Sonnets

Sonnet 18
Originally uploaded by Cláudio Gil

Hey kids!

Here is the information I gave you in class on sonnets:

A sonnet is a poem of fourteen iambic pentameter lines. It follows one of several set rhyme schemes. The two basic types are:

•The Italian or Petrarchan sonnet: generally an octave + a sestet (abbaabba + cdecde, cdcdcd or cdedce). The octave presents a narrative, rasises a question or states a proposition to which the sestet then responds.

•The English or Shakespearean sonnet: uses four divisions, three quatrains + rhymed couplet for a conclusion. The quatrains can have different rhyme schemes, but the typical pattern is abab cdcd efef gg.

But there is a third type:

•The Spenserian: although not as popular, this style complicates the Shakespearean form by linking rhymes in the quatrains: abab bcbc cdcd ee.

A "conceit" is a fanciful notion, generally expressed through an elaborate analogy or metaphor. The sonnet tradition carried its own peculiar conceits which have made their way into our social consciousness.

From Petrarch, the sonneteers of the Renaissance took not only a conventional form but also conventional sentiments. The relation between the poet and his beloved is presented in terms of an idealized courtly love: the persona is a "humble servant" tossed by a tempest on the sea of despair, the beloved can wound with a glance, and her beauty is described in stereotypical fashion. Her cheeks are like roses, her eyes sparkle, and her lips are ruby red.

Shakespeare pokes great fun at such conventions with his "Sonnet 130: My Mistress' Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun."