

3.2 Why Are Sonnets Numbered, Rather Than Named?.2.3 What’s The Difference Between Petrarchan & Shakespearean Sonnets?.2.2 How Is A Shakespearean Sonnet Structured?.


2 What Are The Different Types Of Sonnets?.Those fourteen lines – or thirteen lines (depending on your approach to an English sonnet or typical Italian sonnet) – can be incredibly powerful forms in a typical rhyme scheme. Mastering the sonnet is incredibly difficult, and I don’t know anyone who would say that we’re currently in a golden age of the sonnet form. The strict rhyme structure and overall poem length of the English sonnet it something of a deterrence in the face of the freedoms offered by free verse and vers libre. Initially Italian (like most forms of modern poetry), the sonnet form became extremely popular around the 16th century.Įven the word “sonnet” can be terrifying to modern poets. The sonnet form has been around for hundreds of years. When most people think of English traditional poetry, it is extremely likely that they’ll think of sonnets. You could fit the whole world in there if you shoved hard enough.” Anne Fadiman, Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader "A sonnet might look dinky, but it was somehow big enough to accommodate love, war, death, and O.J.
