English (Shakespearean) sonnet

A sonnet is a poem that traditionally consists of fourteen lines written in iambic pentameter, lines of poetry containing five iambs, or beats, with an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Sonnets adhere to a specific rhyme scheme and thematic structure. The sonnet originated in Italy and made its way over to England in the early sixteenth century—so there are two types of sonnets: Italian and English. Italian sonnets consist of fourteen lines divided into two stanzas, or sections. The first stanza is an octave (eight lines); the second stanza is a sestet (six lines). Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, first devised the English sonnet in the late sixteenth century. The English sonnet differs from early Italian sonnets in rhyme scheme and structure. Instead of two stanzas containing an octave and a sestet, the English sonnet normally consists of three quatrains (four lines) of varying rhyme and a rhyming couplet (two lines). The final couplet, often referred to as the "turn," is pivotal in English sonnets and usually sums up the entire poem in a witty way. William Shakespeare popularized the English sonnet in the early seventeenth century with Shakespeare's Sonnets, a book of 154 sonnets dealing with various themes. Shakespeare's book of sonnets is so highly regarded that English sonnets are sometimes referred to as Shakespearean sonnets.

Overview: Birth of the English Sonnet

England first became acquainted with the sonnet in the early sixteenth century. Sir Thomas Wyatt translated the sonnets of Italian poet Petrarch into English, making them accessible to Tudor and later Elizabethan society. Wyatt also wrote sonnets of his own, which drew more attention to the form. Wyatt's contemporaries also dabbled in sonnet composition. Howard Henry, Earl of Surrey, established a new rhyme scheme for sonnets, which became the standard structure for the English sonnet. Consisting of four quatrains and a couplet, the English sonnet followed a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efefgg. The form quickly caught on among Renaissance poets. English sonnets mainly dealt with themes of love or friendship and were structured so the final couplet acted as a conclusion, magnification, or sometimes negation of the first three stanzas of the poem.

In 1609, William Shakespeare published a book of 154 English sonnets titled Shakespeare's Sonnets. The volume became one of the most famous books of sonnets in English literature, and many people began referring to the English sonnet as the Shakespearean sonnet. Shakespeare's sonnets exemplified the classic English sonnet in tone and structure, with the first three quatrains posing a number of observations and the concluding couplet taking a surprising turn. For example, Sonnet 130 of Shakespeare's Sonnets uses its first twelve lines to criticize a woman's beauty, only to switch directions in the final 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.

Continued Use of the English Form

Though most scholars consider Shakespeare's sonnets the best sampling of the English sonnet, many poets experimented with English sonnets throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth century. Early English sonnets often centered on the theme of love. Later poets such as John Milton, John Donne, and Edmund Spenser explored themes of meditation, religion, and mortality. Poets also rethought the rhyme scheme and structure of the English sonnet. Spenser employed a rhyme scheme of abab bcbc cdcd ee, with each quatrain continuing the end-rhyme of the previous quatrain. Milton incorporated elements of the Italian sonnet into his poems.

Few English sonnets were produced during the eighteenth century. The form experienced a revival in the works of nineteenth-century Romantic poets such as William Wordsworth, John Keats, and Charles Baudelaire. Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnets from the Portuguese (1850) were the most successful English sonnets of this era. Browning's Sonnet 43 begins with one of the most quoted lines in English literature: "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." Poets such as W.H. Auden and Dylan Thomas also toyed with English sonnets throughout the twentieth century. Varied forms later found their way into the prose of American poets such as Robert Frost, Edna St. Vincent Millay, E.E. Cummings, and John Crowe Ransom.

Bibliography

Academy of American Poets. "Poetic Forms: The Sonnet." Academy of American Poets. Academy of American Poets. Web. 21 Aug. 2014. <http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/poetic-form-sonnet>

Baldick, Chris. "About the Sonnet." University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. University of Illinois Board of Trustees. Web. 21 Aug. 2014. <http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/sonnet.htm>

"The Cambridge Companion to the Sonnet." Ed. A.D. Cousins and Peter Howarth. London: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Print.

<http://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-Companion-Sonnet-Companions-Literature/dp/052173553X>

Everett, Barbara. "Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Sonnet." London Review of Books. 8 May 2008. Web. 20 Aug. 2014. <http://www.lrb.co.uk/v30/n09/barbara-everett/shakespeare-and-the-elizabethan-sonnet>

Folger Shakespeare Library. "A Short History of the Sonnet." Folger Shakespeare Library. Folger Shakespeare Library. Web. 21 Aug. 2014. <http://www.folger.edu/Content/Teach-and-Learn/Teaching-Resources/Teaching-Sonnets/A-Short-History-of-the-Sonnet.cfm>

Sites, Melissa J. "The Sonnet." Romantic Circles. University of Maryland. Web. 21 Aug. 2014. <http://www.rc.umd.edu/sites/default/RCOldSite/www/rchs/sonnet.htm>