A sonnet is a fourteen line and was traditionally a love poem. Since the 16th century sonnets have been used by modern authors ironically as well as for their original intent. See EE Cummings' poem: "next to of course god america i"
A sonnet is made up of three verses called quatrains (4 lines) that share a problem or theme and a final rhyming couplet. Shakespeare's sonnets follow the regular abab rhyme.
Sonnets use iambic pentameter. An Iamb is made up of a pair of syllables: a feminine stress and a masculine stress - like a married couple. The feminine stress isn't sounded as much as the masculine stress, which suggests that words with feminine stresses are meant to be considered weak or fragile, or lacking power, whilst the masculine stresses suggest the opposite. Look at "Love is not love" and you will find both 'Love' and 'love' are under different types of stress - what does this add to the overall meaning of the poem?
An iambic line has five iambs (or ten syllables), so each sonnet should have 140 syllables. However, quite often, Shakespeare uses a spare syllable which means the last stress is different to what it should be and this produces a different effect or interpretation.
A sonnet is a fourteen line and was traditionally a love poem. Since the 16th century sonnets have been used by modern authors ironically as well as for their original intent. See EE Cummings' poem: "next to of course god america i"
ReplyDeleteA sonnet is made up of three verses called quatrains (4 lines) that share a problem or theme and a final rhyming couplet. Shakespeare's sonnets follow the regular abab rhyme.
Sonnets use iambic pentameter. An Iamb is made up of a pair of syllables: a feminine stress and a masculine stress - like a married couple. The feminine stress isn't sounded as much as the masculine stress, which suggests that words with feminine stresses are meant to be considered weak or fragile, or lacking power, whilst the masculine stresses suggest the opposite. Look at "Love is not love" and you will find both 'Love' and 'love' are under different types of stress - what does this add to the overall meaning of the poem?
An iambic line has five iambs (or ten syllables), so each sonnet should have 140 syllables. However, quite often, Shakespeare uses a spare syllable which means the last stress is different to what it should be and this produces a different effect or interpretation.