216
T
he word sonnet comes
from the Italian sonnetto,
meaning a little sound.
In Shakespeare’s time, it could
be used to refer to any short
poem, but now it is limited
to poems of 14 lines with a
particular rhyme scheme.Structure of a sonnet
A typical Shakespearean sonnet
has 14 lines, and each line
is an iambic pentameter—that is,
it has 10 syllables made up of five
units (known as feet) in each of
which an unstressed syllable is
followed by a stressed one, as in
“A n d look upon myself and curse
my fate” (Sonnet 29). The lines
have the following rhyming pattern:
a b a b a b c d c d e f e f g g.
Using Sonnet 29 (see box
below) as a typical example, close
examination shows that the poem
does not follow the pattern exactly.
For instance, it would be natural
to stress the first, not the second
syllable of the first line, and in the
third line it is natural to stress
both “deaf” and the first syllable
of “heaven.” The second and
fourth lines fit the regular pattern.
Variations like these enable the
poet to avoid a simple jog-trotrhythm and to draw a reader’s
attention to especially significant
words or phrases.
This sonnet has a clear structure,
which is created partly by its rhyme
scheme. The first four lines (known
as a quatrain) establish a situation:
the poet is unhappy. The next four
lines elaborate on this by giving
reasons for his unhappiness. It is
common for sonnets to change
direction in the ninth line; this
is known as the volta (Italian for
“turn”). Here, the poet thinks ofIN CONTEXT
THEMES
Romantic love, platonic
love, jealousy, religion, sexSOURCES
14th century Italian poet
Francesco Petrarch writes
some of the first sonnets,
expressing unrequited
love for an unavailable muse.LEGACY
18th century After more
than a century of neglect,
Shakespeare’s sonnets
are championed by the
Romantic poets John Keats
and William Wordsworth.1889 The Portrait of Mr. W. H.,
a story by Oscar Wilde, is
published. It suggests that
the sonnets are addressed
to a boy player called Willie
Hughes. A longer version
appears in 1921, 21 years
after Wilde’s death.1958 British composer
Benjamin Britten’s Nocturne
for tenor and orchestra ends
with a setting of Sonnet 43.1960s–1980s The words
“art made tongue-tied by
authority” in No. 66 become
a slogan for resistance to
censorship in communist
eastern Europe.1961 British singer Cleo Laine
records jazz settings of sonnets
composed by her husband,
Johnny Dankworth.2012 Canadian musician
Rufus Wainwright records
his own settings of some of
the sonnets, including No. 29.Sonnet 29
When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man’s art and that man’s scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least:
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven’s gate;
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings’.SHAKESPEARE’S SONNETS
’Gainst death and
all oblivious enmity
Shall you pace forth; your
praise shall still find room
Even in the eyes of all posterity
That wear this world out to
the ending doom.
Sonnet 55