3. WHAT IS A
SHAKESPEAREAN
SONNET?
14-line poem
Consists of three quatrains (four lines each) and one couplet
(two lines)
The quatrains establish a problem or theme, which is resolved in
the couplet
QUATRAIN: a
stanza comprised
of four lines
COUPLET: a
pair of lines
that usually
rhyme
4. VOLTA
The volta is the turning point in the sonnet
The volta in a Shakespearean sonnet comes either between lines 8
and 9 or 12 and 13 – whenever there is a turning point in ideas
5. IDENTIFY THE QUATRAINS
AND COUPLET
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare. -
1st quatrain
2nd quatrain
3rd quatrain
Couplet
Volta
6. RHYME SCHEME
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
7. RHYME SCHEME
Quatrain One: ABAB
Quatrain Two: CDCD
Quatrain Three: EFEF
Couplet: GG
All Shakespearean sonnets have this rhyme scheme!
8. MAP OUT THE RHYME
SCHEME ON YOUR PAPER
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
9. METER
Meter describes the regular pattern of stressed and unstressed
syllables in a poem. The meter emphasizes the musical quality of the
language.
Each unit of meter is called a foot, which consists of 1 stressed
syllable and one or two unstressed syllables.
Symbols: unstressed stressed
good BYE
10. 4 METRICAL FEET
Iamb = unstress stress ex. hel-LO
Trochee = stress unstress ex. SHAKE-speare
Anapest = unstr unstr stress ex.
Dactyl = stress unstr unstr ex.
I must finish my journey alone
Anapest example-William Cowper's "Verses Supposed to be Written by Alexander Selkirk" (1782), composed in anapaestic trimeter:
Dactyl example-the first line of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem Evangeline, which is in dactylic hexameter:
The / murmuring / pines and
the / hem locks
11. Iambic pentameter
Each line consists of ten syllables
Syllables are divided into five pairs called iambs or iambic feet
An iamb is a unit made up of one unstressed syllable followed by
one stressed syllable
12. MAPPING METER
First, divide up the line into iambs
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun
Then, mark the unstressed syllables with a ‘u’ and the stressed syllables with
a ‘/’
13. BLANK VERSE
Unrhymed iambic pentameter is called blank verse
Shakespeare writes his plays using blank verse
Each line usually contains ten syllables that can be broken into five
pairs of iambs
Blank verse mirrored the rhythm and cadence of everyday speech
14. FUN FACT!
Because it uses carefully constructed language and it reflects
normal, everyday speech, blank verse (and any kind of rhythmic
pattern) is sometimes seen as representing order and organization.
Knowing this, Shakespeare occasionally lapses out of blank verse
when writing the lines of a character who has gone crazy or is losing
his/her mind: going mad = disruption of order/no more speaking
normally!
