Transcript SONNETS - Weebly

SONNETS
Definitions
 Meter
 Regular pattern that
gives poem rhythm
 Foot
 A basic unit of meter
 Iambic Pentameter
 Five feet of unstressed,
stressed syllables
Example
 “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”
 1
2
3
4
5
Shall I..|..comPARE..|..theeTO..|..a SUM..|..mer’s DAY?




The unstressed syllables are in blue and the stressed syllables in red.
Each pair of unstressed and stressed syllables makes up a unit called a foot.
The line contains five feet in all.
A foot containing an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (as
above) is called an iamb.
Because there are five feet in the line, all iambic, the meter of the line is iambic
pentameter. The prefix pent in pentameter means five (Greek: penta, five). Pent
is joined to words or word roots to form new words indicating five.
More Definitions
 Sonnet
 Fourteen line poem
 Sonnetto
 A little sound or song
 Stanza
 A division of a poem
 Octave
 Eight lines in a sonnet
 Sestet
 Six lines in a sonnet
 Quatrain
 Group of four lines in a
 Couplet
sonnet
 Pair of lines linked by
theme and rhyme
Shakespeare’s Sonnets
 3 quatrains +
1 couplet
My mistresses’ eyes are nothing like the sun –
Coral is far more red than her lip’s 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 demasked, 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 heav’n I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
Grey ARROW = QUATRAIN
Red ARROW = COUPLET
Petrarchan Sonnets
 1 octave + 1
sestet
And on the porch, across the upturned chair,
The boy would spread a dingy counterpane
Against the length and majesty of the rain,
And on all fours crawl under it like a bear
To lick his wounds in secret, in his lair;
And afterwards, in the windy yard again,
One hand cocked back, release his paper plane
Frail as a mayfly to the faithless air.
And summer evenings he would whirl around
Faster and faster till the drunken ground
Rose up to meet him; sometimes he would squat
Among the bent weeds of the vacant lot,
Waiting for dusk and someone dear to come
And whip him down the street, but gently home.
GREY ARROW = OCTAVE
RED ARROW = SESTET
Other People To Remember
 Spenser (left) – English sonnet writer (most famous for Amoretti)
 Sidney (right) – Another English sonnet writer (most famous for
Astrophel and Stella)
Rhyme Scheme
 Pattern based on the last word in a line of
poetry
 The Petrarchan or Italian sonnet has the
rhyme scheme ABBAABBA CDECDE.
 The Shakespearean or English sonnet has
the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
Example of Shakespearean
Rhyme Scheme
My mistresses’ eyes are nothing like the sun – (A)
Coral is far more red than her lip’s 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 demasked, 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 heav’n I think my love as rare (G)
As any she belied with false compare. (G)
Possible Sonnet Rhyme Patterns
abab bcbc cdcd ee
abab cdcd efef gg
abba abba cd cd cd
abba abba cde cde
NOT a Sonnet Pattern
aabb aacc bbcc ee
abab abab abab ab
abcd efgh ijkl mn
Even More Definitions
 Sonnet Sequence

Series of interconnected sonnets
 Turn (or volta)

Switch from problem to resolution
 Enjambment

The continuation of a sentence or clause over
a line-break.
How to Explicate a Sonnet
 Step 1:
 Divide each sonnet into parts (quatrains,
sestets, couplets, etc.)
 Step 2:
 Label the rhyme scheme
 Step 3:
 Divide the syllables with a line
 Step 4:
 Paraphrase each line of the poem (summarize
it in your own words to the side)