Gladys Avila

A sonnet is a poem of
fourteen lines using any of
a number of formal rhyme
schemes, in English
typically having ten
syllables per line.
 THREE
Italian
sonnet

Spenserian

TYPES OF
SONNETS
Shakespearean
What Poets Are Best Known for
Petrarchan Sonnets?

The Italian sonnets of Dante

sometimes bucked the traditional
Petrarchan rhyme scheme. Dante
was fond of “terza rima”
technique, which consists of
interlocking three-line rhymes.
These follow the scheme: ABA
BCB CDC DED.
Petrarchan sonnet
Italian sonnet, which is also known as the
Petrarchan sonnet. The Petrarchan sonnet is so
named for Francesco Petrarca, who popularized the
form through 366 sonnets that he wrote about his
love for a woman named Laura, who never
returned his love. The Petrarchan sonnet is most
well-known for its subject matter of ideal love, but
it also has a specific form and other features.
What Is the Structure of a Petrarchan Sonnet?
• The Petrarchan sonnet is characterized by the following core elements:
• It contains fourteen lines of poetry.
• The lines are divided into an eight-line subsection (called an octave)
followed by a six-line subsection (called a sestet).
• The octave follows a rhyme scheme of ABBA ABBA. This means the first,
fourth, fifth, and eighth lines all rhyme with one another. The second,
third, sixth, and seventh lines similarly rhyme with one another.
• The “Crybin” variant on the Petrarchan sonnet contains a different rhyme
scheme for the opening octave: ABBA CDDC.
• The sestet follows one of two rhyme schemes. The more common is a
CDE CDE scheme (where the ninth and twelfth, tenth and thirteenth, and
eleventh and fourteenth lines rhyme).
• The other sestet rhyme scheme is CDC CDC (where the ninth, eleventh,
twelfth, and fourteenth lines rhyme; and the tenth and thirteenth lines
rhyme). It is sometimes called the “Sicilian sestet,” named for the
dialect used by Petrarch himself.
The Shakespearean or English sonnet was
actually developed in the sixteenth
century by the Earl of Surrey, but is
named after Shakespeare because of his
great sonnet sequence.
The traditional subject of the sonnet has
primarily been Love.
Development of the English sonnet led to
consideration of other topics, including
mortality, mutability, politics, and writing
itself.
Here, the "abab" pattern sets
up distinct four-line groups,
each of which develops a
specific idea;however, the
overlapping a, b, c, and d
rhymes form the first 12 lines
into a single unit with a
The Spenserian sonnet,
invented by Edmund Spenseras
an outgrowth of the stanza
pattern he used in TheFaerie
Queene (a b a b b c b c c), has
the pattern:
ababbcbccdcdee
First quatrain: This should establish the
subject of the sonnet.
Number of lines: 4. Rhyme Scheme: ABAB
Second quatrain: This should develop the
sonnet’s theme.
Number of lines: 4. Rhyme Scheme: CDCD
Third quatrain: This should round off the
sonnet’s theme.
Number of lines: 4. Rhyme Scheme: EFEF
Fourth quatrain: This should act as a
conclusion to the sonnet.
By: Gladys avila