Youth” Period). These poems address an unnamed rival author and speculate on that person’s talent and ability, as well as their claims on the unnamed Fair Youth’s affections. Sonnets 127-154– “Dark Mistress” Period. These poems are to an unnamed woman who is not traditionally beautiful, and is manipulative, but adored. Sonnet Form ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ A sonnet has 14 lines. A sonnet must be written in iambic pentameter. A sonnet must follow a specific rhyme scheme, depending on the type of sonnet. A sonnet can be about any subject, though they are often about love (all kinds) or nature (human and otherwise). A sonnet introduces a problem or question in the beginning. This puzzle will continue for at least two quatrains, possibly three. At some point, the sonnet will “turn”—the puzzle will be solved, readdressed, or reconsidered. It can also be a shift in tone, in rhyme, or in audience. The turn is called the “volta.” Iambic Pentameter ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ A line of Iambic Pentameter is a line with ten beats. An “Iamb” is two beats, or one “foot.” “Penta” is five (line has five “feet”). “Meter” is the rhythm of the poem. A “foot” is made of an unstressed syllable and a stressed syllable (in that order). When a line has scansion, or “scans,” it means it follows that pattern easily, with no weird break-ups of words. Iambic Pentameter Example: ⚫ Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? ⚫ Thou art more lovely and more temperate. English Sonnet: Fixed Rhyme Scheme ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ Shakespeare coined his own grouping of the fourteen lines. Before Shakespeare, sonnets were fourteen lines consisting of an octet and a sextet, both expressing different ideas. Shakespeare changed the format to have three quatrains (groups of four lines) and a couplet (two lines). The rhyme scheme is always abab cdcd efef gg, even if rhymes repeat or are ‘slant’ rhymes—meaning not exact rhymes. The turn (“volta”) is either in the third quatrain (Lines 9-12) or the couplet (Lines 13-14) "Sonnet XVIII" Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? A Thou art more lovely and more temperate: B Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, A And summer's lease hath all too short a date: B Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, C And often is his gold complexion dimm’d; D And every fair from fair sometime declines, C By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm’d; D But thy eternal summer shall not fade E Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st; F Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, E When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st; F So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, G So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. G Reading a Sonnet: ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ Read a sonnet THREE TIMES. Read it silently, LINE BY LINE, to understand the meaning. Read it out loud to hear the RHYTHM and RHYME. Read it to discover the PUZZLE AND the VOLTA.