How To Right A Sonnet

Scribble a few notes about how you feel the idea should grow.

How to right a sonnet. Sonnets are written in a rhythm called iambic pentameter. Shakespeare was the master of this form but his style of sonnet known as the shakespearean sonnet or the english sonnet is only one of many types of sonnet. Your sonnet must rhyme in a specific pattern your 14 line sonnet must be written in three sets of four lines and one set of two lines. It is not however easy to write a sonnet.

To write a sonnet make each line 10 syllables long and follow the rhythm of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Then arrange the lines into 3 stanzas of 4 lines and end with a 2 line stanza. Abab for example day temperate may date. Every sonnet rhymes and has 14 lines usually in iambic pentameter but nearly everything else.

Write in one of various standard rhyme schemes shakespearean petrarchan or spenserian. An iamb is represented by two syllables and is an example of a metrical foot in a poem. It has the rhythm bah bah as in the words about or predict or parade. The first quatrain will have lines that end in a rhyme scheme like this.

The sonnet when done right is easy to read and oh so musical sonnet after all means song. Write in iambic pentameter. The 14 lines of the shakespearean sonnet is formed by using 3 quatrains 4 lines of verse x 3 repetitions 12 lines and 1 couplet 2 lines to result in the required 14 lines. Next decide upon a theme.

The couplet is a poetic term for 2 lines of rhyming verse. There are many varieties of the sonnet form but shakespearean sonnets are always 14 lines. A sonnet describes a movement in one s thoughts or feelings not an unchanging state of mind. Write your lines in iambic pentameter duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh.

For this exercise focus on the shakespearean sonnet. To be able to write a sonnet whether english or italian you must follow a specific form. Select a subject to write your poem about shakespearean sonnets are traditionally grounded as love poems. Sonnets are a kind of rhymed poem written in iambic pentameter.

The quatrains should follow an abab rhyme scheme and the last two lines should rhyme as well. What you say in the first eight lines is going to shift and develop from the ninth line onwards and the concept of the whole sonnet may then also be summarised in the final two lines. To write a sonnet properly follow this process. First decide which sonnet form you d prefer to use.

The quatrain is a poetic term for 4 lines of poetry that share a common sensibility and usually share a rhyme scheme. Again the traditional topic of a sonnet is romantic love but you could write about any subject you choose. An iamb is a rhythmic unit that includes an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one. Though both types of sonnets are comprised of fourteen lines the structuring of the lines and rhyme schemes are different.