Sonnet - Definition and Types




What is a sonnet?

The word sonnet has been derived from the Italian word sonetto which means a short song or lyric. It is a short poem having 14 lines. The credit for creating this poetic form goes to the Italian poet Petrarch who wrote a large number of love sonnets.

Types of Sonnets

Broadly speaking, there are two types of sonnets – the Petrarchan sonnet also known as the classical sonnet and the Shakespearean sonnet.

The Petrarchan or classical sonnet is named after the Italian poet Petrarch who wrote a large number of sonnets addressed to the already married lady, Laura, with whom he had fallen in love. It is divided into two stanzas. The first stanza consists of eight lines and is known as the octave and the second stanza consists of six lines and is known as the sestet. The rhyme scheme of the octave is abbaabba 
and that of the sestet is cdecde or sometimes cdccdc. The octave offers the reader the subject of the sonnet which is generally an argument, observation or even a question. The sestet proceeds to make a change to the subject or provide a resolution to the argument or an answer to the question. The contrast which begins with line 9 is called the volta.

The Shakespearean sonnet is named after Shakespeare. Shakespeare was not its creator but he wrote a large number of sonnets following this pattern. It differs from the Petrarchan sonnet in its division of the lines and its rhyme scheme. It consists of three quatrains followed by a couplet. The rhyme scheme is abab, cdcd, efef, gg. The three quatrains present the subject and the couplet at the end clinches the argument. While the theme of the Petrarchan sonnet is love, Shakespearean sonnet also deals with other material themes like friendship.

Edmund Spenser, a contemporary of Shakespeare, introduced a variation to the rhyme scheme of the Shakespearean sonnet although he continued to divide his sonnets into three quatrains and a couplet like Shakespeare. Spenser used the rhyme scheme abab, bcbc, cdcd, ee. His sonnets also deal mostly with the theme of love.


Miltonic sonnet is another minor variety of sonnets. It is in fact an evolution of the Shakespearean sonnet. It often portrays an internal struggle or conflict rather than the themes of the material world. It also sometimes violates the traditional limits on rhyme and length. In some of his sonnets, Milton also followed the Petrarchan pattern. Death Be Not Proud is one such sonnet written by Milton.


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