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Tips for analyzing a sonnet include understanding its theme, form, meter, rhyme, and figures of speech. The poem should be paraphrased, and the type of sonnet determined. Variations in meter and figures of speech should also be noted.
There are many tips and techniques available to help a reader analyze a sonnet. For an analysis of the sonnet, the reader must first have a basic understanding of the poem, its theme and form. Meter, rhyme and figures of speech are also dissected. A comprehensive sonnet analysis will also include information about the poet’s background and the historical context of that specific poem.
The first step to understanding a poem is to paraphrase it. In addition, the speaker, point of view, subject and setting should be determined. Since sonnets are relatively short poems, these questions can only be answered vaguely. Many sonnets are love poems, in which the speaker is a lover and the subject, her beloved of him.
An analysis of the sonnet should determine the theme of the poem in question. The theme of many sonnets is love, whether it is unrequited love, separation from the beloved, or simply adoration of the beloved. Others are about death, change, or the process and value of writing. Some sonnets almost act as parodies of typical love sonnets.
Sonnets come in two forms, including the Petrarchan sonnet and the Shakespearean sonnet. Any sonnet analysis must determine what type of sonnet is being discussed. Petrarchan sonnets consist of both an octave and a sextet, with the rhyme scheme written as ABBAABBA CDECDE. A Shakespearean sonnet, also known as an Elizabethan sonnet, consists of three quatrains and a couplet, typically ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.
Rhymes are an essential part of sonnet analysis. Any change from the expected rhyme, such as an oblique rhyme or eye rhyme, should signal the analyzer to revise that line. The enjambment increases the speed and makes the poem more casual, while the broken lines add further emphasis.
Although sonnets are always written in iambic pentameter, writers often vary the meter for emphasis. Three stressed syllables in a row slow down the poem, stressing all three. On the other hand, two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable speed reading, often giving the sonnet a lighter mood. Other variations can add different accents.
In an analysis of the sonnet, readers should pay attention to any figures of speech used. Some, like alliteration, assonance, and onomatopoeia, help the poem sound like what it means. Others, such as metaphors and similes, help the reader see the subject in different ways. More effects are achieved by a variety of figures of speech, including metonymy, synecdoche, personification, and puns.
