There are two types of sonnets: Petrarchan and Shakespearean. Both have 14 lines and are written in iambic pentameter. The Petrarchan sonnet has a rhyme scheme of ABBAABBA in the first stanza and various options in the second. The Shakespearean sonnet has three stanzas of four lines and a rhyming couplet, with a rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.
There are two basic types of sonnets, the older Petrarchan form and the more familiar Shakespearean sonnet. While both types of sonnets contain 14 lines, these lines are grouped differently and the rhyme schemes of the sonnets are also different. Where the Petrarchan or Italian sonnet is organized in two stanzas, the Shakespearean or English sonnet is organized in four.
Both types of sonnets are written in iambic pentameter, which means that each line contains five bars with every other syllable stressed. The Italian sonnet divides those lines into a group of eight and a group of six. The sonnet rhyme schemes in the first stanza are traditionally found with the first, fourth, fifth and eight lines rhyming with each other and the second, third, six and seventh lines carrying a second rhyme. If the first set of rhymes is called A and the second set is called B, the rhyme scheme is visually represented as ABBAABBA.
The second verse contains six lines and there are a number of accepted variations to the three new rhymes that are introduced. If those rhymes are represented by the letters C, D, and E, the sonnet rhyme schemes they create can appear in many ways. The first two lines, second two lines and third two lines can each rhyme as CC, DD and EE. Alternatively, the rhymes may be spread across the six lines, such as CDECDE or CDEEDC. Occasionally other arrangements are used, such as CDCEDE or even EDCDEC, which contain the words in rhyme but do not place them in a pattern of lines.
In contrast, the English sonnet is organized into three stanzas containing four lines each together with a rhyming couplet of two lines. As with the Italian sonnet, each line has five bars, or meters; this is called pentameter. Traditionally, lines are broken up into iambic bars, which stress the second, fourth, sixth, eighth and tenth syllables.
The English sonnet allows for a greater number of rhyming pairs in the poem, meaning that the poet is less limited in his choice of words and ultimately in how the subject of the poem unfolds. Every other line builds throughout the poem, but each new stanza is an opportunity for a new rhyming couple. Thus, rhyme schemes for English sonnets can be written as ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, with the final rhyme found in the rhyming couplet summarizing the theme of the poem, which typically offers a twist or deeper meaning.
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