Although as a general rule the sonnet is defined as a poem composed of fourteen hendecasyllable verses, there are notable differences between the most common forms of sonnet: the Petrarchian (Italian) and the Elizabethan (English). This article will describe how to respect both of these forms, then discuss how to expand the horizons of the sonnet with its lesser known forms.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Writing an Elizabethan Sonnet
Step 1. Use the Elizabethan or Shakespearean rhyming scheme
If you are a beginner to sonnets, this form is ideal to start with, because it follows the most regular and clear rhyming pattern and structure. The rhyming scheme of an Elizabethan sonnet is always the following:
- ABABCDCDEFEFGG
- These letters represent the sounds that appear at the end of each verse.
- Therefore, following this pattern of alternating rhymes, we discover that the last word of the first verse must rhyme with the last of the third; the second will remain with the fourth; the fifth with the seventh; the sixth with the eighth and so on, up to the final rhyming couplet.
Step 2. Write the lines in iambic pentameter
The iambic pentameter is a type of poetic meter, which is a means of measuring the rhythm of a verse. The pentameter is a very regular meter and one of the most common in English language poetry.
- "Pentameter" comes from the Greek word "penta" (five), and consequently has five poetic "feet". Each foot is a unit of two syllables; consequently, a pentameter contains ten syllables.
- "Iambic" means that each foot is a "iamb". The iambs consist of an unstressed syllable, followed by a stressed syllable, which has a "ta-TUM" rhythm. The word "hel-LO" is an example of a iambo.
- An iambic pentameter is therefore a verse with five iambic feet, which give a 10-syllable rhythm of the type ta-TUM ta-TUM ta-TUM ta-TUM ta-TUM.
- An example of an iambic pentameter is "Shall I / comPARE / thee TO / a SUM / mer's DAY?" (from Shakespeare's "Sonnet 18")
Step 3. Vary the meter from time to time
Even almost every line in an Elizabethan sonnet should be written in iambic pentameter, the rhythm can become predictable and mundane if you always use the same consistently. By varying the accent pattern at key moments, you can break the monotony and make the poem more interesting to the ear, as well as draw attention to the most important phrases.
- The third verse of Shakespeare's "Sonnet 18", for example, begins with a spondeo, or two consecutive stressed syllables: TUM-TUM
- After two lines in perfect iambic pentameter, he wrote: "ROUGH WINDS / do SHAKE / the DAR / ling BUDS / of MAY"
- This variation breaks the rhythm and focuses on the harshness of the wind described.
Step 4. Follow the structure of the rooms of the Shakespearean sonnet
A sonnet in this form consists of three heroic quatrains and a heroic couplet. A heroic quatrain is a group of four lines in iambic pentameter with ABAB rhyme scheme; a heroic couplet is a group of two lines in iambic pentameter with rhyme AA.
- In the Shakespearean sonnet, the three heroic quatrains are the "ABAB CDCD EFEF" part of the rhyming scheme.
- The heroic couplet is the closing "GG".
- You can separate these stanzas with loose lines, or write them consecutively into a continuous poem, but the sonnet should be born out of these structured stanzas.
Step 5. Develop your stanzas carefully
Even though your poem should have a single theme, each verse should develop the idea further. Think of each quatrain as a paragraph in which to explore an element of the poem's topic. Each quatrain should prepare the final couplet, where traditionally there is a twist or realization. The turning point, which occurs in the thirteenth verse of the Shakespearean sonnet, offers a resolution or comment to the problem developed by the first three quatrains. You may find it useful to look at an example, such as Shakespear's "Sonnet 30":
- Quatrain 1 introduces the situation: "When I cite the memory of past days at the call of silent thought, I sigh for the absence of many coveted things". This quatrain uses legal terminology to convey the message: appeal and quote.
- Quatrain 2 begins with the transitional word "then", which suggests the connection with quatrain 1, but continues in the development of the idea: "I feel my eyes flooding for friends buried in the eternal night of death". The language of commerce was used in this quatrain.
- Quatrain 3 begins again with the transitional word "then" and further develops the idea of trade (bill, I pay): "I worry about past misfortunes … I review the unfortunate bill … which I still pay as if I had never paid ".
- The final couplet marks the turning point with the word "Ma", which suggests the discontinuity with the previous verses, the introduction of a new thought. There is no resolution to the grief problem in this case, but there is a consideration of loss and grief: "But if I think of you in that moment, dear friend, every loss is compensated and every pain ends. ". Again images of the trade were used (loss, compensated).
