This document provides an overview of sonnets, including their origin and structure. It notes that sonnets are 14-line poems that typically have a strict rhyme scheme. It discusses how the Italian poet Petrarch is credited with perfecting the form in the 14th century. His sonnets were divided into an 8-line octet and 6-line sestet, with the octet presenting an idea and the sestet responding to it. It provides an example sonnet by Petrarch that was later translated by Wyatt to demonstrate the rhyme scheme and structure of a typical Petrarchan sonnet.

1. Sonnets
Or, why we care about rhyme schemes
© Ms. Mohlere

2. What the heck is a sonnet?
A 14 line poem
Must have a strict rhyme scheme and structure,
although some poems have played with that
structure.
Comes from the Italian word “sonetto,” meaning
“little poem.”

3. Petrarch, the great
Sonneteer
Although he didn’t create the Sonnet, the Italian
poet Petrarch, is thought to have perfected it.
Therefore, early sonnets are called “Petrarchan
sonnets.”
1304 – 1374
Born and raised in Tuscany.
His father wanted him to train as a
lawyer, but he said, “I couldn’t face
making a merchandise of my mind.”

4. Ok, but who is Laura?
Petrarch was a priest for a short period. After he
left, he caught sight of a woman named “Laura”
who inspired him for years to come.
It is thought that they had little to no contact.
(She may have been married to another man.)
Is she real, or an idealized woman?

5. The form
Two parts, an octet (8 lines) and a sestet (6
lines).
The octet presents an argument, a problem, or
some kind of initial idea.
The sestet responds to it, solves it, or makes a
comment on it. Shifts in tone.
The two sections are meant to be separate.

6. Rhyme Scheme
Octet (sometimes called
two quatrains):
A
B
B
A
A
B
B
A
Sestet:
C
D
C
C
D
D

7. Rima #140
- Translated by Wyatt
The long love that in my thought doth harbor,
And in mine heart doth keep his residence,
Into my face presseth with bold pretense
And therein campeth, spreading his banner.
She that me learneth to love and suffer
And will that my trust and lust's negligence
Be reined by reason, shame, and reverence
With his hardiness taketh displeasure.
Wherewithal unto the heart's forest he fleeth,
Leaving his enterprise with pain and cry,
And there him hideth, and not appeareth.
What may I do, when my master feareth,
But in the field with him to live and die?
For good is the life ending faithfully.

8. And then this guy got his
hands on the form…
To be continued…