Sonnet+Form

=**The Italian sonnet is typically comprised of two parts:**= = = =**1. The octave (two quatrains), which describe a problem. The octave traditionally rhymed //a-b-a-b, a-b-a-b// but later, the //a-b-b-a, a-b-b-a// pattern became more common.**= = = =**2. A sestet (two tercets) which provide a resolution. For the sestet there were two different possibilities, //c-d-e-c-d-e// and //c-d-c-c-d-c//. Over time, other variations on this rhyming scheme were introduced, such as //c-d-c-d-c-d//.**= = = =**Typically, the ninth line creates a "turn" or //volta// which signals the shift from proposition to resolution.**= = = =**Even in sonnets that don't strictly adhere to the problem/resolution structure, the ninth line still can mark a "turn" by offering a change in tone, mood, or perspective.**=

=**Sonnets were introduced into English by Sir Thomas Wyatt in the early 16th century but his contemporary,** Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, developed the English sonnet form, consisting of three quatrains and a couplet. The rhyme scheme for this forms is: //abab cdcd efef gg//. ****Later, the //a-b-b-a, a-b-b-a// pattern for the first two quatrains became more common.****= = = =Shakespeare also developed a variation on the form, often introducing an idea in the first quatrain, complicating it further and further in the second and third quatrains, and resolving it in the third epigrammatic couplet.= = = =The Conceit.= =Every sonnet is organized around a conceit, that is an extended metaphor that governs the entire poem. The complex logic introduced by conceits involves the reader in acts of interpretation that lead them to higher understandings of the intricacies of love.= = = = = =**2. A sestet (two tercets) which provide a resolution. For the sestet there were two different possibilities, //c-d-e-c-d-e// and //c-d-c-c-d-c//. Over time, other variations on this rhyming scheme were introduced, such as //c-d-c-d-c-d//.**= = = =**Typically, the ninth line creates a "turn" or //volta// which signals the shift from proposition to resolution.**= = = =**Even in sonnets that don't strictly adhere to the problem/resolution structure, the ninth line still can mark a "turn" by offering a change in tone, mood, or perspective.**=

=**Sonnets were introduced into English by Sir Thomas Wyatt in the early 16th century but his contemporary,** Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, developed the English sonnet form, consisting of three quatrains and a couplet. The rhyme scheme for this forms is: //abab cdcd efef gg//.= =Shakespeare also developed a variation on the form, often introducing an idea in the first quatrain, complicating it further and further in the second and third quatrains, and resolving it in the third epigrammatic couplet.= = = =The Conceit.= =Every sonnet is organized around a conceit, that is an extended metaphor that governs the entire poem. The complex logic introduced by conceits involves the reader in acts of interpretation that lead them to higher understandings of the intricacies of love.=