Dr. Obermeier                                                                                                                                                      Eng 221

THE SONNET

The Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet

                                                First quatrain                                          a

                                                                                                              b

                                                                                                               b

                                                                                                               a              Octave

                                                Second quatrain                                       a

                                                                                                                b

                                                                                                                b

                                                                                                                a

                                                                                                Turn, or volta

                                                First tercet                                                c

                                                                                                                d

                                                                                                                e              Sestet

                                                Second tercet                                           c

                                                                                                                d

                                                                                                                e

The essence of the sonnet’s form is the unequal relationship between octave and sestet, which is one of observation and conclusion, or statement and counterstatement. The turn after the octave is a shift of thought or feeling which develops the subject of the sonnet by surprise or conviction to its conclusion.

The English (Shakespearean) Sonnet

                                                First quatrain                                          a

                                                                                                               b

                                                                                                               a

                                                                                                                b

                                                Second quatrain                                       c

                                                                                                                d              Douzain

                                                                                                                c

                                                                                                                d

                                                Third quatrain                                            e

                                                                                                                f

                                                                                                                e

                                                                                                                f

                                                                                                  Turn, or volta

                                                Couplet                                                   g

                                                                                                                g

The English form developed out of the Italian one, obviously because of a misunderstanding. There is greater flexibility in rhyming, but the twelve-to-two division is what makes the English sonnet seem particularly summary or epigrammatic. There are three turns of the screw before the point is driven home.

Source: Fuller, John. The Sonnet. London: Methuen, 1972. 1-26.