TOPIC: *SONNET*
LETURER: *SPIC, CHARLES DUNCAN*


The word *Sonnet* is derived from the Italian sonetto, which means "a little sound or song,"

the sonnet is a popular classical form that has compelled poets for centuries.
Traditionally, the sonnet is a fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter, which employ one of several rhyme schemes and adhere to a tightly structured thematic organization.
Writers of sonnets are sometimes called "sonneteers",

Although this term can be can be considered to be derisive.

‪There are two major forms of Sonnets. It is from these that all other Sonnet types derive from:
*1. the Petrarchan and *2. the Shakespearean.*

Needless to say that the Shakespearean sonnet also derives from the Petrarchan Sonnet

*1. Petrarch sonnet also* called Italian sonnet.
It is named after one of the greatest Italian poets called Petrarch.

The Petrarchan sonnet is divided into two stanzas:
*the octave (the first eight lines)
*followed by the answering sestet (the final six lines).
The tightly woven rhyme scheme, abba, abba, cdecde or cdcdcd, is suited for the rhyme-rich Italian language, though there are many fine examples in English.

Since the Petrarchan presents an argument, observation, question, or some other answerable charge in the octave, a turn, or volta, occurs between the eighth and ninth lines.

This turn marks a shift in the direction of the foregoing argument or narrative, turning the sestet into the vehicle for the counterargument, clarification, or whatever answer the octave demands.

Sir Thomas Wyatt introduced the Petrarchan sonnet to England in the early sixteenth century. His famed translations of Petrarch’s sonnets, as well as his own sonnets, drew fast attention to the form.
*An example of a Petrarchan Sonnet*
*Note the following in the example*
‬: *the stanzaic pattern*-
First stanza has 8 lines( octave)
second stanza has 6 lines(sestet).
* the rhyme scheme
The octave has ABBAABBAThe remaining 6 lines is called the sestet and can have either two or three rhyming sounds, arranged in a variety of ways:
c d c d c d
c d d c d c
c d e c d e
c d e c e d
c d c e d c

*The New Colossus' by Emma Lazarus:*
'Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, (a)
With conquering limbs astride from land to land; (b)
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand (b)
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame (a)
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name (a)
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand (b)
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command (b)
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. (a)


'Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!' cries she (c)
With silent lips. 'Give me your tired, your poor, (d)
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, (c)
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. (d)
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, (c)
*I lift my lamp beside the golden door!' (d)*

The letters in brackets were added to highlight the rhyme scheme.
The afore pasted Sonnet has the following rhyme scheme:
*Abbaabba cdcdcd*

The exact pattern of sestet rhymes (unlike the octave pattern)is flexible.
In strict practice, the one thing that is to be avoided in the sestet is ending with a couplet (dd or ee)

*Here is another example from John Milton:*

What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,
I have forgotten, and what arms have lain
Under my head till morning; but the rain
Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh
Upon the glass and listen for reply,
And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain
For unremembered lads that not again
Will turn to me at midnight with a cry.

Thus in winter stands the lonely tree,
Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one,
Yet knows its boughs more silent than before:
I cannot say what loves have come and gone,
I only know that summer sang in me
*A little while, that in me sings no more.*

You will note that the Octave still has the rhyme scheme ABBAABBA.
However the rhyme scheme in the second part of the poem, the sestet maybe be variable.

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, a contemporary of Wyatt’s, modified the Petrarchan thus establishing the structure that became known as the Shakespearean sonnet.

This structure has been noted to lend itself much better to the comparatively rhyme-poor English language.
This then brings us to the second major form of sonnet

*2.Shakespearean Sonnet*:
Also called the English sonnet
It follows a different set of rules.

Here, three quatrains and a couplet follow this rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, .
The couplet plays a pivotal role, usually arriving in the form of a conclusion, amplification, or even refutation of the previous three stanzas, often creating an epiphanic quality to the end.

In Sonnet 130 of William Shakespeare’s epic sonnet cycle, the first twelve lines compare the speaker’s mistress unfavourably with nature’s beauties. But the concluding couplet swerves in a surprising direction.

