English or Shakespearean Sonnet

Definition

A sonnet is a fixed verse form of Italian origin consisting of 14 lines, that originated in the 13th century (Britannica, 2024). The English sonnet was popularised by William Shakespeare in the 16th century.  It follows a specific rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG and ends with a couplet (Abrams & Harpham, 2013). The couplet consists of two lines and often provides a resolution or a twist. The most prominent themes of English or Shakespearean sonnets are beauty, time, decay, morality, procreation and selfishness (Mishra, 2016).

Examples

Sonnet 18

William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?                A
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.              B
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,         A
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.            B
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,                C
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;                    D
And every fair from fair sometime declines,                 C
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed. D
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,                          E
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,                 F
Nor shall Death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,    E
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st.                  F
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,              G
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.                 G

Sonnet: To Time

Sylvia Plath

Today we move in jade and cease with garnet             A

Amid the ticking jeweled clocks that mark                   B

Our years. Death comes in a casual steel car, yet     A

We vaunt our days in neon and scorn the dark.          B

But outside the diabolic steel of this                               C

Most plastic-windowed city, I can hear                          D

The lone wind raving in the gutter, his                             C

Voice crying exclusion in my ear.                                     D

So cry for the pagan girl left picking olives                     E

Beside a sunblue sea, and mourn the flagon               F

Raised to toast a thousand kings, for all gives             E

Sorrow; weep for the legendary dragon.                        F

Time is a great machine of iron bars                               G

That drains eternally the milk of stars.                           G

Sources

Abrams, M. H. & Harpham, G. G. (2013). A Glossary of Literary Terms. Cengage Learning, 369. https://www.furkatingcollege.edu.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/%CE%9D%CE%95%CE%9F-%CE%9B%CE%95%CE%9E%CE%99%CE%9A%CE%9F-%CE%A6%CE%99%CE%9B%CE%9F%CE%9B%CE%9F%CE%93%CE%99%CE%9A%CE%A9%CE%9D-%CE%9F%CE%A1%CE%A9%CE%9D-ABRAMS-HARPHAM.pdf

Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2024, October 8). Sonnet | Definition, Examples, & Facts. https://www.britannica.com/art/sonnet#ref120061

Mishra K. A. (2016). A Brief Study of Shakespearean Sonnet Themes. International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts, 4(1), 980. https://ijcrt.org/papers/IJCRT1134713.pdf

Adéla Štěpánková, 537744