Sonnet The Italian Sonnet The English Sonnet The Modern Sonnet

The term sonnet is derived from the Provençal word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning little song. By the thirteenth century, it had come to signify a poem of fourteen lines following a strict rhyme scheme and logical structure. These have changed during its history. This article focuses mainly on the Italian or Petrarchan sonnet and the English or Shakespearean sonnet.

1 The Italian Sonnet

The rules of the Italian sonnet were established by Guittone d'Arezzo ( 1235– 1294), who wrote almost 300 sonnets. Other Italian poets of the time, including Dante Alighieri ( 1265– 1321) and Guido CavalcantiGuido Cavalcanti (c. 1255 1300) was an Italian poet who was a friend and colleague of Dante. His poetry explores the philosophy of love. External link Cavalcanti, Guido. (c. 1250Events December 13 Death of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor Louis IX of France is captured by Muslims and has to ransom himself Mabinogion appears Albertus Magnus isolates the element arsenic Vincent of Beauvais writes proto-encyclopedic The Greater Mirr– 1300Events Beginning of the Renaissance. Abacus first used in China. Money from Florence, Italy becomes the first International Currency. Philip IV of France begins attempt to annex Flanders. Wenceslas II of Bohemia becomes King of Poland. Jubilee of Pope Bon) wrote sonnets, but the most famous early sonneteer was Francesco Petrarca ( 1304Events 20 July Fall of Stirling Castle: Edward I of England takes the last rebel stronghold in the Wars of Scottish Independence. Births Fransesco Petrarca, later known as Petrarch, Italian Renaissance humanist scholar. Walter VI of Brienne Deaths 7 July– 1374Events King Gongmin is assassinated and King U ascends to the Goryeo throne Births Thomas Holland, 1st Duke of Surrey. Deaths July 18 Francesco Petrarca or Petrarch, Italian Renaissance humanist scholar. Emperor Go-Kogon of Japan, fourth of the Northern A)

In its original form, the Italian sonnet was divided into an octave of eight lines followed by a sestet of six lines. The octave stated a proposition and the sestet stated its solution with a clear break between the two. The octave rhymed a-b-b-a, a-b-b-a. For the sestet there were two different possibilities, c-d-e-c-d-e and c-d-c-c-d-c. In time, other variants on this rhyming scheme were introduced. Typically, the ninth line created a "turn" or volta, which signaled the change in the topic or tone of the sonnet.

The first known sonnets in English, written by Sir Thomas WyattSir Thomas Wyatt ( 1503 October 6, 1542) was a poet and Ambassador in the service of Henry VIII. He first entered Henry's service in 1516 as 'Sewer Extraordinary', and the same year he began studying at St John's College of the University of Cambridge. and Henry Howard, Earl of SurreyHenry Howard, Earl of Surrey ( 1517 January 13, 1547) was an English aristocrat, and one of the founders of English Renaissance poetry. He born in Hunsdon, Hertfordshire, England, the eldest son of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, and his second wife,, used this Italian scheme, as did sonnets by later English poets including John MiltonJohn Milton ( December 9, 1608— November 8, 1674) was an English poet, most famous for his blank verse epic Paradise Lost''. His father, John Milton Sr. was a well-off scrivener, and his grandfather a wealthy landowner in Oxfordshire who, hewing to the ol, Thomas Gray, William Wordsworth and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. However, these poets tended to ignore the strict logical structure of proposition and solution.

This example, On His Being Arrived to the Age of Twenty-three by Milton, gives a sense of the Italian Form:

2 The English Sonnet

Main article: Shakespearean sonnet

Soon after the introduction of the Italian sonnet, English poets began to develop the native form. These poets included Sir Philip Sidney, Michael Drayton, Samuel Daniel and William Shakespeare. The form is often named after Shakespeare, not because he was the first to write in this form but because he became its most famous practitioner.

The form consists of three quatrains of four lines and a couplet of two lines. The couplet generally introduced an unexpected sharp thematic or imagistic "turn". The usual rhyme scheme was a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g.

This example, Shakespeare's Sonnet 116, illustrates the form:

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove.

O no, it is an ever fixed mark

That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wand'ring barque,

Whose worth's unknown although his height be taken.

Love's not time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle's compass come;

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

If this be error and upon me proved,

I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

A variant on this form is the Spenserian sonnet, named after Edmund Spenser (c. 1552– 1599) in which the rhyme scheme is a-b-a-b, b-c-b-c, c-d-c-d, e-e. This example is taken from Amoretti

Happy ye leaves! whenas those lily hand

Happy ye leaves! whenas those lily hands,

Which hold my life in their dead doing might,

Shall handle you, and hold in love's soft bands,

Like captives trembling at the victor's sight.

And happy lines! on which, with starry light,

Those lamping eyes will deign sometimes to look,

And read the sorrows of my dying sprite,

Written with tears in heart's close bleeding book.

And happy rhymes! bathed in the sacred brook

Of Helicon, whence she derived is,

When ye behold that angel's blessed look,

My soul's long lacked food, my heaven's bliss.

Leaves, lines, and rhymes seek her to please alone,

Whom if ye please, I care for other none.

3 The Modern Sonnet

As mentioned earlier, many English poets have used the sonnet form to great effect. The sonnet also became popular in French poetry , with even such avant garde figures as Arthur Rimbaud and Stéphane Mallarmé writing sonnets.

With the advent of free verse, the sonnet came to be seen as somewhat old-fashioned and fell out of use for a time among some schools of poets. However, a number of 20th century poets, including John Berryman and Seamus Heaney, rose to the challenge of reinvigorating the form successfully. There were also many renowned poets who wrote sonnets throughout the 20th century, such as Edna St. Vincent Millay and Pablo Neruda.

The 21st century has seen a strong resurgence of the sonnet form, as there are many sonnets now appearing in print and on the Internet. Richard Vallance publishes a Canadian E-Zine, SONNETTO POESIA ISSN 1705-4524, dedicated to the sonnet, villanelle and quatrain forms, while Sara Russell is the Editor of the UK E-Zine, Poetry Life and Times, where she publishes hundreds of sonnets. Richard Vallance, who is the Editor for rhymed verse for Poetry Life & Times, also authors the monthly Vallance Review on historical and contemporary sonneteers. LINKS for both of these E-Zins are found below. Michael Burch publishes The Hypertexts.com and there are sonnets from well known poets on his site.

4 See also

5 External links

These links are to sites with texts in English only:

Poetic form

<Hide>

Home > Sonnet