Step 6. Choose your topic carefully
While you can write a Shakespearean sonnet on any subject, traditionally they are love poems; you may want to consider this if you want to write a purely traditional sonnet.
- Note that for the structure centered on the first lines of the Shakespearean sonnet, the form does not take to very complex or abstract topics. The turning point and resolution must come quickly, in the final two verses, so choose a topic that can easily be resolved with a witty closing couplet.
- If you want to deal with a more contemplative subject, a Petrarchian sonnet is better suited.
Step 7. Write your Shakespearean sonnet
Remember to follow the rhyming pattern, to write in iambic pentameters with some variation from time to time, and to develop the subject in the three heroic quatrains, before offering a twist and resolution in the final heroic couplet.
Use rhymes if you can't find the rhymes to end the lines
Method 2 of 3: Writing a Petrarchian Sonnet
Step 1. Use the outline of the Petrarchian sonnet
While the Shakespearean sonnet always follows the same rhyming scheme, the Petrarchian one does not have a single scheme. Although the first eight lines always follow the ABBA ABBA rhyming pattern, the last six lines have variations. There are five schemes, however, which are the most common in the tradition:
- CDCDCD
- CDDCDC
- CDECDE
- CDECED
- CDCEDC
Step 2. Use hendecasyllable verses
All lines should be written in hendecasyllables, but you can insert metric variations from time to time (e.g. septenaries) to liven up the rhythm and draw attention to the most important phrases.
Step 3. Develop the contents following the structure of the Petrarchan stanzas
While the Elizabethan sonnet had an upward biased structure, consisting of 3 quatrains and a couplet, the Petrarchian sonnet is more balanced, with two quatrains and two triplets developing the poem's argument. For this reason, it is suitable for complex topics that require many lines to solve. The two quatrains introduce and present a problem. The turning point occurs at the beginning of the first triplet (verse 9); the two triplets offer new considerations regarding the dilemma presented in the quatrains. Consider William Wordsworth's "Nuns Fret Not at Their Convent's Narrow Room" as an example of analysis:
- The two quatrains progress through a series of examples of creatures and people who are not bothered by limited spaces.
- The progression passes from the most respected elements of society to the most humble ones: from nuns, to hermits, to scholars, from manual workers to insects.
- The turning point in this sonnet is, in effect, one verse earlier than usual, at the end of the second quatrain. While not a completely traditional choice, poets have often experimented with structure and manipulated it according to their preferences. You too must feel free to do the same.
- In verse 8, "In truth" marks the turning point; from then on, Wordsworth will consider the idea of being comfortable in tight spaces.
- The two triplets suggest that the formal structure of the sonnet - with its rhyming scheme, hendecasyllable verse and the rigid structure of quatrains and triplets - is not a prison, but a means for the poet to free himself and "find relief." He hopes the reader shares this sentiment too.
- Triplets introduce a consideration that allows us to better understand the people and things described in the quatrains.
Step 4. Write your Petrarchian sonnet
As you did for the Elizabethan sonnet, remember the rhyming pattern and strophe structure of the sonnet, as well as the hendecasyllable meter of the lines. Note that you can, however, manipulate the structure according to your needs. The sonnet has been changed in many ways throughout history, so don't hesitate.
A beautiful example of a manipulated Petrarchian sonnet is Edna St. Vincent Millay's "I Will Put Chaos into Fourteen Lines", a sonnet about writing a sonnet. Millay employs the Petrarchian rhyming scheme and meter, but interrupts the lines with enjambements (line breaks in the middle of a sentence) and occasional meter variations to highlight his problems with the sonnet structure
Method 3 of 3: Experimenting with Less Common Sonnet Forms
Step 1. Explore proportions with the cut sonnet
This form was developed by Gerard Manley Hopkins, and takes its name from the manipulation of the Petrarchian form which involves a "cut" of the poem. Mathematically, the cut sonnet is precisely 3/4 of the Petrarchian sonnet. By experimenting with this form, you can explore how a Petrarchian sonnet fits into a more limited space. Consider whether in your opinion anything changes in the relationship between the two halves of the poem.
- The cut sonnet is composed of a sixth with an ABCABC rhyming scheme and a fifth with a DCBDC or DBCDC rhyming scheme.
- Even if it might seem to you 11 lines, or slightly more than 3/4 of the 14 lines of a Petrarchian sonnet, in fact this composition is made up of 10, 5 lines; this is because the last verse of the quint is a quinary.
- Except for the last verse, the sonnet is nevertheless written in hendecasyllables.
- Hopkins' Pied Beauty is a famous example of a cut sonnet. Note that the last verse, "Praise be to you," truncates the eleventh verse at the desired 3/4 ratio.
Step 2. Experiment with line breaks and fluidity with the Miltonian sonnet
This form, developed by John Milton, also takes the Petrarchian sonnet as its basis, and has an almost identical structure. However, if the Petrarchian sonnet envisaged a split between the quatrains and triplets, separated by a turn, Milton wanted to explore what would have happened if the sonnet had not presented this separation.
- A Miltonian sonnet adopts ABBAABBACDECDE as a rhyming scheme and is written in iambic pentameters.
- In some cases, however, the turning point is omitted, and rather "enjambements."
- When a verse or verse is interrupted at a point that does not represent the logical syntactic conclusion (where you would normally find a full stop, comma or semicolon), an enjambement is created. An example of a verse with enjambement is: "sol with a wood and with that companion / small from which it was not deserted." (Dante - Inferno, canto XXVI).
- Read Milton's "On His Blindness" for an example of a Miltonian sonnet. Note how enjambements are used in individual lines and in the division between quatrains and triplets.
Step 3. Explore a different rhyming scheme with the Spenserian sonnet
While the cut sonnet and the Miltonian sonnet adopted the Petrarchian sonnet as a basis, the Spenserian sonnet, developed by Edmund Spender, has the Elizabethan sonnet as a model. But he explores a pattern of intertwined rhymes.
- It is composed of three heroic quatrains and a heroic couplet, like the Elizabethan sonnet. It is also written in iambic pentameters.
- The rhyme scheme, however, differs from that of the tradition in its alternation: the second rhyme of each quatrain becomes the first of the following.
- The resulting rhyme scheme is ABAB BCBC CDCD EE.
- Compare it to the rhyming scheme of the Elizabethan sonnet: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.
- The intertwined rhyme scheme produces three quatrains more sonorously linked by repeated rhyme sounds, especially in the transitions between quatrains, when the last verse of the previous one is immediately repeated in the next.
- As the Miltonian stanzas explore the relationship between parts of the Petrarchian sonnet using line breaks and enjambement, the Spenserian sonnet explores the relationship between parts of the Elizabethan sonnet using intertwined rhyming schemes.
Step 4. Explore shorter stanzas and different rhyme schemes using the third rhyme sonnet With the exception of the cut sonnet, all the forms mentioned use a quatrain as the first section
The sonnet, however, is written using crossed triplets.
- It is however written in iambic pentameters and has 14 lines.
- However, it follows the rhyming scheme ABA BCB CDC DAD AA. Note that the rhyme "A" of the opening triplet is repeated in the second verse of the fourth triplet and in the heroic closing couplet.
- Even more than the Spenserian sonnet, the third rhyme sonnet requires to consider the relationship between the stanzas of the poem, developed not only through the argument, but also through the sounds.
- By dividing the first part of the poem into a group of three verses and not four, it is necessary to express ideas more quickly and concisely in the stanzas.
- An example of a third rhyme sonnet is Robert Frost's Acquainted with the Night.
Step 5. Experiment with the sonnet form on your own
As you can see from the many forms presented in this article, poets have taken the liberty of modifying the sonnet throughout history. Although the sonnet gained popularity thanks to Petrarch, from whom the more traditional form of this poem takes its name, it has evolved enormously in the hands of many great poets such as Shakespeare, who devised the Elizabethan form. But authors like Hopkins, Milton and Spenser felt free to change the rules of the classic forms of the sonnet, and you should too. Here are some elements that you can modify according to your creativity:
- Length of lines - what would change if I tried to write a sonnet in iambic or septenary tetrameters?
- Metro - what would happen if I completely abandoned the iambic meter or hendecasyllable verses? Try reading “Carrion Comfort” by Gerard Manley Hopkins, which follows all the rules of the Petrarchian sonnet, except the meter.
- Rhyming scheme - what would happen if I wrote the two quatrains of a Petrarchian sonnet in heroic couplets (AA BB CC DD)?
- Does a sonnet need rhymes? Many contemporary sonnets do not have them. Take Dawn Lundy's “[When the bed is empty…]” as an example.
Advice
- Try to read aloud and stress a yes and a no syllable; in this way it will be easier to follow the iambic pentameter. You can also clap your hand on the table or clap to give more emphasis to the rhythm.
- Read as many sonnets as possible, of different types. The more familiar you are with the form, the better you will be able to write your sonnets.
