A sonnet is a type of poem with a specific rhyme scheme, metrical structure, and cultural conventions. It has 14 lines with a specific alternating rhyme pattern and is written in iambic pentameter. The topics often center around love, war, and human mortality, and the final two lines serve as a closing summary. The sonnet originated from Italian poetry and has variations based on cultural backgrounds.
The characteristics of a sonnet are its rhyme scheme, its metrical structure, its common themes, and its specific cultural conventions. This type of poem traditionally has a small number of lines with final words that must rhyme according to a certain formula. These literature rules determine whether a piece of poetry is classified as a sonnet rather than another type of poetry such as blank verse. Sonnets also have some variation based on the backgrounds of their authors, but these structural differences must still fall within specific parameters. Language scholars generally believe that this type of written verse originated from a form of Italian poetry called a sonnet that was recited to musical accompaniment, which explains the uniform rhythmic characteristics of this type of poetry.
Each line of a sonnet is written with exactly 10 bars and an arrangement of words with alternating syllabic accents. The first syllable of the first word is unstressed, followed by a stressed syllable and then another unstressed syllable. A complete line in this poetic form contains exactly five unstressed and five stressed syllables. This meter structure is known as iambic pentameter, and its distinctive rhythm is meant to mimic that of the human heartbeat. Poetry written in this well-known form is often referred to as the Shakespearean sonnet style.
A sonnet contains four sets of lines called quatrains made up of four lines each. The first three quatrains have four lines and the final quatrain has only two lines, which also serves as a closing line summarizing the whole theme of the poem. All four quatrains total 14 lines of poetry, and the final words of each line must follow a specific rhyme scheme. The last word of the first line of a sonnet must rhyme with the last word of the third line. This alternating rhyme pattern continues through the rest of the poem with a different rhyming sound for each of the first three quatrains.
A sonnet’s topics often center around love, war, and human mortality, although these can vary according to the poet’s preferences and cultural background. The common themes of an English poem may often be different from those of an Italian poem, and the rhyme schemes of each may also sometimes differ according to established conventions. A notable distinction is that an Italian sonnet does not usually end with the same two concluding lines which are also called a couplet.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
