Sonnet
Writing Workshop: Instructions for Week 16 (Sonnet)Writing Workshop: Instructions for Week 16 (Sonnet) - Notes
What Is a Sonnet?What Is a Sonnet? - Notes
Sonnet Form
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The original form of the sonnet was the Italian or Petrarchan sonnet, in which 14 lines are arranged in an octet (eight lines) rhyming ABBA ABBA and a sestet (six lines) rhyming either CDECDE or CDCDCD.
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The English or Shakespearean sonnet came later, and, as noted, is made of three quatrains rhyming ABAB CDCD EFEF and a closing rhymed heroic couplet, GG. The Spenserian sonnet is a variation developed by Edmund Spenser in which the quatrains are linked by their rhyme scheme: ABAB BCBC CDCD EE.
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Since its introduction into English in the 16th century, the 14-line sonnet form has remained relatively stable, proving itself a flexible container for all kinds of poetry, long enough that its images and symbols can carry detail rather than becoming cryptic or abstract, and short enough to require a distillation of poetic thoug|ht.
A Summer’s Day
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Sonnet 18 is probably the most well known of all of Shakespeare’s sonnets:
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“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
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Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
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Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
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And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
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Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
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And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;
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And every fair from fair sometime declines,
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By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimm’d;
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But thy eternal summer shall not fade
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Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
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Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
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When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st;
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So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
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So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”
Sonnet 18 by David Tenant (Wiliam Shakespeare)Sonnet 18 by David Tenant (Wiliam Shakespeare) - Notes
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Brief history of Sonnet 18
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Sonnet 18, also known as “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?”, is one of the most famous sonnets written by William Shakespeare. It was first published in 1609 in a collection of Shakespeare’s sonnets titled “Shake-speares Sonnettes”. The sonnet is addressed to a young man, who is often identified as Shakespeare’s patron, the Earl of Southampton.
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The sonnet begins with the speaker asking whether he should compare the young man to a summer’s day. He then goes on to list a number of ways in which the young man is more beautiful and more lasting than a summer’s day. The sonnet concludes with the speaker declaring that the young man’s beauty will live on forever in the speaker’s poetry.
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Sonnet 18 is a beautiful and moving poem that celebrates the beauty and the power of love. It has been praised by critics and poets for centuries, and it continues to be one of Shakespeare’s most popular works.
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Here is a more detailed history of Sonnet 18:
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The sonnet was likely written between 1592 and 1598.
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It was first published in 1609 in a collection of Shakespeare’s sonnets titled “Shake-speares Sonnettes”.
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The sonnet is addressed to a young man, who is often identified as Shakespeare’s patron, the Earl of Southampton.
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The sonnet has been praised by critics and poets for centuries.
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It continues to be one of Shakespeare’s most popular works.
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Sonnet 18 has been adapted into many different forms, including music, art, and film. It has also been translated into many different languages. The sonnet’s enduring popularity is a testament to its beauty, its power, and its universal appeal.
YouTube MusicYouTube Music - Notes
See also the Greate Vowel Shift.