A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter.

Definitions of poetry can be boring, and might get in the way of reading the poetry itself. Definitions can be risky, because they may encourage over-analysis and diminish enjoyment.. Definitions can be wrong, because poets never follow slavishly any particular rules all of the time.

Given the above warnings, why should a poet follow or invent a particular form? Making use of a particular pattern (such as a sonnet form) allows a poet to display his or her skill. Taking full advantage of a pattern, exploding and exploiting a structure, meter or rhyme scheme, breaking the rules consciously and for effect—these practices are fun and interesting for both poet and reader. Designing ideas to conform to a particular pattern forces the poet to be concise and imaginative. Fitting a fully expressed idea into the framework of a sonnet (or any other form) serves as a challenge—a problem to be solved elegantly, brilliantly, and sometimes, humorously.

Imagine the game of baseball if there was no diamond—bases could be anywhere, there would be no foul ball territory, the pitcher could pitch in the general directions of the batter, but the batter could move around! The diamond in baseball (or the grid in football, or the court in many sports) forces the players to observe certain conventions that make the game more sensible for the players and comprehensible to the observers. If, in basketball, the hoop was only seven feet from the floor, Michael Jordan would never have developed or displayed his awesome talent. The ability to operate successfully within the strictures of the particular playing field is part of the athlete’s skill and plays a major role in most athletic contests. Particular "forms" of poetry function in much the same way. (Poet’s are also fond of analogies and comparisons and metaphors: notice the above comparison between the sonnet form and a playing field!)

A Shakespearean sonnet is made up of three quatrains and a couplet.

A quatrain is four lines of verse; a couplet is two lines.

The formula for a Shakespearean sonnet is sometimes expressed as 4+4+4+2.

The rhyme scheme in a Shakespearean sonnet is ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG. This means that in each of the first three quatrains, the first and third lines rhyme with each other, as do the second and fourth lines. In the final couplet, the two lines rhyme with each other. This final couplet gives the ending of the poem an added punch.

You might find it helpful to think of a sonnet as a little story or scene. It explores and resolves a thought or an experience, and frequently contains a ‘turn’ or change of thought. The first three quatrains may develop an argument or give accumulating examples. The final couplet draws a conclusion or acts as a sting in the tail—ironically pointing up a paradox, or even completely contradicting the preceding 12 lines. Sometimes the first 12 lines raise questions that the final couplet either summarizes or answers.

Shakespeare’s sonnets are written in iambic pentameter (a technical term, which describes how the rhythm of poetry is measured). Each line is divided into syllables, and syllables are designated as stressed or unstressed, that is, accented or not accented in the "normal" pronunciation of the word.. "Pentameter" comes from the Greek language. ‘Penta’ means five, and ‘meter’ means measure. "Pentameter" means that there are five stressed syllables in a measure of verse.

Here is the opening line of Sonnet 12:

     x         /      x             /         x             /           x               /         x           /

(Notice how the steady, ponderous, one-syllable-at-a-time rhythm imitates the ticking of a clock. Poets love to create forms which illustrate or underscore the meaning.

The x indicates an unstressed syllable, while the / indicates stress. There are five pairs of syllables (pentameter); the first syllable is unstressed, and the second stressed. When we have a pattern of two syllables, the first unstressed and the second stressed, that pattern is called iambic. One pair of such syllables is an iamb.

Compare the two-syllable combinations that follow:

Alta

Des Moines

Which is an iamb?

Here is the structure and rhyme scheme of Sonnet 76. I picked this one because Shakespeare himself talks about why he writes in this particular sonnet form (and he wrote 156 of them!)

As you examine the sense of the sonnet, see if you can answer the following questions:

Why does Shakespeare write in a pattern so recognizable that it is almost like stating his name?

How does Shakespeare’s analogy to the sun, expressed in the final couplet, work for you?

 

 

Note: the meaning of the word "weed" is old-fashioned here: it means dress or clothing, as in a term I remember from my youth, i.e., "widow’s weeds" meaning black garments.

Quatrain 1 (lines 1-4) Rhyme Scheme