Download Sonnets – Terms to Know

Sonnets – Terms to Know
Sonnet – a 14 line lyric poem with a single theme. Each line in a sonnet is usually in
iambic pentameter – five groups of two syllables, each with the accent on the second
syllable. A sonnet can be divided into two sections: the first presents the theme or raises
and issue and the second answers the question or resolves the problem.
Rhyme scheme – a pattern of rhymes in a poem, marked by letters to symbolize which
lines rhyme.
Quatrain – a stanza of four lines, usually with alternating rhymes.
Couplet – a pair of successive lines in a verse that rhyme.
Spenserian sonnet – rhymes abab bcbc cdcd ee.
Petrarchan (or Italian) sonnet – divided in to an eight-line octave, rhyming abba abba,
followed by a six-line sextet, rhyming cdecde. Often, the octave poses a problem that is
answered in the sestet.
Octave – first eight lines of a Petrarchan sonnet.
Sestet – last six lines of a Petrarchan sonnet.
Shakespearean sonnet –a sonnet of fourteen lines with five iambic feet to a line.
Follows the rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef gg or three quatrains (four line stanzas)
followed by a rhyming couplet, often a dramatic statement that resolves or restates the
central problem of the sonnet.
Turn – the change in a sonnet from the posing to the answering of a question or theme.
In Petrarchan sonnets, the turn is from the octave to the sestet. In Shakespearean sonnets,
the turn is from the third quatrain to the couplet.
Meter – in verse or poetry, the length of the lines that contain a recurring pattern of
stressed and unstressed syllables. The type of meter is determined by the type of foot and
the number of feet in the line.
Foot – each pair of stressed and unstressed syllables makes up foot in poetry.
Sonnet sequence – multiple sonnets are linked by theme or the person to whom they are
addressed.
Types of Feet in Sonnets
Iamb (Iambic)
Trochee (Trochaic)
Spondee (Spondaic)
Anapest (Anapestic)
Dactyl (Dactylic)
Pyrrhic
Two syllables
Two syllables
Two syllables
Three syllables
Three syllables
Two syllables
Unstressed + Stressed
Stressed + Unstressed
Stressed + Stressed
Unstressed + Unstressed + Stressed
Stressed + Unstressed + Unstressed
Unstressed + Unstressed
Types of Meter in Sonnets
Monometer – One Foot
Dimeter Two Feet
Trimeter Three Feet
Tetrameter - Four Feet
Pentameter - Five Feet
Hexameter - Six Feet
Heptameter - Seven Feet
Octameter - Eight Feet
Examples: Shakespeare’s sonnets are traditionally in Iambic Pentameter, which is a five
foot line, containing five Unstressed + Stressed syllables.
Ie: Shall I com PARE thee TO a SUM mer’s DAY?
What type of Meter and Foot would this line from Shakespeare’s Macbeth be?
“Double, Double, Toil and Trouble.”
What type of Meter and Food would this line from Twas the Night Before Christmas be?
“Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.”
What type of meter and foot would this line from Dr. Seuss be?
“One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish.”