*Example of Sonnet*:
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;(a)
     Coral is far more red than her lips' red;(b)
     If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;(a)
     If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.(b)

     I have seen roses damasked, red and white,(c)
     But no such roses see I in her cheeks;(d)
     And in some perfumes is there more delight (c)
     Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.(d)

     I love to hear her speak, yet well I know (e)
     That music hath a far more pleasing sound; (f)
     I grant I never saw a goddess go;(e)
     My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.(f)

     And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare (g)
     *As any she belied with false compare. (g)*

*Requirements of English sonnet*
*line length -
Every line should be ten syllables which should follow a soft/loud or weak strong pattern.
*it is broken into four parts -
three quatrains and a couplet. A quatrain is a group of four lines that rhyme together. For the English sonnet, the first line rhymes with the third one, and the second line rhymes with the fourth one.
*rhyme scheme
The quatrains rhyme ABAB CDCD EFEF
The final couplet rhyme

*Another example*
*The Cage*

The curious thing about lying is,
that you need not even speak words aloud,
to foster poisonous untruths; their bliss,
can come from lips tightly sealed by a shroud.

Many days, long years, in fact, I have tried,
to manage my affairs from quiet hills.
I thought p’wr would come from the fears I hide,
yet I know now that restraint often kills.

I could abide, in my sanctum, alone,
ignoring truths that are dying within.
Alas, now I see that others are prone,
to losing strength on account of my sin.

Lies kill truth and I rip others apart,
letting poor truth rot away in my heart.

23 June 2016

Written for “Sweet little lies” contest, sponsored by The Silent One
Copyright © James *Fross | Year Posted 2016*

In both cases, whether it be Petrarchan or Shakespearean
*Note carefully*:
The stanzaic pattern, the rhyme scheme, and more importantly the carefully structured metric pattern

Not all poems that follow the stanzaic pattern mentioned above or the rhyme scheme qualify to be sonnet.
A poem has to meet a rigidly laid out rhythmic pattern in order to qualify thus.

Every line in these sonnet is written in iambic pentameter.
*Iambic pentameter*
Iambic pentameter /aɪˈæmbɪk pɛnˈtæmᵻtər/ is a commonly used type of metrical line in traditional English poetry and verse drama. The term describes the rhythm that the words establish in that line, which is measured in small groups of syllables called "feet". The word "iambic" refers to the type of foot that is used, known as the iamb, which in English is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The word "pentameter" indicates that a line has five of these "feet".
This must be exact, and the syllables must also be perfect
Then you have a sonnet.

*The Sonnet Variations*:
Though, Shakespeare’s sonnets were perhaps the finest examples of the English sonnet; John Milton’s Italian-patterned sonnets (later known as "Miltonic" sonnets) added several important refinements to the form.

Milton freed the sonnet from its typical incarnation in a sequence of sonnets, writing the occasional sonnet that often expressed interior, self-directed concerns. He also took liberties with the turn, allowing the octave to run into the sestet as needed. Both of these qualities can be seen in "When I Consider How My Light is Spent."

The Spenserian sonnet, invented by sixteenth century English poet Edmund Spenser, cribs its structure from the Shakespearean—three quatrains and a couplet—but employs a series of "couplet links" between quatrains, as revealed in the rhyme scheme: abab, bcbc, cdcd, ee.
The Spenserian sonnet, through the interweaving of the quatrains, implicitly reorganized the Shakespearean sonnet into couplets, reminiscent of the Petrarchan. One reason was to reduce the often excessive final couplet of the Shakespearean sonnet, putting less pressure on it to resolve the foregoing argument, observation, or question.

*There* are several other forms of Sonnets developed over the centuries,
but always remember
These two forms( petrarchan and Shakespearean) provide the models from which all other sonnets are formed.


*Question*‬: Is it important for all sonnets to be iambic pentameter? Can't they be dactyl or trochee?

*Assignment*: While waiting for questions, lets remember that we are encouraged to write a sonnet and submit it ON Friday just before the lecture

*Answer*: Actually the simple answer to you question is yes

*Answer*: Traditionally sonnets were supposed to be in iambic pentameter.
However over the years we have had several experimentations from poets like William Wordsworth etc

*Question*:
You said should be 10 syllable but in "the cage" example there are 2 lines that didn't follow that rule,so is it safe to say"should not be more than 10 syllables "

*Answer*: That departed from that tradition

*Answer*: The answer is yes. But the traditional sonnet were very rigid indeed.

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Speaking Pen International Concept
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