A sonnet is a 14-line poem written in iambic pentameter with a set rhyme scheme. The most common types are the English or Shakespearean sonnet, which has three quatrains and a couplet, and the Italian or Petrarchan sonnet, which has an octave followed by a sestet. Sonnets were invented in Italy in the 13th century and introduced to English by Sir Thomas Wyatt in the 16th century. Famous sonnet writers include Shakespeare, Spenser, and Sidney.

1. What is a
Sonnet?

2.  A sonnet is a one-stanza, 14-line poem, written in
iambic pentameter.
 The sonnet, which derived from the Italian word
sonetto, meaning “a little sound or song,"
 A sonnet must be written in iambic pentameter.
 A sonnet must follow a specific/fixed rhyme
scheme, depending on the type of sonnet.
 A sonnet can be about any subject, though they are
often about love or nature.
 A sonnet introduces a problem or question in the
beginning, and a resolution is offered after the turn.

3. Development of the Sonnet
• The first sonnets were written in Italy in the Thirteenth Century.
• The most famous of the Italian sonneteers were Danteand Petrarch who
wrote entire sonnet sequences in the Italian vernacular.
• The Italian sonnet was introduced into English poetry by Sir Thomas Wyatt.
• In the late sixteenth century and early seventeenth century, English
writers began to imitate their earlier Italian counterparts by writing sonnets
in the English vernacular.
• The most important sonnet sequences written in English were written by
Edmund Spenser(Amoretti, published in 1595), Sir Philip Sidney(Astrophel
and Stella, published in 1582), and William Shakespeare(his untitled
sequence of 154 sonnets was published in 1609).
• By the reign of Queen Elizabeth, sonnet production became the vogue for
its aspiring writers

4. Iambic Pentameter
 A line of Iambic Pentameter is a line with ten
beats.
 An “Iamb” is two beats, or one “foot.”
 “Penta” is five (line has five “feet”).
 “Meter” is the rhythm of the poem.
 A “foot” is made of an unstressed syllable and
a stressed syllable (in that order).

5.  An English Sonnet is also called a
Shakespearean Sonnet.
 It includes three quatrains (groups of four
lines) and a couplet (two lines).
 The rhyme scheme is often - abab cdcd efef
gg.

6. "Sonnet XXIX"
When in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes, A
I all alone beweep my outcast state, B
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, A
And look upon myself and curse my fate, B
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, C
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed, D
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope, C
With what I most enjoy contented least, D
Yet in these thoughts my self almost despising, E
Haply I think on thee, and then my state, F
(Like to the lark at break of day arising E
From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate, F
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings, G
That then I scorn to change my state with kings. G

7.  An Italian Sonnet is also called a Petrarchan
Sonnet.
 It includes an octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six
lines).
 The rhyme scheme must begin with - abbaabba,
and can conclude with any variation of c, d, and e
(cdecde, cdcdee, etc.).

8. London, 1802
Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour: A
England hath need of thee: she is a fen B
Of stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen, B
Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower, A
Have forfeited their ancient English dower A
Of inward happiness. We are selfish men; B
Oh! raise us up, return to us again; B
And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power. A
Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart; C
Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea: D
Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free, D
So didst thou travel on life's common way, E
In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart C
The lowliest duties on herself did lay. E

9.  Invented by Edmond Spencer
 It includes three quatrains (12 lines) and a couplet.
 The rhyme scheme is - abab bcbc cdcd ee

10. Of this World's theatre in which we stay, A
My love like the Spectator idly sits, B
Beholding me, that all the pageants play, A
Disguising diversely my troubled wits. B
Sometimes I joy when glad occasion fits, B
And mask in mirth like to a Comedy; C
Soon after when my joy to sorrow flits, B
I wail and make my woes a Tragedy. C
Yet she, beholding me with constant eye, C
Delights not in my mirth nor rues my smart; D
But when I laugh, she mocks: and when I cry C
She laughs and hardens evermore her heart. D
What then can move her? If nor mirth nor moan, E
She is no woman, but a senseless stone. E