

The first 8 lines known as the octave with the following rhyming scheme: The Italian sonnet is made up of two stanzas: In essence, the Italian sonnet is only a challenge when it is being done in English, otherwise, when it is written in Italian, it is quite easier. This is attributed to the fact that there are many rhyming words in the Italian language compared to those in English. This is to say that only two words are needed for each rhyme.Įvery line conforms to iambic pentameter that is they are made up of ten syllables and five stressed syllables (beats).Īlso known as the Petrarchan sonnet is somehow difficult compared to the English sonnet.

The general rhyme scheme for the entire poem can be summarized as:

Each of the quatrains is subjected to a simple rhyme scheme in which the first line is supposed to rhyme with the third while the second line must rhyme with the last then other new rhymes are brought in each stanza. This is because it has three to four line stanzas knows as the quatrains that are being followed by a couplet.

The Shakespearean sonnet also known as the English sonnet is one of the easiest types of sonnet. On the other hand, the Italian sonnet is made up of eight lines known as an octave that is made up of two quatrains who function is to start the poem in the form of a question then followed by six lines referred to as the sestet whose function is to answer the octave.Ī sonnet is a poem made up of 24 lines with each line having 10 syllables and the poem is developed such that it has a fixed pattern of rhymes. For the English sonnet, we have three quatrains that must be followed by a rhyming couplet. Depending on the type of the sonnet, the lines are arranged differently. Explanation of How to Write a Sonnet What is a sonnet?Ī sonnet is a poem that usually expresses an idea or thought and is made of 14 lines.
