Sonnets II: The English (Shakespearian) Sonnet
It would be difficult for anyone who reads or writes poetry to have never come in contact with a sonnet of some kind. It is probably the most famous poetry form of all in its many variations. The classical poets who wrote sonnets often wrote them in a series that had a larger, more dramatic purpose. However, when writing a sonnet, you need to keep in mind, that each sonnet, even when created to complement others, should have a point and purpose alone.
The English sonnet is sometimes called the Shakespearian Sonnet after William Shakespeare. Shakespeare did not create this form; it was actually introduced by Thomas Wyatt. Shakespeare is simply the man who immortalized this form. William Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets. The topic of most sonnets has traditionally been love, and so sonnets have become associated with love themes even now.
The English sonnet consists of 3 quatrains and a couplet. The couplet is like the volta (or change) in the Italian sonnet forms. The entirety of the preceding 3 quatrains (12 lines) are summed up in the closing couplet. The rhyme scheme for an English sonnet is: abab, cdcd, efef, gg and the form is to be written in iambic pentameter.
Example of an English Sonnet:
The Procreation Sonnets 1-17 (Sonnet 1)(English Sonnet) by William Shakespeare
oldpoetry.com/poetry/47896
From fairest creatures we desire increase,
That thereby beauty's rose might never die,
But as the riper should by time decease,
His tender heir might bear his memory:
But thou contracted to thine own bright eyes,
Feed'st thy light's flame with self-substantial fuel,
Making a famine where abundance lies,
Thy self thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel:
Thou that art now the world's fresh ornament,
And only herald to the gaudy spring,
Within thine own bud buriest thy content,
And, tender churl, mak'st waste in niggarding:
Pity the world, or else this glutton be,
To eat the world's due, by the grave and thee.
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s ~Genie~
