by John Gray

Created on: August 03, 2008   Last Updated: June 25, 2010

For centuries the sonnet form has delighted discerning audiences with its compact poetic form and its overt expressions of courtly love. For generations poets have used its form to subvert meaning for a variety of reasons and causes. Today, the sonnet is rarely used seriously, and to the wider public outside of the field of literature, it is often misunderstood and easily confused. However understanding the sonnet form is very easy to understand despite a few myths that seem to have surrounded itself around this type of poem.

Firstly, there are two main types of sonnet (though there are other minor variations), the Petrarchan/Italian and the Shakespearean/English. The simple reason that these slightly different versions of the sonnet have two names is that Petrarchan the founder of the sonnet was Italian, and that type of form was used extensively until the likes of Spencer and Shakespeare, the great English poet's, adapted the form slightly from Petrarch who originally gave the form its name.

So what's the difference?

The first thing to remember is that both forms of sonnet always, or nearly always, consist of fourteen lines each. Both types of sonnet have ten syllables per line each with a regular rhythm, which will be explained in a little more detail later. The only difference between these forms is the way that the poems are divided. The Petrarchan sonnet is broken down into two parts a 8/6, that is eight lines then six, and the Shakespearean is broken into 4/4/4/2, that is three sections of four, followed by two lines. Think of these similar to that of paragraphs in a piece of writing with the intention of covering a different aspect in each. In both cases the last section is intended to form a sort of "twist in the tale", similar to a modern-day short story. This is essentially the only difference, simple eh?

Why fourteen lines and what was the sonnet for?

This amount of space was generally felt to be a sufficient amount of space in order to make a meaningful statement within a short poem. The Petrarchan sonnet was originally intended as a vehicle in which to express an overt expression of love from the poet to the beloved. This love interest however, was usually idealistic in nature and was intended to be idealistically over the top and poetically forming a sort of high standing courtship ritual. The form of the sonnet therefore was an expression of love in the highest ideal, though it was often a way for poets to show off their skill in writing.

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